Good vs. Great Hat

[mcfinn]

This time of year i find my gaze falling fondly onto my
favorite ff hat. It hangs lovingly over my bedroom doorkob, so i know it's always nearby. i'll put it on and occasionally wear it around the house, or use it to fan the fireplace. sometimes i put it on my desk while i drink a cup of coffee and stare at it since - i'll be honest - i kinda miss it.
We've covered ALOT of miles together, and although my hat is only 4 years old it looks like a teenager. i think what makes a good hat GREAT is the lengths that one goes to preserve the hat and extend its life. Even if a hat clearly reaches the end of its usefullness (i.e., the bill is frayed, the crown-button thing pops out, or pieces either fall or somehow erode off or whatevs) that doesn't mean it's the end of the hat's life. i've brought hats back from the brink before not because i was convinced they were lucky, but maybe - just maybe - there was some ff essence trapped in that hat that somehow made any adventure a grander experience.
A good vs. great hat question is subjective and personal, i s'pose, but ask anybody who has lost a great ff hat how it feels fishing without it. Ask further still how anybody feels after finding a lost hat later in their buddy's truck or in the lost and found box at that little dinor by the river and then you'll see the difference between a good hat versus a great one.
Curious to see some other 'great hat' stories/pics.

 

[Brownie101]

I've had the same, plain old dark red hat for about 6 years. The brim is broken, its completely faded, i doubt its ever been washed, theres a bunch of hook holes in it from me putting flies in it, but its my fishing partner, and ill never get rid of it.

 

[pcray1231]

My fishing hat is now over a decade young and better than when I bought it. It is leather, was once suede I suppose. It's an outback hat, made in Australia, that I bought for a ridiculous sum at a rodeo in Houston, just outside the astrodome.

It looks kind of silly, and I recognize that. But it covers my face from sun, has a wide enough brim that not a drop of water touches my face or neck. I've put enough leather conditioner and silicone spray on it that I'm not sure leather is the predominant ingredient anymore. I do know that you can literally dunk it, pull it up, give it a shake, and the entire thing is dry to the touch.

 

[laszlo]

I've had the same "trout" hat for about 10 years. I post a picture if I knew how. It has a leatherette bill and has a rainbow with two crossed fly rods. I have a winter hat also which has fur lined ear flaps and is wax coated. For christmas my wife got me a wide brimmed Indiana Jones style hat which I'm not sure if I'll every wear.

 

[salmonoid]

Seattle Sombrero is my current fishing hat. Probably going on a good 6 or 7 years with it by now. I doubt the Gore-Tex is too waterproof anymore, but it prevents my head from getting drenched for at least a few seconds

In the winter time, or if I want to wear my video camera, I opt for a Smart Wool beanie. And before the Seattle Sombrero, it was a Woolrich red and black plaid wool hat.

 

[mutzinbaugh]

had a red bucket hat that turned pink from too much sun, it is unofficially retired. funny i was just looking online for a new fishing hat...kinda liked this one. and was thinking about making one

 

[boychick]

I've got a 6 or 7 year old Indians baseball cap that is... was navy blue and is now a light gray due to sun fade. The metal buckle used to adjust the size of the hat is now a greenish color from the tarnish it has picked up from being worn in the rain too many times. I wear this hat fishing 12 months a year, in the winter I pull a fleece beanie over it to keep my ears and head warm. We've had a lot of history in a few short years. I have been given several other baseball caps over the years, mainly from my wife who would love this hat to disappear, but they are just not the same. I’m not sure what the attachment is, but I love this hat and will wear it until it can’t be worn anymore. I do have a wide brim straw fedora style hat that I wear when I will be on a stream that has little or no shade to avoid being exposed to the sun for too long, but the Indians hat is my fishing hat.

 

[k-bob]

I just ordered a Columbia M Trail Dryer hat made from fabric that is supposed to feel cooler when you sweat. After last summer's heat, I'll try anything to be cooler this year! $34 baseball hat, crazy eilitist fly fisherman

http://www.modernhiker.com/2012/06/21/columbia-omnifreeze-zero-review/

 

[The_Sasquatch]

In the colder months, I used to have a sweet Donegal tweed hat from Donegal Ireland. I've worn that hat since I was about 16 yrd old. Then, last October, I took a spill, face planted in the stream, got up and booked it to my car, and never thought about the hat. Never saw it since.

Now I just wear my Manchester United trucker hat. If its cold, I have a knit had I wear. I want to get a new fishing hat but I'm not into spending a lot of money on stuff like this.

 

[KeithS]

I'd like to go with the same shape hat as Pcray, due to wearing glasses and sun glare, but I can't find the right one. I don't want leather, but the felts look OK. It'll just be one more thing for the family to laugh at.

 

[pcray1231]

They are humorous. That's half the fun, you aren't really a fishermen unless you dress to be made fun of.

Why not leather? Before this one I used felts and hated them. Too warm. Water "resistant", but certainly not waterproof and a day in the rain leads to waterlogging. Lost their shape easily. Brim's too floppy so you can't clip lights and so forth to them.

Leather is more expensive and harder to find, but will last forever if taken care of, and can be 100% waterproofed. My one complaint is that I'd like a little smaller brim than mine. It's an outback hat but it borders on cowboy. Indi-Jones style would be ideal IMO. That fictional character knew his hats, lol.

 

[mike_richardson]

I miss my white PSU hat. It turned yellow and the blue is tarnished. I like my floppy eared wool hat the best for winter though. Looks rediculous but keeps my head and ears warm

 

[pcray1231]

Keith,

If you do decide on leather, check out "BC hats".

 

[KeithS]

Thanks, Pat.

 

[pcray1231]

I think mine's actually a different brand, I'll have to check, but basically the same thing. Mine is a 3" brim and I'd prefer 2.5 or 2.75". For me, anyway, a flexible brim is important, i.e. "crushable". If it were a shaped hat I beat on mine so bad it'd be so bent up and never regain it's shape.

It was pretty waterproof from the start. But I load up the inside leather with leather conditioners like you'd use on boots (I use obenhauf's LP), and I have about 20 applications of silicone spray on the top, lol. It's almost ridiculous how much it beads water.

 

[Chaz]

I tired an Indiana Jones type hat for a couple of trips, thinking I'd like to keep the sun off my neck. It kept getting knocked off my head when hiking in and out of streams, it's now retired. The same would happen with a cowboy hat, and I don't like them anyway.
A baseball cap for me.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

I have two favorates right now. I have the Orvis Mesh style Indiana Jones that is great for keeping the sun off and out of my face as well as keeps my ears and back of neck from getting sunburn. And than I have my Specially designed baseball cap that states, "Pease Bug Me" and has a Brown trout on it.

I miss a couple of my hats that I had specially designed, "Catch, Kiss and Release I lost at a lake in MO. And "You're Right, My Fly is Down" Not sure where that one went. However if you see it, let me know.

IT MUST BE SPRING FEVER WHEN WERE TALKING ABOUT FAV HATS!!

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Blurry, but says it all...

 

[JackM]

PennypackFlyer wrote:
IT MUST BE SPRING FEVER WHEN WERE TALKING ABOUT FAV HATS!!

This is the way the community should react to the rancor of the last few weeks. A number of fun and interesting threads have been started recently. I appreciate it. Much better reading than sniping and jabbing.

I don't have a favorite hat, just the usual one. I would like a herringbone trilby in wool.

 

[rrt]

I go thru a lot of baseball-style hats. My current favorite is one with a defunct fly shop's logo. My wife and her friends are disgusted by this hat. I found it along a steam in the muck one evening. It was all mudded up and smelled pretty awful, but I took it home. It took 3 washings -- yes, indeed, I washed it -- to get the stench out of it. This was about 3 years ago. The cloth has almost all torn from the front of the bill (and I even trimmed it to keep the strings out of my eyes), and the adjustment strap is almost shot. If it makes it thru the first couple weeks of the season, I'll be surprised. The women I know (no offense intended to any fly-fishing females who might read this) insist that the hat should never have been brought home, that even after multiple washings that I could contract diseases from a hat rescued in this way. But, we fly-fishermen all know better.
Why didn't the guy pick up the hat when/where he lost it? I really have no idea; perhaps he was frightened by one of PA's non-existent moutain lions!