Classic Cowboy costuming

[Whitey James]

Howdy,

Being that I live in Tennessee and the summers can be brutal with heat/humidity I am thinking of ways to have a "summer costume" that still meets the CC requirements.

Vests and chaps are a no-go during the hot months. I'd like to hear what others who struggle with heat wear.

Right now I am planning on:

Knife (either belt or boot)

Cuffs

Sleeve Garters

Spurs

Suspenders

[Rip Snorter]

Cowboy up?  

[Singin' Sue 71615]

11 minutes ago, Whitey James said:

Howdy,

Being that I live in Tennessee and the summers can be brutal with heat/humidity I am thinking of ways to have a "summer costume" that still meets the CC requirements.

Vests and chaps are a no-go during the hot months. I'd like to hear what others who struggle with heat wear.

Right now I am planning on:

Knife (either belt or boot)

Cuffs

Sleeve Garters

Spurs

Suspenders

As long as you have 5 of the listed 'items'...you're good.

BUT...there are lightwieght vests out there.

[Jax T]

You can add a pocket watch also. Or a light weight bandana

[Choctaw Jack]

Maybe lightweight botas instead of chaps or chinks.

Edited March 18 by Choctaw Jack
Danged Otto !

[Subdeacon Joe]

Kinda minimalist....might want to ad at least shirt, pants,  and boots.

 

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

47 minutes ago, Whitey James said:

Howdy,

Being that I live in Tennessee and the summers can be brutal with heat/humidity I am thinking of ways to have a "summer costume" that still meets the CC requirements.

Vests and chaps are a no-go during the hot months. I'd like to hear what others who struggle with heat wear.

Right now I am planning on:

Knife (either belt or boot)

Cuffs

Sleeve Garters

Spurs

Suspenders

Whatever you’re comfortable wearing as long as you have enough items. I normally have braces (suspenders), knife on belt, vest, pocket watch with long chain, spurs, wrist cuffs, wild rag (scarf), arm garters, and chaps. Instead of chaps you could wear chinks or botas or skip all together. Your can also skip the vest.

Edited March 18 by Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L

[Blackwater 53393]

For some of us, excessive heat is a health issue.  I have several vests that are light weight enough that they shouldn’t be an issue.

 

You can always soak your neckerchief in water and wring it out to help keep cool.  
 

With the vest, you can put together a pocket watch and chain.

 

Just a couple of things that’ll make it easier…

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

Spurs, knife, bandana, pocket watch and sleeve garters.

[Dantankerous]

Lighter weight chinks instead of chaps work well in the heat. The  5 item choice as previously mentioned is easy and can be modified (away from chaps, for example) to avoid heat issues. I know several CCs who never wear chaps. Botas can be used in place of chaps/chinks.

 

Drink lots of water. Avoid coffee.

 

Stay in shade.

 

Some mount a sun umbrella to their guncarts for shade.

 

Occasionally pour water over your head letting it run down the back of your neck... that offers immediate cooling. Or douse a silk wild rag in water and tie it gently around your neck.

 

All these tricks work well for me.

[Sixgun Seamus]

If you have five minimum items, the rules say you are good to go. My personal opinion (and I've stated this in previous threads) that this is a costume category. It is based on your costuming. "GO ALL OUT OR GO HOME! There are 12 items that are worn in Classic. I wear 11 of them almost every time I shoot. If you don't want to wear the clothes, there are other categories to shoot in that use the same firearms and shooting style. As a member of the Mag7 of Classic Cowboys and a past recipient of "Classic Cowboy of the Year", my opinion is therefore slanted and biased. I personally don't own chinks because I don't feel they are the time period that I dress for. I own batwing and shotgun chaps and a pair of botas. I have a set of full buffalo woolies that I have worn at summer shoots. Yes, heat does affect me a lot and I sweat with the best of them. I drinks lots of water and use various methods to keep cool. YMMV

Edited March 18 by Sixgun Seamus
Added stuff

[Rye Miles #13621]

6 minutes ago, Sixgun Seamus said:

If you have five minimum items, the rules say you are good to go. My personal opinion (and I've stated this in previous threads) that this is a costume category. It is based on your costuming. "GO ALL OUT OR GO HOME! There are 12 items that are worn in Classic. I wear 11 of them almost every time I shoot. If you don't want to wear the clothes, there are other categories to shoot in that use the same firearms and shooting style. As a member of the Mag7 of Classic Cowboys and a past recipient of "Classic Cowboy of the Year", my opinion is therefore slanted and biased. I personally don't own chinks because I don't feel they are the time period that I dress for. I own batwing and shotgun chaps and a pair of botas. I have a set of full buffalo woolies that I have worn at summer shoots. Yes, heat does affect me a lot and I sweat with the best of them. I drinks lots of water and use various methods to keep cool. YMMV

Yea I've stood beside you in the summer with all your duds on, pheeeewww!!!! I need nose plugs!

[Whitey James]

1 hour ago, Sixgun Seamus said:

If you have five minimum items, the rules say you are good to go. My personal opinion (and I've stated this in previous threads) that this is a costume category. It is based on your costuming. "GO ALL OUT OR GO HOME! There are 12 items that are worn in Classic. I wear 11 of them almost every time I shoot. If you don't want to wear the clothes, there are other categories to shoot in that use the same firearms and shooting style. As a member of the Mag7 of Classic Cowboys and a past recipient of "Classic Cowboy of the Year", my opinion is therefore slanted and biased. I personally don't own chinks because I don't feel they are the time period that I dress for. I own batwing and shotgun chaps and a pair of botas. I have a set of full buffalo woolies that I have worn at summer shoots. Yes, heat does affect me a lot and I sweat with the best of them. I drinks lots of water and use various methods to keep cool. YMMV

Good Point.

I can stick with the age based category during extreme heat matches and then switch back to CC when it's not hotter than the hinges on the gates of Hell.

[Subdeacon Joe]

1 hour ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Yea I've stood beside you in the summer with all your duds on, pheeeewww!!!! I need nose plugs!

 

Authentic!  

[Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646]

It's not a hat, it's an umbrella with a fat stick. Yeah, it is straw so not legal for CC, but it sure does keep a lot of direct sunlight off my upper body. And when it rains I have a lot of friends.

 

Imis

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

1 hour ago, Whitey James said:

Good Point.

I can stick with the age based category during extreme heat matches and then switch back to CC when it's not hotter than the hinges on the gates of Hell.

Don't do that, keep shooting Classic and just don't wear chaps or vest and stay hydrated.

[Will Kane]

I’m a sweat hog who lives in South Texas, where it’s hot with no breeze a good part of the year. My usual CC summer attire:

 

Wild rag

Sleeve garters

Roping cuffs

Knife on belt

Spurs

I add chinks once it starts cooling down in the late fall and then a vest and pocket watch on our few cold days.

[Whitey James]

4 hours ago, Will Kane said:

I’m a sweat hog who lives in South Texas, where it’s hot with no breeze a good part of the year. My usual CC summer attire:

 

Wild rag

Sleeve garters

Roping cuffs

Knife on belt

Spurs

I add chinks once it starts cooling down in the late fall and then a vest and pocket watch on our few cold days.

Thanks, Kind of what I had in mind. Right now I am wearing full gear(vest,watch,rag,suspenders, cuffs, garters,spurs,knife) Don't own any chaps yet but I will at some point.

[Will Kane]

4 hours ago, Will Kane said:

I’m a sweat hog who lives in South Texas, where it’s hot with no breeze a good part of the year. My usual CC summer attire:

 

Wild rag

Sleeve garters

Roping cuffs

Knife on belt

Spurs

I add chinks once it starts cooling down in the late fall and then a vest and pocket watch on our few cold days.

I failed to include suspenders in the usual attire.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

20 hours ago, Whitey James said:

Howdy,

Being that I live in Tennessee and the summers can be brutal with heat/humidity I am thinking of ways to have a "summer costume" that still meets the CC requirements.

Vests and chaps are a no-go during the hot months. I'd like to hear what others who struggle with heat wear.

Right now I am planning on:

Knife (either belt or boot)

Cuffs

Sleeve Garters

Spurs

Suspenders

Dump the cuffs....and the last spurs I ever owned had Gene Autry's name on them.

[Sixgun Seamus]

5 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Dump the cuffs....and the last spurs I ever owned had Gene Autry's name on them.

Are those the same ones that you wore on the ark?

[Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580]

I live in eastern Oregon where it gets into the triple digits quite often in the summer, but the humidity is relatively low. I've been shooting CC almost my whole SASS career (started shooting in 2004). I generally wear everything but the chaps all the time. Cuffs, spurs, wild rag, suspenders, sleeve garters, a couple of knives, vest, etc. Not sure why on the chaps, I just never have worn them. All that having been said, one thing nobody has mentioned is wild rag material. I've found that pure silk wild rags work pretty well at keeping my neck, and thence my head, relatively cool without needing to have water added to them. I tend to avoid synthetics and cottons as much as possible for that reason. And I make sure that I drink a lot of water.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

23 hours ago, Sixgun Seamus said:

Are those the same ones that you wore on the ark?

No, those were Cisco Kid's branded.