Felt Hat U:
for those of you that like felt hats, here's a quickie education. I spent most of my younger years on the rodeo circuit, riding bulls. So, I have had a few felt hats, as have all my friends. I have seen them put to the test. Riding bulls can be tough on a hat. Rain, mud, stomped, you name it.
Most cowboys wear straw during the summer, and if a guy goes to a lot of rodeos, it may take 3-4 straw hats to get through a summer.
These same guys often keep a felt hat for many years, unless they are just into hats and have money to burn (i.e. they win a lot).
If they have a big rodeo or PBR event near where you live, go look at what the cowboys there are wearing. You will find that they wear only fur felt hats, and 20X beaver is the minimum quality. If you go to buy a hat at your average western wear store, you will find 4X to 6X fur felt quality generally. 20X and up hats are expensive. My cowboy hat is a Resistol 20X Black Gold I bought new in 1988 for $225, which was a steal. I still wear it, and in the time I have had it I sent it back to Resistol to have it re-blocked once.
By comparison, in my heyday of riding bulls, a common 4X quality hat would last me about one year before it would no longer hold shape. It's cheaper to buy better quality in the long run.
Fur felt hat quality is measured by the beaver fur content vs. rabbit fur content of the hat. 100X is generally pure beaver. 20X is generally 75% beaver. 4X is about 15% beaver.
More here:
http://www.canadiancowboy.com/hats.html Now, you notice I haven't mentioned wool felt, because the only cowboy hats made of wool felt are cheapos made for tourists and or the kids of tourists. In real cowboy service they could be expected to last a day or two, maybe. Maybe a week if you were inside all the time.
Go to a high end western store and handle a few hats. Their cheapest and lowest quality kids hats will be wool felt. Handle a 20X or better hat, and a 4X or so, and then the wool. The difference in quality is obvious.
If you want a fedora type hat, the same makers usually offer a model like that, or you can choose a basic hat, have the brim cut down and shape it as you wish. It will last a lifetime of hunting if it's high quality. Cowboy hats have a 4" brim, but hat makers do have models that have much shorter brims to start with. Any brim can be cut down to whatever length you wish. Expect to pay a lot more than you would for a wool felt.
Best places to find high quality felt hats on the shelf are Fort Worth, TX, and maybe Jackson Hole or Cheyenne, WY. There are a lot of custom makers all over the country though.
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