Re: Cowboy Hat Dangers

In article <r63ef2l0456bf42m5epd1i65k34u894fqr@xxxxxxx>, none@xxxxxxxx
wrote:

I find it a mystery why so many people wear cowboy hats when they ride
their horse. OK, it's a tradition, or at least the western movies made
it tradition.

Among other reasons, shade. I made the jump from Florida (ball-cap land)
to Arizona. By the morning of the third day in Arizona, doing pretty
much the same amount of time outdoors as I spent in Florida, my ears
were sunburned literally to the raw and bleeding stage. The ball cap
retired in favor of a Stetson that afternoon, and I've never looked
back.

But thing about it seriously. These hats are wind catchers with their
large brims. So, the rider is constantly getting on and off their
horse to capture their blow away hat, or they are constantly fighting
to keep it on their heads when they should be paying attention to
their horse and their riding.

Thinking about it totally seriously: Both cases are "ill-fitting hat".
Period.

I've been working and riding in my Stet ever since Arizona (Coming near
10 years now), and other than days boasting 20+ MPH gusts, or being
physically knocked loose, it doesn't come off unless I TAKE it off.
Which is exactly as it should be, and was part of the selection process
when I bought it. I have *NEVER* had a need to dismount (or trick-ride)
to retrieve it during normal (not scraping through branches, not in
"stampede" mode, etc) riding.

Quite simply, one's lid should stay securely on one's head of its own
volition even when one is fully inverted and semi-gently shaken. A
typical bit of wind should not knock it off, and if the hat fits
properly, won't do so.

If someone's lid fails either test, it doesn't fit properly. It's as
simple as that. Try the next size smaller, or if you simply *MUST* have
*THAT* hat, stuff the band a bit. (Material specifically intended for
band-stuffing is effective, cheap, and if your hat-vendor is worthy of
the name, sitting behind the counter or in the back room on a roll,
waiting to be unspooled and put to use)

<snip the rest>

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@xxxxxxxxx - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd> for more info
.

Relevant Pages

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