How do I attach a chin cord to western hat?

[SCOUTER]

I'm sure those of you west of the Mississippi are laughing, but I want to add a chin cord to my western hat so when I have a death grip on the reins my hat dosen't fly off. again (100 years ago this would have been common knowledge) I thought I would punch two holes in the brim of the hat just forward of the ears, insert some type of grommet, (what type?) and run the cord up thru one side around the back of the hat and down the other side. I looked for those small "vent" style grommets but nothing looks right.

Thanks for any help!

[TomBanwell]

Scouter, that is exactly right.

[timjtodd]

You could also attach a cotter pin to each end of your stampede strap and either poke it in between the inner hatband and the hat on the inside then splay out the cotter pins to hold it in place or put a small hole in the brim on either side and poke it out through those holes and splay out the pins and it would be hidden by the outer had band. That way you wouldn't have to put such big holes in the hat.

[grumpyguy]

Scouter,

anyone who has spen t time ahorse back has had that very experience. I myself have literaly lost several hats while in pursuit of the wiley bovines on mountain ranges. Tree limbs and brush will take anything that's not well secured. I've lost cameras, binoculars, lunches, those little family radios we used to tell our partners which way the cows were headin', about any thing you can think of.

I finally relented and purchased my first set of "stampede strings" (common western venacular for "chin cords.") with cotter pin holders, which inset into the hat band. (They do pull out easily, so if I do get hung up I ain't letf dangling from a tree limb only able to touch with my tip toes, a long and sufferable death by the way. Always good to have a knife that can be opened with one hand too.)

Other guys I ride with use a pocket knife and poke little holes to insert a full loop "stampede string" through the brim. These horse hair types really will "clothes line" you as they are pretty stout, leather usually break but can still choke you up some. Amazing what a little eigth or quarter inch string can do at somewhere between 15 and 20 MPH. The little slides are sometimes quite strong don't break or pull off easily either.

For best safety I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THE STAMPEDE STRINGS WITH THE LITTLE COTTER PIN ENDS, yer throat will love ya for it! And from past experience don't use para cord or baling twine to make due, stuff is way to strong!

[Timothy]

The stampede strings with cotter pins work great.

I work in a western store and have put in a lot of both kinds. Most Western stores will install them for a couple of dollars. We have a special punch used to cut eyelet holes in hats and a eyelet setter that looks like a pop rivet gun. A small drive punch ought to do just as good for a one time thing. The eyelets we use have about a 3/16" hole diameter and are about the same length. You can set them by hand with the proper size snap punch. Just a tip if you set them yourself: put the hat on and mark the location according to your ear. Most like them just in front of the ear. Measure about 1/4 or 3/8" from the sweatband to the center of the hole and you're good. Don't Crimp the eyelet too tight or it will end up misshapen and cut through the hat. This is much simpler than lining up the eyelets in the crown.

I prefer a tight fitting hat, and am in the brush alot, so I don't usually use them. I can't say I prefer one style or the other. The eyelets do allow you to use one long piece of string with the center looped behind the crown.

Other than showing you how and letting you do one thats all it usually takes to train a new employee.

Hope this helps,

Timothy

[robert]

If you use the non-cotter pin method (one long string) on a straw hat, you can use an awl to poke your hole - it really just separates the staw fibers and you dont acutally cut the fibers as you would with a hole punch.

I have used that method and not used eyelets... since you dont break any fibers, the hole doesnt tear.

[ArtS]

I prefer the stampede strings with the cotter pins. It doesn't hurt the hat in any way since you bring it up through the seam of the hat band. I also agree that if you ride in the woods at any time you will prefer to have your cotter pin pull loose than get a neck burn or worse. This is experience talking LOL.

ArtS

[mulefool]

I've done it both ways. When I punched a couple holes I didn't put in any eyelets and it seemed fine, the hat lasted over 20 years. I've also used the cotter pins and that would probably be my choice for the best way to do it.

[Hidemechanic]

I wanted to respond to this back when it started but I got interupted with a job of all things and haven't been able to get on here.

But I guess good information never goes out of date.

I have a different twist on the stamped string.

For most of the reasons mentioned above I don't use the string under my chin except in extreme situations.

The rest of the time I leave it behind my head( behind ears). It loops below where my scull and neck meet. The slide can be tightened when needed for securety. Most hat warers will notice that if they ware their hat square on their head, the shape of the forehead helps to keep the hat secure to a degree and in light windy conditions you tilt the front of the brim into the wind your hat will have more securety(even withouta string). That with the string behind your head as mentioned gives you a pretty secure hat.

I don't recall who I learned this from (probably and old trapper in my youth) but back in the early 70s when I was out with some buds in Montana, one of them gave me a hard time and said that was a stupid way to ware a hat. The conversation progressed to him trying to knock my hat off and he was unsuccessful. Later we were at the cabins in the mountains, in between riding trips, we were out in the meadow playing horse tag. That is basically chacing each other trying to grab each other's hats from bareback horses.

Well no one could get my hat off. During the game it started raining, being late summer it was still warm and I had a straw hat. It softened up from the rain. One of the guys was determined to get my hat, when he grabbed it, the brim came appart and unravelled. Well he still didn't get my hat off but it wasn't much good without a brim.

Good times.

Anyway, I agree the string behind the head is not as secure as under the chin, but I would rather go back for my hat than get closelined with it in the woods. Very rarely have I lost a hat using this method.

Cheers. GH

[tashabear]

I wanted to respond to this back when it started but I got interupted with a job of all things and haven't been able to get on here.

But I guess good information never goes out of date.

I have a different twist on the stamped string.

For most of the reasons mentioned above I don't use the string under my chin except in extreme situations.

The rest of the time I leave it behind my head( behind ears). It loops below where my scull and neck meet. The slide can be tightened when needed for securety. Most hat warers will notice that if they ware their hat square on their head, the shape of the forehead helps to keep the hat secure to a degree and in light windy conditions you tilt the front of the brim into the wind your hat will have more securety(even withouta string). That with the string behind your head as mentioned gives you a pretty secure hat.{snip}

Anyway, I agree the string behind the head is not as secure as under the chin, but I would rather go back for my hat than get closelined with it in the woods. Very rarely have I lost a hat using this method.

Cheers. GH

That's how I used to wear my boonie hat in Kuwait, and the winds got pretty stiff out there. We had an NCO who couldn't read the uniform regs for content, and just looked at the pretty pictures, which showed the string under the chin, so she insisted that that was how the "bonnet" was supposed to be worn. I blew her off, as I wasn't interested in chasing my hat around the motorpool -- and she was wrong, anyway.

[tonyc1]

I had a friend once who had that many wrinkles on his brow, he was able to screw his hat on!!!

Tony.

[Jordan]

Tightening the strap on the back of the head works in most situations. imho a boonie is the way to go, get it wet and viola' instant A/C until it drys anyway. Could always buy a smaller hat and really cram it on or get a bigger head

[Hidemechanic]

HAA!!Haa!!HAAA!!

Good one! GH

[Elegant]

Double sided tape!

[Hidemechanic]

As to hat fit, or getting a hat to fit, it's like boots. You need some brake in time for the hat band to mold itself to the shape of your head. It's easier with felt hats because everything molds together better than straw.

So with fElt hats(which I usually reshape anyway) I pick a day when I know I can ware the hat for awhile and I get it wet and ware it dry.

Anybody see Tom Selic in Monte Walch? He walked out of the mercantile with his new brand hat and the first rain barrel he walked by, dunked the new hat in the water pulled it out and put his own shape to it. Put it on his head where he wanted it, got on his horse and rode off.

Well that wasn't to far from truth.

Usually I buy a felt hat in the fall anyway and rains aren't too uncommon so I've gone outside waring the new hat, let it get a good soaking(not soppy floppy wet, kind of like casing leather) then do whatever shaping I want and let it dry that way. The leather band and the felt take to the shape of your head and there you are.

I've also been less dramatic and just used a spray bottle. Sometimes, in a hurry to bypass the brake in period, I use a tea pot on the stove , using the steam to shape the hat like the guys in the store, but at home you need to be real carefull not to get the felt too hot. It will shrink and get hard like cardboard. This doesn't do much for the hat band though.

Straw hat brake in is pretty much,get out and work and get some good sweat going. Between you body heat and moisture the hat band will shape to your head. No shortcuts there.

That's my techno tips for fitting your hat, that with the string used behind the head you have a pretty secure combination for keeping your hat on while everyone else is trying to controle their horse with one hand on their head, or scrabbling off the trail throughing their ranes to their partner as the hat sails off like a frizby. GH

[elkayr]

I realize that this is an old topic, but I promised my nephew that I would fix one for him. He doesn't ride horses. He just wants to be able to keep his hat on when it is really windy. He works outside all day. Anyway, I have some latigo & 1/4" eyelets & was going to attach the eyelets to the inside band, but the eyelets look like they poke out too much & might hurt. What is a "vent" eyelet? Also, if you run the latigo around the inside of the hat & bring it down by the ears, do you tie a knot in front where it hangs under the chin? I was thinking of using some sort of bead to draw it up tighter. Thanks for any help.

[rhall]

Velcro is the only way to go! LOL

[elkayr]

Velcro is the only way to go! LOL

Can't get it to stick to his hair.

[rhall]

No ,you supper glue a strip to your forehead and sew the other in your lid!

[Spence]

Here's my 2 cents.

Forgive the looks of my Drover, but it's a qualified work hat. It's bad luck to wash a work hat or a coffee mug.

I work German Shepherds in protection and tracking and although they've come close, they haven't knocked it off or taken it off, nor have I clotheslined in the woods. Winds here in Texas can come screaming in at over 50 mph with gusts to almost knock you off your feet. The Drover has stayed put. The cord came with it and since I also wear the cord around the back of my head, I saw no reason to change it.

My Sunday hat is also a Drover (black) and I've gussied it up with a nice hatband and stampede strap. If the wind comes up, I don't have a problem bringing the strap down and around the back of my head. Most folks don't even notice it.

On the strap you'll notice the small piece of doubled-over leather. The holes are a bit smaller than the chord and it's worked to draw the strap up tight for quite a few years now.

I've never tried to upload pics so hope it works...

[Hidemechanic]

elkayr,

I've used beads, drilled antler, anything you can think of. Even leather like Spence said. A piece about 1", a hole ponched near the ends then fold the piece lining up the holes, run you strings though and slide it up where you want it. You can use anything that will create a bight on your string yet slide where you need it to.GH