I love the hat this man is wearing. It looks like a Filson packer hat, but the brim seems much larger. Has anyone seen a hat like this or know where I could get one? The man is Elmer Kleb, a hermit that lived near Houston and died in 1999.

-Blast

I haven't seen anything that looks much like it. I think your right. It looks like a Filson type design with a heavy canvas. Then again it might be felt or a really well worn leather. Possible considering the guys probable age.

I doubt your going to find a make, model and maker. Filson might have s

I haven't seen anything that looks much like it. I think your right. It looks like a Filson type design with a heavy canvas. Then again it might be felt or a really well worn leather. Possible considering the guys probable age.

I doubt your going to find a make, model and maker. Filson might have something close. You might have to have one custom made. I would be tempted to talk to Filson and see if they could come up with something similar. They could call it the "Elmer Kleb". Sort of a living memorial.

Of course it it is felt it might be a possible DIY job.

I could see myself wearing something like that. A light color and wide brims are good for southern folks.

Looks kinda similar to this Akubra "Coober Pedy" hat. But of course not nearly as expensive.

http://www.davidmorgan.com/product_info....2cc8d0b9867c8ad

Whatever brand and model of hat this is, it's old. The crown looks like someone's been sitting on it for a while and the brim droops all the way around. And you're right, the brim looks wider that the Filsons which max out at about 3". Thought perhaps because the man appears to be slender - with a small hat size - the brim appears to be wider by contrast. I myself have a large head - hat size 8 - and I find that I need at least a 3.5 to 4" brim so that I don't look -hatwise anyway - like John Candy in Uncle Buck.

The Akurba site link provided above - or below - depending on where in the column this post lands, has hats that appear to be similar, minus the wear and tear. At $100 or more, they are expensive, but no so expensive for a fur felt. Good luck in your search.

Now that I look at it again I think I know what it is.

It is a common felt cowboy hat that has sagged and drooped with age, water exposure and wear. I'll bet you that if you took it to a shop that re-boxes cowboy hats they could return it back into an aproximation of its original turned up rim and western stylish self.

Personally I think it looks better how it is now. Sort of an sod-buster/mountain man look.

Assuming I'm right, I kinda hope I'm not because I only get to be right so many times a week, it should be easy to get one that looks like that.

1) Buy a high quality cowboy hat in an appropriate light shade. Buy quality because the cheap ones will fall apart instead of aging gracefully.

2) Wear and abuse it for fifty years taking care not to maintain it or its shape. When it gets so hats so nasty that it drops buzzards at 50' jump into a lake with it and wear it dry.

That would be the 'authentic' way to get one.

You might be able to get one faster by either buying the cowboy hat and selectively abusing it with water, steam and stomping it.

You might do even better to call a maker of high quality cowboy hats and have them send you one out that has just been felted to the general shape of a hat. But before it gets molded into the classic cowboy hat form. I once saw pictures of the hats before they are stretched, formed and finished and they kind of look like what Mr Kleb is wearing.

Remembering this is why it dawned on me that it is not a hat that was originally designed that way but rather a standard cowboy hat that has been regressed by wear and tear to an aproximation of its form before it passed the final stages of manufacturing a cowboy hat.

Kind of a Hoss Cartwright hat after lots of use and abuse...

This is not felt and will not have the "character" the hat you are showing does, but it is the same shape. I have one of these and I can recommend it as an excellent hiking/outdoor hat.

http://www.summithut.com/catalog/remap/product.asp/pfid/25011/

Summit Hut will have a lot of choices in hats.

banthony1,

Welcome to the fire, newguy! Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that place before.

-Blast

Art,

Judging from a few other pictures of Kleb I think the hat was some sort of tin cloth or oil cloth. Hmmm, maybe Shwert can hook me up with someone at Filson to make me a custom version of the hat.

The guy looks like Gandalf to me. He lived for almost ninety years without utilities and growing his own food on 133 acres. This land is now a nature preserve with his house and barn converted into a "living history" museum.

-Blast

well, then who got his hat?

I would guess that is a fur felt not canvas hat. An Akubra Bushman or Akubra Coober Pedy would be a very good start....that and about 40 years of wear.

I am not much of a fan of Filson hats. They just don't fit me like an Akubra. This my Bushman....a few more decades and it could work.

Schwert,

Thanks for responding. That is a nice hat you have there. How wide is the brim? It definately looks wider than the Filson.

I don't know why, but for some reason I'm in love with the idea of a tin cloth or oil cloth hat rather than felt. I suspect down here in Texas the canvas-type materials would feel cooler. Right now I wear a no-name boonie when adventuring. I want something with character.

And maybe a catskin hat band...

-Blast

Martin,

I don't know who got his hat, but his chamber pot was on display.

-Blast

The Bushman is right around a 4" brim.

I find oilskin hats to be the same as wearing a sauna on my head....felt is much cooler for me.

For a canvas hat nothing beats a Tilley. I have a half dozen Filson tin and shelter cloth hats....never wear any of them as they are just too hot and not comfortable at all.

Also I do not consider a Boonie to be a hat.

Be the first in your neighborhood to have a LIVE cat hat!

Hey Blast, It looks like an old stetson to me one thats been out in the rain more than once. The second link is close but it has vents that your picture dosen't
http://www.stetsonhat.com/raw/collections/felt_dts.asp?ID=67
http://www.stetsonhat.com/raw/collections/felt_dts.asp?ID=62

Ray,

I think those are the closest so far. Given this was in Texas the Stetsons make a lot of sense.

Gee, I didn't expect so many responses...

-Blast

I was going to mention something about Texas and Stetsons but being as that we Texas need to be polite to one and another I refrained.

"well, then who got his hat?"

"When Mr. Kleb died in 1999, the Houston Audubon Society acquired many of his affects. The Society allowed Tomball's Spring Creek Historical Association and the Klein, Texas Historical Foundation to take what artifacts they wanted."
(http://www.kleinisd.net/default.aspx?name=kisd.hf.mkwk.bbr)

Sue

Susan,

I contacted the Houston Audubon society about Elmer Kleb's hat and actually got a response! It was a Stetson but it got lost somewhere along the line.




-Blast

Good one Blast. They sound like a nice group.

I was almost certain that was not a canvas hat....unfortunately Stetson is not the company it once was. I would definately recommend you find yourself an Akubra. David Morgan is the place and just about any open crown model and a few decades of use will have you a nice hat that will evoke Elmer's memory.