Another "why not" question

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Why doesn't anyone make cowboy hats in men's sizes any more.  I take a 7 7/8 or 8.  I have several that I bought some years back in those sizes.  They are wearing out and need replacing.  

 

And while ranting, what is this crap with "hard hats", felt so stiff it can't be reshaped and is impossible to break in without a pro quality steamer.

 

Let's carry this gripe further: most hats for sale on the net don't show brim and crown measurements, either.

[Rip Snorter]

Man, chill, you'll have an episode!

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

I wear 7 1/8, but am in agreement with your other gripes. 
 

Perhaps Blackwater can chime in with tips on shaping the headband part. I’ve employed hat stretchers that will take care of the fore/aft fit at the expense of making the amidships fit too wide. 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I wear a 71/4 or 7 1/2  and there’s a big difference in the kind of hats. Stetson seems to run a little smaller and Resistol seems to run a little bigger from what I bought. 

[Rip Snorter]

The big issue that even fine off the shelf can't generally address is actual head shape.  I have a couple of off the shelf, but several customs.  Most of the customs are a perfect fit, and you will not wear out a good one.  I wear a Western hat daily - took me 24 years to wear out a favorite Resistol my wife gave me.  Customs last generations - a rancher friend has his Fathers and Grandfathers handmades.  They still look great.

[Alpo]

First thing I thought of when I read the post was - get in touch with Colorado Mountain and talk to Smitty. He can probably take care of you.

[Sedalia Dave]

3 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

I wear 7 1/8, but am in agreement with your other gripes. 
 

Perhaps Blackwater can chime in with tips on shaping the headband part. I’ve employed hat stretchers that will take care of the fore/aft fit at the expense of making the amidships fit too wide. 

 

Get a wooden hat stretcher. Then take a sanding disc to it and reprofile the sides so that it creates the desired oval shape you want.

[Blackwater 53393]

Generally, the stiffest hats are the best felt.  It’s felted tighter and usually has a finer grade of fur.  That allows the felter to press the hat body tighter and actually makes it more waterproof and it holds shape and size better,as well as producing a lighter weight hat.

 

HOWSOMEVER!! It DOES take more effort to reshape a top quality hat.  I wear a 7 7/8 hat in most instances. Having once made a living as a professional hatter, I learned a lot, but I’m by no means an expert!  YES!! You DO need a good source for steam!!  It also requires more time and patience because the hat body naturally tries to hold the shape it was previously given.

 

An alternative to simple steaming a hat body is to soak it thoroughly and dry it to the new shape or size desired.  It’s far more difficult and time consuming, but in the absence of a good steamer, it will get the job done.  In the old days before modern steamers, this method was used along with “irons” of different shapes and designs.  A leftover from that era is the “curling shackle”, used to put the “roll” or “pencil roll” in the hat brim.  Today, they’re used in conjunction with the steamer to create that shape. When they were originally employed, the hat brim was soaked and the tool was heated and applied to curl and dry the brim into the desired shape.

 

A thin, stiff hat body is often the sign of quality.  I’ll qualify that statement with the following exception. Felt hats CAN be chemically stiffened. I used a mixture of shellac and denatured alcohol to stiffen older worn hat brims and, on occasion, even on the crown of an older hat that had begun to fail to hold its shape.  I’m reasonably certain that some of the lower priced or lower quality products offered these days have been chemically treated to better hold their shape and size. Nothing wrong with it. It’s just their business in a time when the price of a high quality product is too expensive for the average buyer!

 

For those who have difficulty with the size vs shape of a hat crown, (where the shape of your head isn’t compatible with that of your hat, despite the hat being the correct size) I recommend you buy a “hat jack”. It’s a necessity for many hats and the people who wear them.  I have a couple of hats that I keep on a hat jack when I’m not wearing them, mostly because unless you wear most hats constantly, they attempt to return to whatever shape they originally had. The more you wear an individual hat the better it fits and the longer it retains that fit. Sweat bands also shrink naturally, so the hat jack also prevents that shrinkage.
 

To compensate for various changes or shrinkage, I get my hat stretched and shaped to fit my head comfortably. Then I sand or file the hat jack to fit that shape and just keep a little tension on the hat’s sweatband when I’m not wearing it!  The next time I choose to wear it, it’ll fit perfectly.

 

A top quality, 100% beaver felt hats, given even minimal care, can easily last a hundred years.  I’ve worked on a couple of them that had had the sweat band replaced several times due to age and wear. The hat body was still perfectly viable and, when cleaned and blocked, looked and felt like it was new!  I used to joke that a pure beaver hat would last forever so long as you didn’t cut it up, grind on it, or burn it!

 

Lesser quality hat bodies may not last as long, but proper care can extend the life of your hat greatly.

 

 

[Sedalia Dave]

These are the one's I have.  They come in different sizes

 

[Pat Riot]

When a hat maker won’t put brim or crown measurements I email them and ask for the dimensions for each hat I am interested in but in separate emails. 

[watab kid]

ive only bought mine ayt second hand stores - i can try them on and they are reasonable priced , but then ive only had two , - one i kept , iys my always shoot hat 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

12 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

Man, chill, you'll have an episode!

 I AM an episode!  I don't get 'em, I cause 'em in other folks.

Edited July 14, 2025 by Forty Rod SASS 3935

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

12 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

The big issue that even fine off the shelf can't generally address is actual head shape.  I have a couple of off the shelf, but several customs.  Most of the customs are a perfect fit, and you will not wear out a good one.  I wear a Western hat daily - took me 24 years to wear out a favorite Resistol my wife gave me.  Customs last generations - a rancher friend has his Fathers and Grandfathers handmades.  They still look great.

I bought a 1941 vintage Resistol that had never been worn.  It's been  my every day favorite for almost ten years.  About once a years I have it cleaned and re-blocked (that lady just retired and I don't what I going to do now.).

 

I still have two All Hat hats (a very elegant wide brim high crown cowboy hat and a "western Fedora", both in light gray)  that Bobbie Dumez (Damn I miss that guy.) made for me that are almost as good, but they are more Sunday-Go-To-Meeting hats that don't get as much use.

 

I also have a baker's dozen other hats and caps that get very little use, a beaver pelt "trappers hat" and a Marine eight panel utility cover and an Army "boonie" hat that are mostly once or twice a year hats....and a Navy watch cap for really cold days.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

15 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Get a wooden hat stretcher. Then take a sanding disc to it and reprofile the sides so that it creates the desired oval shape you want.

I have two of those and they are as useless as tits on a chicken.

Edited July 14, 2025 by Forty Rod SASS 3935

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

2 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I have two of those and they as useless as tits on a chicken.

And if I wanted a hard hat I'd get another Derby or something like folks wear on construction sites or when riding motorcycles.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

A brand new, fairly stiff Stetson saved my skull one summer afternoon ... a four foot long set of pipe tongs (family oilfield setting) slipped out of the user's hands and cracked me across the crown.

Kind of reshaped the hat but saved the underlying scalp and whatever claimed to be rattling around inside my skull.

I stepped back, examined the skypiece, allowed as it just got some character, and went back to work.

[WD Farren]

I've never been a hat man my entire life.
The only time I wear a hat is at a match.. and that is an off the shelf hat (fits accordingly).

 

I figure fine hats are going the way of Kodak or HiFi receivers or Nikon film cameras.
When there is no demand, there is nobody to fill the demand.

 

The few that remain cater to the high end, such as that old boy in Scotland who makes one set of golf clubs per year.
If you have to ask the price, you cannot afford them.

Edited July 14, 2025 by bgavin

[Rip Snorter]

Plenty of hat makers here in Montana.  Was never long on hats till I started to get short on hair, and also had a few brushes with skin cancer.  You can wear a good western hat most anywhere.  

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

10 hours ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

A brand new, fairly stiff Stetson saved my skull one summer afternoon ... a four foot long set of pipe tongs (family oilfield setting) slipped out of the user's hands and cracked me across the crown.

Kind of reshaped the hat but saved the underlying scalp and whatever claimed to be rattling around inside my skull.

I stepped back, examined the skypiece, allowed as it just got some character, and went back to work.

Now, that explains a  lot.  😉

[SouthwestShooter]

On 7/13/2025 at 3:58 PM, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Why doesn't anyone make cowboy hats in men's sizes any more.  I take a 7 7/8 or 8.  I have several that I bought some years back in those sizes.  They are wearing out and need replacing.  

 

And while ranting, what is this crap with "hard hats", felt so stiff it can't be reshaped and is impossible to break in without a pro quality steamer.

 

Let's carry this gripe further: most hats for sale on the net don't show brim and crown measurements, either.

The boogie man commith.

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

I found a place that has large sized hats. The only cowboy type are more of the Aussie hat style. For baseball type hats some of them range from 7 5/8 to 9 1/4. Bucket hats. English newsboy caps. Derbys. Not all of them are in the biggest sizes but many up to the 8 1/4 size. Lamood big hats.

Edited July 15, 2025 by Smokin Gator SASS #29736
Added Derbys