How to choose a cowboy hat

The material
First, there are two categories of hats. Straw hats and felt hats.

Felt hats originally used to protect from the cold in winter thanks to its ability to keep the heat. In contrast, straw hats were used in the summer to protect from the sun. Now, the choice of material is more based on the buyer’s personal preferences than on functionality.

The size
To find our size, you can either measure the circumference of the head or try the hat in store. Fitting in the store is the best option since it takes into account the different options offered for head shapes.

The quality
For felt hats, the number of «X» usually indicates the composition of the hat and thus its quality. Originaly, a «100x» hat made with a 100% beaver fur hat. Today, manufacturers are not required to have a standardized system. For example, we could compare two 10x hats from two different companies and observe that the quality is not necessarily the same according to the company. We can then say that, in general, the higher the number of «X», the better the hat and the more durable it is.

There are hats available from «2x» up to «1000x». Thus, the number of «X» has an impact on the final price of the hat.

The shape of the hat
First, you can buy an open crown hat, which means that the hat has no shape when buying. It can be modeled entirely, so you can choose the shape of the crown and the brim of the hat, according to your personal preferences.

Square crown

The 2 most popular crown shapes are the square shape used primarily for rodeos and the cowboy shape used for reining and performance.

Cowboy crown