Boss of the plains hat

[Texlee]

Does anybody have any experience with River Junctions boss of the plains hat? I'm looking into buying one and they only offer it in pecan color but from their pictures it looks way lighter than the other "pecan" colored hats I've seen. Does anyone have a picture of theirs they'ed be willing to post?
Thanks y'all!

Tex

[Mean Bob Mean]

Did you send this specific question to them?  Oh, and, Last Best West makes one they call "Boss of the Town" that can be had in any color.  See here:

http://www.thelastbestwest.com/old_west_hats.htm

[Texlee]

Yes, I was just covering all the bases to see if I'd get a quicker response here and maybe what others thought of their hats.

Tex

[1961MJS]

Hi

Never owned one from River Junction.  The one I found is fur felt, not wool felt.  Wool will eventually get wet and possibly shrink.  Fur felt is well, fur and won't shrink like wool will. 

Just my $0.02

[flyingcollie]

  Realizing these days "mad hatters" have sixty different ways to shuck the flatlanders as to how much beaver by % is in their product, I'm missing something . . . my 5X beaver hats stretch easy when wet, and shrink up some when dry, especially in the winter months when the heat is on. Not enough fur ?  Any road, a wool felt hat is a toy, or a stage prop. If you really wear a hat other than for the occasional fun time and "look", get a good one !  Rand Hatters in Montana make a "boss of the plains" and they are mighty good hats.

[Delmonico]

Fur blend most often means it's made of rabbit, no beaver. The X mean nothing because there is no standard anymore.  Beaver Quaility means there is some beaver in the blend, how much, none of the companies seem to want to tell you till you go custom and even some of them hem and haw about it, Rand makes a Boss, his 8X are 80% Beaver as should be his 10X is 100%.

If you want a Boss at a decent price that will hold up, look at Stetsons Buffalo Collection, they put some Buffalo in with the wool and it makes a very tough hat, the Boss they call an Austral now, the present Boss of the Plains they make is a funky distressed looking hat for the person that buys jeans with the holes already in them. 

I have an Austral I've been using as a daily hat for 4 years and it's a good hat for the price, I have a now discontinued Big 4 of the same Bison type that is 8 years old and was my daily for 4 years and still gets worn some.  An Austral shouldn't cost over $125 or so, one thing about the Bison hats, they tend to be a rounder oval than most others other than Rodeo Kings and many make the mistake of buying one to big and then it getting loose on breaking in, they are tough to break in and for those with long oval heads they often need a bit of work with steam to get fitted the way they should be, round oval heads will love them. 



Of course that little pin removes very easily.   

[Delmonico]

As an added, the only decent way to tell the quality of a hat is to learn what makes up a quality hat, learn what it looks like, learn what it feels like and then take the hat to be judged in your hands an look it over, look at the sweat band, look at the liner, feel the felt, look at the felt and feel it again, that is the only way I can tell the quality of a hat.   

I've never had one of those River Junction 10X fur blend in my hands or on my work bench but it it is the quality of every other hat I've ever seen with the fur blend label in it, that is about twice as much as I'd pay for one, Hatco's (Stetson, Resitol) Bisons hole their shapes better than any "Fur Blend" I've ever dealt with. 

Also to me, the quality of the sweat band is as much the hat as the felt, I want at least full grain leather, no top grain or some other strange almost sorta leather. 

[River City John]

Here is my Boss of the Plains through River Junction Trade. This is after four seasons or so worn in all kinds of weather, sweat-stained and occasionally dunked in water to cool my head.

Yours can look this good, too, with equal abuse.
Most authentic looking period headwear I own. It did not come with that pretty bound edge, though.


RCJ  

[GunClick Rick]

Do they still use the nubian fur?

[Texlee]

Fur blend most often means it's made of rabbit, no beaver. The X mean nothing because there is no standard anymore.  Beaver Quaility means there is some beaver in the blend, how much, none of the companies seem to want to tell you till you go custom and even some of them hem and haw about it, Rand makes a Boss, his 8X are 80% Beaver as should be his 10X is 100%.

If you want a Boss at a decent price that will hold up, look at Stetsons Buffalo Collection, they put some Buffalo in with the wool and it makes a very tough hat, the Boss they call an Austral now, the present Boss of the Plains they make is a funky distressed looking hat for the person that buys jeans with the holes already in them. 

I have an Austral I've been using as a daily hat for 4 years and it's a good hat for the price, I have a now discontinued Big 4 of the same Bison type that is 8 years old and was my daily for 4 years and still gets worn some.  An Austral shouldn't cost over $125 or so, one thing about the Bison hats, they tend to be a rounder oval than most others other than Rodeo Kings and many make the mistake of buying one to big and then it getting loose on breaking in, they are tough to break in and for those with long oval heads they often need a bit of work with steam to get fitted the way they should be, round oval heads will love them. 



Of course that little pin removes very easily.   

How well does The Austral hold its shape after repeated dunkings? It rains quite a bit here in Oregon.

[Texlee]

Thanks for the info guys!

Tex

[Delmonico]

Any of those Bison hats they make hold up good, mines been rained on more than once and the only problem I ever had was the night I was tired, it was soaked, I tossed it on the dresser and forgot to take care of it after supper. I should have hung it up, it dried crooked and it took me at least 3 minutes to fix it at work.

I push the modern shapes for working cowboys who want a felt work hat.

[G.W. Strong]

I bought one late last season. It looks exactly like the one pictured. It fits well and I like it.

[Tascosa Joe]

I plugged in the Stetson Bison Collection and the only one that came up on Google was $175.  Del, do you sell them at your store?

[Delmonico]

I plugged in the Stetson Bison Collection and the only one that came up on Google was $175.  Del, do you sell them at your store?

I do but I only have one right now.  I'm waiting on more.

[Delmonico]

Try Stetson Austral, I found them for as low as $136.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

I have a hat that Gun Click Rick made from an old Standard '50s Stetson ... it was in a used hat shop and I would not have looked twice at it ....

But Rick thought it was a good investment ... for one it was silverbelly, and would hold up better under the hot Sacramento sun (100 degrees plus).

Then Rick swore that he could make a Boss of the Plains out of the old Stetson ... I remained cool to the idea; .but I'll be damned if he didn't do it ... and for much, much less than the $300.00 someone discussed.

I would urge anyone who is considering a hat purchase to speak with Gun Click Rick first.

..P.S. I got a new computer that my camera does not 'speak to'... otherwise I would have a pic of the gorgeous hat!....

[Fox Creek Kid]

The hat matches your beard but clashes with your makeup & toiletry bags on your belt.      

[Tascosa Joe]

Thanks for the info Del.

[ChuckBurrows]

Tim Bender hats - Tim will custom make you a 4 x 4 Boss of the plains for around $120.00 I have two of his hats and they are excellent for the price and have held up very well and I am hard on hats....