Let’s talk about hats.

To the left is an example of a man who knew not only hats but also horses, sixguns, rifles, big and small game and much more – the great Elmer Keith, all-round master shootist, rancher, hunter, outdoorsman, adventurer and one of my personal heroes.  Now, take a look at that hat.

A good outdoorsman’s hat should protect the noggin from sun, rain, snow, bird droppings, and anything else that might fall from some height and do minor damage to or make a mess on one’s cranium.  It should include a chin strap to hold the hat firmly on the head on the windy days so common in much of the West.

Western Hat Store carries my personal favorite, the Laredo Fine Palm Straw Natural Gus Crown by Summit Hats of Houston, Texas – which city I flew through only yesterday on my way to the Rio Grande country.  I like the Gus crown, so reminiscent of the big Tom Mix style (I have a big black Tom Mix Stetson, but that’s more of a out-on-the-town hat than a back-country bumaround.)  The Laredo has a broad, four-inch brim to protect head and neck from sun and rain.  With a scarf around the head it’s adequate into some pretty cold weather, and the tightly woven, heavy palm straw is water-resistant, durable and tough.  I have two of these, an old near-unto twenty year veteran that shows the scars of many days in rough country, and a newer one that I bought for wear around town and other, more polite surroundings, where the battered old example isn’t quite up to it any more.

The one weakness of the Laredo is its chin strap.  The issue strap is thin, rather fragile leather.  I recommend replacing it with a stout leather thong, which will more securely anchor your headgear against high winds.  I normally wear my chin strap around the back of my graying noggin, but a good wind will require moving it around under the chin to hold the hat in place.

An old hat is a treasure.  Like a good old 4×4 pickup, they wear their scars with pride, pride borne of being a well-used piece of a man’s essential equipment, able to withstand the slings and arrows of hard use and outrageous Western weather.

Now, I just need to collect a big prairie diamondback or two, so as to fashion myself a couple of snakeskin hatbands.