Poet Jones 99980 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 So here's a topic that should get lively. For a guy with long hair that generally wears it in a ponytail...what's the best hat? Answers can be maker, shape, ...whatever.
Blackwater 53393 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Which ever hat you choose, get it fitted to you by a good custom hatter!! How you wear, how your head is shaped, how you wear your pony tail, and what kind of hat it is all have bearing on how the hat should be formed to your head. Once you have it where it fits your head to suit you, get a cheap (inexpensive) hat jack and shape it to your hat. If you don't wear the hat all of the time, it will sometimes try to return to it's original shape. A custom fit hat will fit your head without causing pressure spots and will stay on your head in all but extreme wind conditions. It should never hurt to wear your hat and it shouldn't slide around on your head either.
Shorty Jack Hammer Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 <-----I've replaced the hat worn in the tiny pic on the right with one I had reshaped into a sweet Montana Peak at a western haberdashery that I love.
PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 I used to know the answer to THIS one... refer to post #3
Bama Red Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Pay heed to Blackwater's advice. He knows whereof he speaks, being one of the finest custom hatters himself!
Branchwater Jack SASS #88854 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 I used to know the answer to THIS one... refer to post #3 +2. As someone who went from long hair to pulling into a pony tail when shooting, I had mine refitted when I made the transition.
Rye Miles #13621 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Get rid of the pony tail and it'll be easier to get a hat to fit
jrswanson1 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Don't tie up your hair. A properly fitted hat will keep your hair out of your face and the brim will protect your neck from the sun.
Guest Grass Range #51406 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Regardless of what you do with your hair do this. Go to a library and look in some books that have pics of the hats that were worn in the West in the 1880s. Much talk about pants and shirts with snaps, etc. but no emphasis on hat style. Certainly do not get any ideas from the movies; old or new.
Curley Fryes Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Wild Bill Hickok had long hair and had the hat to go with it. Check out any of his pictures on the internet.
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 <-----I've replaced the hat worn in the tiny pic on the right with one I had reshaped into a sweet Montana Peak at a western haberdashery that I love. You love a western haberdashery?
Sedalia Dave Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Unless you buy you hat from a custom hat maker be prepared to only see one style of crown and brim. The ^%$#@ horse show judges have made it very clear if you do not have your hat styled a particular way you will not win. So now almost all the cowboy hats sold in western stores are coming from the manufacturer styled the same and I happen to really dislike that style. Went to buy a inexpensive hat for everyday wear and all I can find are hats with brims folded up at a sharp 90. Most are so heavily creased that they cannot be straightened and still look good. Now that I have ranted. Make sure that you buy the hat with your hair styled the same way you will be shooting. I have long hair that reaches below my belt when not braided. Wear it braided and wrapped in leather when i shoot. Bought a hat that fit with it styled that way. Peoples head shapes run from round to very oval so get a hat that fits your shape of head. Custom hatters are worth the money. PS don't wear white hats down wind of BP shooters unless you like white hats with black pokadots
Ramblin Gambler Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 I have a Similar question and I don't think it's worth it's own thread. When I wear a hat, I sweat through it a lot. At work I wear a doo rag to soak up the sweat under my hard hat, and that works like magic. So far while shooting, I've just been shoving a rag into the hat and it helps a lot, but not enough. In the summertime, I will still have sweat in my eyes by the 5th stage. I'm about to just start using a doo rag with the cowboy hat, but it doesn't seem historically accurate? Does anyone know if cowboys ever wore anything like a doo rag, or if they had other ways to deal with that problem?
Ventura Slim, SASS #35690 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 I will chime in. A bowler rides high and that may work for you but you do not get a lot of sun protection on the face and neck. Looks cool though. Stetson makes a crushable felt hat that has give. Is there a western store that sells boots near you? They probably sell hats and you can try on straw and felt and get one that feels good. I think the rules are no straw hats but they can be cooler and your local shoots will not care. I do not think the length of hair matters as is just adds a little bit more size and hats come in sizes for everyone. Not fond of previous cut your hair posts. Snarky. Ramblin there is a shooter here that wears a bandana doo rag. Hey if it works go for it.
Sgt. Hochbauer, SASS #64409 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Firstly I would find a style that you like.................then find the right place to get one off the rack or custom made.I have several straw and felt hats. I will be heading to EOT and will be bringing along straw hats. I have worn a doo rag under my hat that was soaked in cold water when it was hot. Good Luck Sgt H
Poet Jones 99980 Posted June 13, 2014 Author Posted June 13, 2014 Thanks for all the advice! I will try the no ponytail thing. I might even try the doo rag thing. It gets hot in So Flo in the summer. I might even consider a straw hat.
Augustus Goodnight Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Knudsen is my personal favorite. I have several of their hats. Great Product, Customer Service and a wide selection.... Here's a link to their web page: http://www.knudsenhats.com/home.html
Big Sarge Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Good luck with the hair. I'm letting my beard and hair grow long for the first time in my life. When my hair gets long enough, I'll cut a hole in the back of my hat and let it hang out. LOL
PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Don't tie up your hair. A properly fitted hat will keep your hair out of your face and the brim will protect your neck from the sun. I never found that to necessarily be so (before getting it cut above the collar for the first time in 40 years). If not tied back, the wind can & will still blow it around into yer face...or worse...get it caught in the action of a long gun. No hat has ever prevent that...and mine have always seemed to fit just fine.
Shorty Jack Hammer Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 You love a western haberdashery? Ha ha ha...well it's a pretty fine haberdashery....
Sedalia Dave Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 I I think the rules are no straw hats but they can be cooler and your local shoots will not care. I As I understand it. For Classic Cowboy/Cowgirl no straw except for Womens Victorian Style hats. ( Pg 15/16 SHB) In B-Western no straw hats are allowed. (pg 16 SHB) For all other categories you can wear a straw hats of traditional design but not a "Shady Brady" (pg 26 SHB). Example of a Shady Brady would be the feathered straw hat that Richard Petty wore." Again as I understand it.
Blackwater 53393 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 I wore a bandana in place of a hat for a couple of years before even buying my first hat. My first custom hat wasn't made to my liking and didn't fit as well as i'd hoped. This in part may have led to my later becoming a hatter. I've seen numerous pictures of cowboys wearing bandanas under their hats, and others of cowboys wiping their heads and the sweat bands of their hats in hot weather and in hot weather scenes in movies. All of this seems unquestionably correct and even prudent!! PWB is right!! Your long hair WILL blow around and get into things, that portion that is not contained within the hat itself. That's part of the mystique of long locks!! If mine didn't beat around and break off when I ride my ol' Harley, it'd be seven feet long by now, and I have it in a pony tail. As it is, it's just long enough to get into everything and seems to fit my persona perfectly. Get your hat to fit right, however you chose to wear your hair, and you'll reach a more harmonious outcome!!
Fillmore Coffins, SASS #7884 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Don't buy a cheap BROWN hat unless you want a cheap GREEN hat. Fillmore
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Hi Poet, Speaking as someone with medium length hair, which I rarely wear in a ponytail, if you band your ponytail low (below your ears) it will not affect your hat fit. Also, if you put your hair behind your ears, the hat will keep it there. Extreme heat was the only reason I'd go the ponytail route. I've met the owner of Knudsen hats (Golden Gate Western Wear). He's a good man, who used to shoot CAS under the clever name of Major Debacle. His son was known as Minor Debacle. About hat shape, whatever looks good with your face shape, persona, and costume. Regards, Allie Mo
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Don't buy a cheap BROWN hat unless you want a cheap GREEN hat. Fillmore BTW I have a 20X Gus crease green hat that I really like and a 2X (cheap) brown hat that never turned green. That said, I do know two people with brown hats (Derby style) that are now green.
jrswanson1 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 That said, I do know two people with brown hats (Derby style) that are now green. That's cuz they're leprechauns.
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Well, one of them is shorter than me; but, the other is over 6 foot.
Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Best hat is the one that fits. GG
Guest Grass Range #51406 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Try Law Dog Hat Company in Billings, Montana 406-259-7158 if you want an old time style hat made
Buckwheat Jack Posted June 14, 2014 Posted June 14, 2014 I find it hard to believe fellers want to spend a fortune on a hat that they probly jist weare to shoot. I find that a cheap hat, wet down and shaped the way I want it and battered enough by wearing to do yard work, etc. can be a real good one to wear shooting. I wear a hat every day and only have a couple that were over $50. Those are not going to a SASS shoot until they look older than me. My two favorites came from a truck stop and Walmart. If the wind is too strong,a derby stays put purty good.
Seldom Seen #16162 Posted June 14, 2014 Posted June 14, 2014 Baseball hat. Watch the scene in "City Slickers" where Billy Crystal is trying on different hats and you'll get the idea.
Dang It Dan 13202 Posted June 14, 2014 Posted June 14, 2014 Thanks for all the advice! I will try the no ponytail thing. I might even try the doo rag thing. It gets hot in So Flo in the summer. I might even consider a straw hat. PJ, We've never met, but I live in Florida (my whole dang life) and have shot here for the last 16 years (SASS that is). Most of the "Cracker Crew" wear straw in the summer which is about nine months of the year. The Traditional Florida Straw hat is an almost flat brimmed hat with either a "tycoon" brim or a modified Gus. A good straw hat is not only accepted down here but almost expected. Now, anyone will tell you I don't have a ponytail, or much hair at all for that matter, but a good felt hat should be fitted to whatever you have going on. Hopefully you will come to Central Florida and shoot with us someday. Look for Santa Fe River Stan, Delta Glenn, and yours truly. You will see what I am talking about. Or, you can go to You Tube and look for Hawkeye Gin's videos and see the hats I am talking about. Hit 'em Hard. Dang It Dan
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