RV Travel Poll: Do You Own A Cowboy Hat?

Above, wearing my Stetson at the El Rancho Hotel restaurant.

In some regions of the U.S. law enforcement officers sport cowboy hats. 

In the Gallup, New Mexico area, many (including me) have cowboy hats. I have two, with one being a Stetson. Since I live at 7,000 feet above sea level, the air is thinner and those hats offer protection against the sun's rays. They offer more protection than do baseball caps. It is interesting that quite a number of the area's Native Americans also wear them.

RV Travel asked in a poll article, "Do you own a cowboy hat?" As of this writing, 59% of the responded with yes.

The article begins with:

The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) police department updated their uniform policy awhile ago and it’s drawn quite a bit of attention. This change allows on-duty officers to sport cowboy hats, aligning them with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, which permitted the iconic hats earlier.

Now, the officers proudly showcase their cowboy hats on social media. That caught the eye of none other than Deion Sanders, the famous football coach and avid cowboy hat enthusiast. Sanders was so impressed that he offered to cover the cost of hats for the entire staff. However, Police Chief Mahoney clarified that officers would continue to buy their own hats, as these are considered optional accessories.

While the hats add a stylish touch to the officers’ uniforms, their purpose goes beyond fashion. Chief Mahoney pointed out that the wide brims provide excellent protection from the sun, which is especially beneficial during outdoor events like football games and concerts.

To read the full article and participate in the poll, go here. 

Wild Hats

A few years ago, I moved to New Mexico. The home I bought is at 7,000 feet above sea level where the air is thinner than at sea level.

Since the air is thinner, I felt it prudent to buy myself a cowboy style hat to keep dangerous rays of the sun from giving me skin cancer. A cowboy style hat offers more protection than a baseball cap. The back of one's neck is not protected by baseball caps. 

The hat I bought was directly through the Stetson company. The hat I chose was a few hundred dollars, but it is of quality material and well made. It still looks as good as the day it arrived. Plus, it keeps my head warmer during winter months than a baseball cap does.

There's a "feller" from Louisville, Kentucky who makes custom hats. The business name is Wild Hats.

I've been seeing their Facebook posts on different hats they make. The guy featured seems quite talented and makes hats to customer specifications. 

Here's a video:

:    

From the Wild Hats website:

Welcome future WILD HAT FAMILY.  So you stumbled upon us. Maybe you saw one of our hats out in the world. Maybe a friend told you about us. Maybe it was me talking to you in sunglasses on instagram and you thought, hell I need a nice hat. Let’s give this a shot. Regardless, our response is the same, welcome to WILDHATS. We look forward to getting to know you, Listening to you, and making you something you have never been able to find!

WILDHATS is built by artists, by musicians, by rebels, by the ones with a wildstreak. But what we share in common is we are all bespoke hat makers. Now this term gets thrown around a lot. “Custom hat maker”.  While we agree anyone can make a hat. To make something that’s truly bespoke you have to do something that is severely lacking in the market. Which is to listen. That’s what we specialize in. We listen to what you want, we listen to what you don’t want. Then we act. Pretty simple, and it works for us and you every time. We don’t let our ego get in the way of making you what you are looking for. 

Regarding the why? Well sometimes you just start doing something and you don’t stop. Maybe you have known this feeling in your life. An itch you couldn’t scratch, so you kept scratching and years later here we are. Still scratching. We just have a passion for protecting history. The old ways of doing things. When Quality mattered. So that’s our goal. To make you something timeless and to preserve anything that has stood the test of time. 

Our story goes much deeper than this, but if we have piqued your curiosity, reach out via the many outlets this website has to offer and let’s share life stories and make some one of a kind art together. 

Cheers Y’all!

-WildHats

If you are interested in getting a custom-made hat, their website is accessible here.