Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

Just looked up a Montana Peak style hat. Yeah I wouldn’t wear one of those either unless I was a state patrolman or Smokey the Bear. Lol

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

Catfish H****r; Well, before there was Gus, down here that style was known as a Montana Peak! It was usually worn by folks from northern states. Like I said, I was probably in my seventies before I actually saw one. It was at church one evening. It was a large Baptist church and I was a deacon and responsible for the detail of supervising all the Deacons working the doors and greeting visitors. This cowboy left his hat on a table in the foyer. I waited until after the services to see just who that hombre might be. Struck up a conversation with him.. He said he lived west of San Antono in goat country and both he and his dad wore this style of hat. I don't know where his dad came from because a 'Gus" or Montana Peak is foreign to Texas! Just Sayin...RJS

Flytier Loc: Wilmington Delaware

I always knew there were different styles of hats common to different parts of the west, just didn't know how many. Mine is similar to the one Randy wears in the pic with his grands.

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

[quote=Robert J Samples]Catfish H****r; Well, before there was Gus, down here that style was known as a Montana Peak! It was usually worn by folks from northern states. Like I said, I was probably in my seventies before I actually saw one. It was at church one evening. It was a large Baptist church and I was a deacon and responsible for the detail of supervising all the Deacons working the doors and greeting visitors. This cowboy left his hat on a table in the foyer. I waited until after the services to see just who that hombre might be. Struck up a conversation with him.. He said he lived west of San Antono in goat country and both he and his dad wore this style of hat. I don't know where his dad came from because a 'Gus" or Montana Peak is foreign to Texas! Just Sayin...RJS[/quote

Hat #1 is the Gus. You might recognize the character from the movie “Lonesome Dove”.
Hat#2 is a traditional Montana Peak
Hat #3 is the style I saw most when I was in Texas. The “Buckaroo”
Hat #3 is also the hat you see the most in Oregon where most “cowboys” have never seen a horse. But they got the boots, the truck, the horse trailer with a lawn mower in it and they attempt a southern drawl. 😂😂

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

Catfish H****r: Well, we have danced all around and left out the most popular, or frequently bought and given as a present and that is the Stetson 'Open Road' and now called the LBJ model. I have one and the a version of the one you call Buckaroo! Before the LBJ, I had another and changed it from the Open Road to a Buckaroo. It isn't easy to get out of the rut in chosing a hat style. I like some of the styles that John Wayne wore in different movies. I will own, nor wear a black cowboy hat. Here that represented "low down, lying, c***ting horse thieves" not really but once did and that reputation remains. Just Sayin...RJS

Flytier Loc: Wilmington Delaware

Well I bought mine in Montana, and it's different than either of those, having a valley rather than a peak, but a wider brim than the Gus. It was Ctallyy second hat. The first was purchased see d for me by my MIL and was similar but tan rather than black. I had one in between those two that was leather and purchased at a Orvis style. Also have on in Aussie style, where one side can be pinned up, but I don't use that one often.

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

I don’t google often but to find examples. The hats I posted were named by others and I would guess many places call things different for sure. My Grampa wore a hat religiously as do most men in Wyoming and Montana. His was always a short brimmed short crowned hat that people called the “executive” when I was young. I still have one of his hats but it hangs on a 200+” set of deer horns he harvested back in the 30s along with a custom made bamboo fly rod he built in a custom leather case made for him by a local saddle shop in Sheridan Wyoming. Here in Idaho it’s rare to see anyone without a hat on. The sun is intense here and vehicle tires that sit idle will crack and explode quite regularly from the heat. Not many bare noggins here where I live.

Jarheadfishnfool Loc: Woodlake/Tulare ,Ca.

I've never worn a hat of that type , but I think if I did I'd wear the Gus ,I like it!

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

Coming from Wyoming a cowboy hat feels natural to me. Most of my hats are the Gus style because they sit down close to my ears and protect them from the sun. When it rains they keep water from running down the back of my neck and keep the sun out of my eyes pretty well. I like the Gus too but I’ve got some others. The Gus just fits me the best in most cases. The custom hat maker that made two of mine had me try on a few different styles and he recommended the Gus as a custom hat for me. He’s got a head fitting thing that has adjustable little tabs every inch all the way around your head so when he’s done sizing you for a hat it fits your head perfectly. Can’t really even feel the hat once you put it on. Really nice hats too. He took a handful of beaver hair and got it wet and showed me and my son how they make felt from raw beaver hair. That was pretty interesting. You just nead it like making bread and it breaks down and sticks together. Almost like making a tortilla kinda sorta. You end up with a big round, flat piece of felt doing that. Then he cuts the edges to form the outer line and puts it in a big, hot, press to get the style you want. The process takes about 2 weeks with steaming, shaping, drying, re-steaming, more shaping and more drying. He still makes hats like that but he mostly buys the blanks already made into felt and shapes them. That’s still a lengthy process but worth the wait for a, once in a lifetime, hat. They’re hard as a rock when he’s done too. My wife was standing behind me one day and when I stood up the back of the brim hit her and gave her a black eye. Lol. She learned to stand back a little when I have a Baldwin hat on. 😂

Jarheadfishnfool Loc: Woodlake/Tulare ,Ca.

Does rainwater run off of them or do they soak , being the beaver hair you mentioned?

Jarheadfishnfool Loc: Woodlake/Tulare ,Ca.

Ahh reread your reply and saw where you said the water runs off, sorry about your wife,ouch!

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

The custom hats I have have plastic covers for them and, yes, they will soak pretty fast if not covered. My camo hunting hat as well as my dress hat came with covers. I don’t wear the dress hat much at all but when I’m hunting I carry the cover in my pack for the camo one. They will, also shrink real fast if you don’t wear them a lot. Gene Baldwin, the hat maker, gives you a styrofoam block the shape of your head to keep in the hat when you’re not wearing it. Plus I bought hat stretchers and had them shaped like the styrofoam to keep in the hats while they’re h*****g. He also gives you a strap with a clip, with his company logo of course, to hang them with so they’re not h*****g against something. Over time, and not much time, if they’re leaning against something while you’re not wearing them they will adjust to what they’re leaning on. He gives you a custom box to store them in as well that protects the shape. My other Gus hats, being mostly synthetic, don’t soak up much water and my straw hats repel water really well without protection. Most straw hats now days are not straw at all but a form of plastic that resembles a straw hat.

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

Oh yeah she played that one. “Where’d you get the shiner?”. “My husband gave it to me”. That was true but not how it sounded. 😬. She could probably whoop me if she wanted to. 😂

Jarheadfishnfool Loc: Woodlake/Tulare ,Ca.

Now I understand, thanks for the info, good looking hats yeah I wear the straw or seems like, hat for Fishing. You have a good day CH,,

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

You too JH.