So I'm enjoying the hell out of Capstick's books - and yes I know that they are at least half (and maybe more) made up. They are still fun.

One thing I noted is that every "famous" guy he profiled in Death in the Silent Places has a fantastic "safari" hat.

Got me thinking - what is the coolest hat you have? No ballcaps please - I already have the "coolest" ballcap.

I'm talking "old school" safari/hunting/cowboy/adventure hats.

Jeff

Mine is anything but cool, but it is what is on my head whenever I am hunting - my Thinsulate Jones cap. (Actually I have two right now, Old Faithful that is getting a bit ragged and the FNC that is getting slowly broken in.)

well since our Ducks Unlimited banquet is the day before speed goat season opens and 2 weeks before deer and elk i tend to wear a DU baseball cap for warm weather hunting and whatever stocking cap is handy when it starts getting cold......

The one me wearing now.

I have a Budweiser Camo ball cap for the warm days, and an ancient green GoreTex OR brand hat for when it rains or is cold.

Well, I call it an "Elmer Fudd" hat, but I believe the style is know as "Stormy Kromer" or something like that. Wool hat, short bill, inside ear flaps and the wool flaps that tie in front of the hat above the bill. I started wearing them when I was in my 20s...they will keep your ears warm for just about anything. Put the earflaps up and you can wear them comfortable indoors or while driving. They are very popular here in eastern MT among those who work outside for a living, which I used to do. Don't anymore, but haven't abandoned the hat. Chuckle...got one in red, green, and one in plaid. Some say that having one of these as a dress hat is an oxymoron, but what the hell.

Mr. Paradiddle;
I�d like to send you out a welcome to the Campfire from southern BC.

I�m generally in some type of cowboy hat when I�m hunting or almost any work outside- well until it�s cold enough for the Stormy Kromer to come out anyway!

A decent felt hat will last about a decade or so for me it seems. Although this photo doesn�t show it well, the current Bailey started out brown and is now a faded green that rather resembles the general hue of an old cow pie.

I guess since it has protected my bald head from just that when removing the wire from a range cow�s fetlock one time, it�s come by the color honestly.



Again welcome to the Fire.

Dwayne

Now that they are makin' em in camo and blaze, mine will be a Stormy Kromer.

http://www.stormykromer.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=2

+1 on the Stormy Kromer when it cools off. A camo one for hunting and a blue for the rest of the time. Still looking for the perfect warmer weather hat. Tom

Nothing beats a Stormy Kromer when the wind blows and it`s 10 F. They were a staple in northern Mich./Wis in the 60s or at least for the parts of it I saw as a teen for hunting & ice fishing.
I had one, "green" for some time when I was younger. It, like alot of things, turned up missing after short marriage and the following moves. Wish I still had it. One of my mothers younger brothers still wears one as his "lucky hat" although I don`t recall him ever being especially lucky

Pendleton Felt -- I like to think it has brought me luck. Although, I find the harder I work, the better my luck is!

Highroad

with gun - usually some type of ball cap
with bow - stocking cap

Akubra Riverina for me...thanks Oz

Stormy kromer

Filson oilskin in wet weather, ballcap with a conservation org emblem in warm weather and toque in the winter.

Been wearin the same "style" hunting hat for more than 30 years now. It's a basic grey wool 3x-4x Stetson......and hand-painted in a camo pattern with black, tan, brown, light green and olive drap oil-based paints.

I painted the first of these creations in the early 1970's on a dress Stetson that was no longer good enough for BBQ wear. I liked the style of the hats (shade, style and would keep rain off my face and neck) but not the solid color (I was in a heavy all-camo period at the time)......so whipped out my decoy paints and went to town!!

Over the years this has become my "signiture" look locally. Even had requests for copies to be sold in various charity auctions with my registered cattle brand hidden somewhere in the camo pattern to authenticate them as mine.

I treat the hats with linseed oil and wax to waterproof and help turn rain when hunting. They tend to last about 10 years with hard use before a new version is needed. I am now wearing the third hat of this type as my own. They actually get better and better with use as they gain "charicter".....particularly the one that spent three days in the river after a duck hunting adventure before it was discovered snagged in a tree.

I mostly wear a Boony. In deer season it's a Cabela's Goretex one and elk season it is a Columbia Gallatin Ridge wool one.

I also pack an orange stocking cap for when I want to be seen and a balaclava when it gets cold.

I have this thing for cowboy hats, yeah I know, I'm a wrangler not a cowboy, never worked cattle, just horses. My favorite hats come from Roy Jackson out of Salmon, Idaho. www.jaxonbilthats.com/ My head is so danged big I have to have them custom made and shaped. For hunting varmint in the hot weather of Central California I wear his #7 Horse Trough palm leaf hat with a 5" brim. For more formal occasions I wear either a black # 4 Butt Kick 50X beaver, or a gray # 16 Elmer Keith 100X Sterling Beaver. Roy also makes up felt cowboy hats in camouflage, but I'm afraid I might loose my head!

+1....I have several hats that I use depending upon the weather, but the one that rides on top of my chrome dome is my original "boonie" hat. I recieved my first one when I was in the army, and have worn one ever since.

When my father passed away this sping in Florida my step mom gave me all of his hats to bring home....I have his "boonie" now as well. I'll be wearing it on our father/son Elk hunt in Colorado this fall.....

Someday, when there isn't something else to pay for, I'll buy one of those stormy kromers....great functional hats!

I have two favorites, a black ball cap that's been lucky in more than one way




Second is a type of stormy kromer, crappy pic but it's all that I have loaded

I know you said no ball caps but this one has been with me to kill most of my deer and just fits the way a cap should. Its an American Eagle hat I got on sale and it just fits like a hat should. Last year my wife had me wash it before season, I think I washed the mojo out of it. I saw deer every trip but just couldn't get a shot off even when they were 50 yards from me. I took a kid hunting and he got his first deer that put the mojo back into the hat and I was good from there. I will never wash this thing again.

A cut down British desert bush hat.

[img:left][/img]

And a Filson oiled canvas.

[img:left][/img]

I'll be using my Rifle Looney hat more.

[img:left][/img]

Hunting on the "wetside" of the Pacific Northwest, I have found a great waterproof cowboy style hat (Drizabone Rainier) that keeps the rain off the head, from running down your neck, or getting on the glasses. It is crushable, has a wire in the rim for shaping, and has been waterproof with no care for over 15 years.

Just a plain leather waterproof hat, don't know what to call the style, think I bought it at Red Wing a loong time ago



If I need a blaze orange, Cabelas has a hat that has a flip top to be blaze orange or camo

Usually an old battered grey wool felt fedora from the 40's, if I'm wearing an orange vest and it's not too cold. Too much Jack O'Connor as a kid I guess.

Orange "Mad Bomber" style when it gets really cold.

I like my Tilly, wore out the first one, on my second now...



Seem to have good luck with it, too.

Orange Filson with ear flaps.

Did the same for several years. The store bought camo hat is too stiff for my preference.
Hung the painted versions outside for several days to let the smells go away.

Now I have a smaller felt that needs some camo!

stumpy

This old camo cotton hat is awfully worn and sweat-stained. I also wear a wool felt crusher when it gets colder or rains. I go through a crusher about every 3 or 4 years. They get sweat-stained or smelly or just plain ugly. Once in a while they fall out of a pocket while tracking or bumming around in the woods. If it is warm out and I need orange to comply with the law, I'll break out a lightweight baseball cap. Otherwise, baseball caps look too "Billy-Bob-ish" for my taste.



-

Kromer, eh der!

No baseball hats, so will wear one similar to this on opening day.

I hope yer not pheasant or grouse hunting!

The older issued G.I. cap & the Jones style is pretty hard to beat,The original Jungle cap is good in warm weather, but the replicas are too big, but for me - Give Me the Elmer Fudd. You can't hunt brush with a wide brim.Put the brim on for the pictures.

Turkey hunting (April in CA):

Mesh back Realtree Extra Brown ball cap. If it gets cold I wear a camo bandana under it. Once I have a turkey I clip the ball cap on my vest and wear a blaze bandana.

Deer hunting (August/September in CA):

Mesh back blaze ball cap. If it gets cold I wear a blaze bandana under it.

Elk hunting (Oct/Nov in CO):

Solid blaze ball cap. If it gets cold I wear a blaze knit cap. If it gets really cold I wear the ball cap with the knit cap over it.

I forgot to mention what I wear while hunting with my longbow. A brim of any sort gets in the way of the bowstring on a 70-inch longbow. For this event I usually wear nothing on my head. Actually, the temp has to be pretty cool for me to be comfortable with any hat on my head.

I have a bill cap I wear only in extreme cold weather. It is styled sort-of like the Stormy Kromer, but it is superior to the Kromer in every way. The Kromer is a lightweight compared to this! It has Gore-Tex and Thinsulate, and a red plaid heavy wool outer layer. It has smaller ear flaps that fold down from underneath the cap, plus in REALLY cold weather I can untie the two large outer flaps and tie them under my chin for super-warm comfort. About the only time I do this is when ice fishing without a shanty when the wind is blowing. I don't recall the name on this hat but my wife got it for me for Christmas. It has to be really cold to put this baby on.

-

Am I the only one who thinks "Stormy Kromer" would make a better name for a stripper than headgear?

Best thing on my head is a real wool (not acrylic or polypropylene) watch cap like the Navy gave me a lot of years ago. If it's drizzling and cold I have an insulated filson oiled canvas bill cap with a pull-down, around the back, wool ear flap. Unless it's pretty close to freezing out I prefer no hat at all.

Warmer and dryer weather: a boonie hat or baseball cap of appropriate color, camo or blaze depending on season open.
Cold, or wet weather: wool felt brimmed hat or Kromer style wool hat, of appropriate color.
Really, Really Really, cold: wool balaclava, of appropriate color.

Sorry, didn't notice the "no ball cap" rule.

Don't wear it much hunting (see above) but I do wear it outdoors in cold weather:
Filson insulated packer

Warm, waterproof, has fold down wool earflaps. Great winter hat.

I've got one of these for warmer weather.

I usually wear an orange jones hat. It's kind of seen better days, so I've had my eye out for a new one.

I usually wear my 'floppy' oilskin hat. It keeps the sun and rain off my bald head. When not needed I can wad it up and stuff it in a pocket or whatever. The better half threatens to divorce me if I ever wear it in public around town.

I have several Stormy Kromers (both original and copies) for hunting in colder weather, but simply cannot help myself for mentioning that probably 80% of the time wear a "Grade-A Certified Rifle Loony" ball cap, either orange or camo (the blue one is of course for going to town).

Kromer...both or em.

I have been hunting for years with a blaze hat with ear flaps that close under the chin, made by columbia . I dont think they make it any more. I sure do like it. It has a short bill , is warm and drys fast. Its getting kind of ratty.Wish I could find another.

Hey, didn't she work Vegas in the 90's? Maybe the Kit-Kat Club, or was it the Pink Bunny Ranch?