If you’ve every thought about buying a cowboy hat you know the prices can vary drastically. They can be cheap or quite expensive. Why such a big difference in price you ask?
Quality
Hat prices are mostly determined by the quality of the hats. One of the most common ways that companies determine the quality of their hats is by the number of X’s printed on the inside liner. The more X’s the higher the quality from any particular company.
Unfortunately X’s are not always the best way to determine the quality because there is not any industry standards for quality based on X’s. So what one company may determine as a 4X hat another may say is a 1000X hat. In regards to the X system that companies use, Stetson Hats says it has the truest system. Anything from Stetson over a 4X hat has a fur blend to in it and anything below is a wool felt. Recently it seems that many companies are trying to adhere to this “standard” but there are many out there that still deviate.
Don’t be Afraid to Touch the Hat
So how do you determine the quality you ask? You have to touch and feel the hat. The softer the feel, the higher the quality. Trust me when I say you need to feel a hat to tell whether it’s good quality. You’ll know as soon as you start feeling different hats out there.
Typically your felt hats are broken down into two types wool blend and fur blend. Your wool blend hats will have a very coarse or rough feel to them. They are typically your cheaper hats, costing any where between $30-$75. Again the price depends on the quality behind the wool being used in the hat.
Your fur blend hats will typically start around $120 and can reach as high as a couple thousand dollars. The more pure the fur the higher the cost. You’ll know that it’s a nice hat when you touch the brim on these, they just feel expensive.
As for the shape of the hat. We can change that at any point. We have machine that allows us to shape the brim to any specification that you would like.
As always if you have more question on wool or fur felt hats let us know.