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What hat do you wear most (and why)?

ScottF

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,755
During the summer, an early '50s 3X Open Road with after-market 3/4" ribbon, or Optimo-rebuilt Montecristi. During the Winter, Akubra Fed IV Deluxe. No changes in last two years, but I plan to get a slightly smaller dark-brown Akubra.
 

Duper

Practically Family
Messages
899
Location
Ontario, Canada
I have 4 Campdrafts (bluegrass green, silverbelly, fawn and mid brown) and wear them more than any of my other hats. They are just terrific hats. Standing on the sidelines of my son's fall soccer matches with the rain pouring down doesn't feel so bad in a Campdraft. After that it would be my Akubra Traveller with the trimmed brim and my Banjo Paterson.

My favorite old Tilley LTM5 also gets lots of summer time, fun time wear for those really hot humid days.

Once the bitter cold arrives I have a couple of Tilley ivy caps with the built in ear flaps that suit the bill for those cold nights walking the dogs. -30 Celcius is not uncommon around Canada's capital city in January and February. The Tilley caps have a lot more style than a toque and still keep my noggin and ears warm.
 

WesternHatWearer

A-List Customer
Messages
366
Location
Georgia
Currently, a custom made hat by Gene Baldwin at Baldwin Hats and Boots, is the hat I wear most. It is a black western with a 4 inch brim, with self band and buckle. It is a pure beaver hat. I generally wear it for about 11 hours a day.

As for the why, I like the look hat, the feel of hat, and they way the hat sits on my head. I enjoy wearing it.
 
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Bushman

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,138
Location
Joliet
My Stetson Chatham. I love the caribou color and the thinner ribbon. I also love the way the hat looks on me. I wear it as often as I can!
 

Seb Lucas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,562
Location
Australia
I have 4 hats and can't use any more. I tend to wear a Stockman with a slightly trimmed brim. Looks better on me. I only wear hats to protect against the sun. It has the thickest most protective felt.
 

Renault

One Too Many
Messages
1,688
Location
Wilbarger creek bottom
Most of the time I wear my old Akubra Bushman. With a simple cattleman style crease. Or maybe it's more of a old 1889 campaign crease. It's lightweight. Fits good. And blends in well in town or the pasture. Comfy also in summer. Even tho I live in south central Texas I shy away from straw hats. I prefer felt! Year round!

I suppose the hat I wear the most on the place here while working is an old beat to hell American hat co felt that's over 40 years old. It keeps the sun off whil digging post holes or cutting mesquite.

They hat that kinda fits between these two. Kinda work, hunt, sometimes town, is an old silver belly Stetson with a Mountie style, montana type peak. I wear it when I don't want folks bothering me with a lot of fool questions. Like when you try to go buy groceries ( something I truly hate) and the people who work there are trying to get you to taste whatever it is they are fooling around with! I just wanna get in and out of the store and back to the woods. Don't have time for all that lolligaging around. Figure if you wear a hat that looks like that, they pretty much leave you alone. Then my demeanor usually helps too!
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
Bringing back this old thread:

My go-to hat has changed over time as well as by season. The summer hat I wear most often is an Akubra Counrty Club. It’s a cheap polypropylene hat with a synthetic sweatband. It gets the most wear because it shrugs off abuse, doesn’t get stained from perspiration, is light on my head, has excellent ventilation, and is cool wearing.

My cooler weather go-tos are a pair1970s gray 4X Resistols. One that VS made into 3 1/4” bound brim country-come-city western fedora and one a raw edge hat I modified myself. The western felt is rugged and the colors pair well with most of my clothes.

My nicer vintage hats and customs get worn regularly, but I feel protective of them in ways I don’t with my Resistol’s. Although I will say my natural nutria Gannon saw a lot of use before the weather warmed up.

So my most worn hats are relatively inexpensive common hats not likely to impress hat aficionados: it really is function over everything else.
 

Snowman

Practically Family
Messages
675
Lately I have noticed that I reach for the same few hats. If felt is called for, it’s either my Stetson OR or Resistol San Antonio (odd because I don’t particularly like the cattleman’s crease), and if it’s a straw day it’s my Resistol Tycoon or a cheap Mexican Formosan. These hats are functional, comfortable, and durable, and I like the way they look on me. When I travel, I unfailingly take the old OR; it dresses up or down, and stands up to any weather.
 
Messages
10,839
Location
vancouver, canada
This is somewhat embarrassing. I own 60+ hats, many thousands of dollars worth and the hat I seem to plunk on my head is a crappy old Flechet that Brent gifted me. I rehabilitated it, rescuing it from the dumpster where it really belonged, maybe that is why I like it.....the runt of the litter perhaps? But it is the one I grab and slam on my head as I head out the door. Maybe when this pandemic ends and I start dressing up and actually going somewhere other than the lumber yard and Costco I will wear more of my better hats.......we shall see.
 
Messages
12,009
Location
East of Los Angeles
This is somewhat embarrassing. I own 60+ hats, many thousands of dollars worth and the hat I seem to plunk on my head is a crappy old Flechet that Brent gifted me. I rehabilitated it, rescuing it from the dumpster where it really belonged, maybe that is why I like it.....the runt of the litter perhaps? But it is the one I grab and slam on my head as I head out the door...
See, now that's the kind of hat I'm truly interested in seeing--the ones that somehow surpass all of the others in our collections, the ones we really like even though they're worn out/cheap/somewhat rehabilitated/used and abused, but still have that "it" factor that grabs us and doesn't let go.

Veering back towards the main topic of this thread, the hat I currently wear the most is also my most recent acquisition--my Akubra Hampton in Carbon Grey:

MxRHH2t.jpg


No particular reason, I just like it. Comfortable, nice color, and it seems to annoy all of the right people. :cool:
 

Rmccamey

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,844
Location
Central Texas
In the summer, it is mostly lower end straw hats. Here is my Sunbody and my modern plastic Mayser. My most worn is some snap brim variation of a Stratoliner/OR/100/7XCB. My Peacock green Strat is pictured here. Of course, my basic black bowlers get a lot of wear in the cooler seasons, too!


20200108_094807.jpg 20200622_140258.jpg 20200114_142359.jpg 20200129_072511.jpg
 

Short Balding Guy

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,871
Location
Minnesota, USA
By wear most I presume the hat with most hours on my head.

During the warm months I can tug on the Sunbody 2.5" or 3" palm leaf hats for big efforts. Hard sweats and efforts the hats are champs. I dunk or hose them and the water drips down on my head/neck and I am cooled. Dynamite value for the buck, IMO.

Most worn in Fall and Winter by time are my VS and Gannon customs. I can go on a long hike or walkabout, yard work, beach work, snow blow or snow removal and the hats take all that are dished out. Sweat conditioned, dried and set upon a block overnight they are cooler weather champs.

When I need to tackle the toughest things outside (hard rain, snow, freezing stuff, hard wind) I can tug on my Akubra CampDraft and I am confident the hat will take it and be ready in the morning.

I wait a minute and the weather changes in my neighborhood and my hat needs change. I am glad my hat rack runneth over.

Cheers, Eric -
 

Just A Hat Rack

Practically Family
Messages
619
Location
Buckeye Nation
Definitely my HJ Poet. It's comfortable. I love how it feels when I put it on.
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I think I'm gonna have to start saving up for one of these. I'm not happy with how my Penman turned out at all. In fact I got it several months ago and have yet to take it out of the box. Between what Ive seen between you and @jlee562, I should have gone with the "OG" to begin with. Impressive hats!
 

jlee562

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,101
Location
San Francisco, CA
I think I'm gonna have to start saving up for one of these. I'm not happy with how my Penman turned out at all. In fact I got it several months ago and have yet to take it out of the box. Between what Ive seen between you and @jlee562, I should have gone with the "OG" to begin with. Impressive hats!

So I learned on COW this week that I probably paid a VAT unnecessarily when I bought my HJ, and that they can invoice international customers without a VAT by request, but this is not done automatically by their shopping cart.

Whoops.

Anyways, still nice hats. They are definitely collecting a brand name premium price (and, uh, VAT I guess), but they're using FEPSA felts for all their hats, so it's kinda hard to go wrong. Still wish they came with a hat box.
 
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Messages
10,839
Location
vancouver, canada
So I learned on COW this week that so probably paid a VAT unnecessarily when I bought my HJ, and that they can invoice international customers without a VAT by request, but this is not done automatically by their shopping cart.

Whoops.

Anyways, still nice hats. They are definitely collecting a brand name premium price (and, uh, VAT I guess), but they're using FEPSA felts for all their hats, so it's kinda hard to go wrong. Still wish they came with a hat box.
I buy hat making supplies out of the UK. Some sites the VAT is deducted at checkout when the destination is stated. Others give a choice at the item selection point but I imagine there has to be some over ride to insure no cheating.
 
Messages
10,839
Location
vancouver, canada
So I learned on COW this week that so probably paid a VAT unnecessarily when I bought my HJ, and that they can invoice international customers without a VAT by request, but this is not done automatically by their shopping cart.

Whoops.

Anyways, still nice hats. They are definitely collecting a brand name premium price (and, uh, VAT I guess), but they're using FEPSA felts for all their hats, so it's kinda hard to go wrong. Still wish they came with a hat box.
I forgot to mention that if they had not listed the VAT exemption I never would have thought of asking for it
 

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