doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Good winter hat for outdoors and hunting?

I also have a couple of pairs of those black leather gloves with the wool liners that I received at Fort Bragg in January of 1970 Eightbore. At that time of year at Fort Bragg those gloves saw some very good use!! The cold weather headgear we got in 1970 was the new version with fleece lining and Velcro under the chin closure. I think I may have one of those laying about in my barn if the kids or grandkids have not found it and taken it for their use.

Back to the Stormy Kromer caps. What is the purpose of the little bow in the front? All the pictures I have seen of people wearing these caps shows ear flaps either up or down, but the part with the bow tie is always up. Does this part ever get turned down? It doesn't look like it would provide any protection to the ears if turned down. Soooooo, why is it there????

I am not a fan of SK hats. They are a bit too much of a Hipster-trying-not-to-be-a-hipster hat for me. The bow is cute and will snag on spruce and alder branches right and left in thick cover. But I do like a short brim which tends to help with keeping my head down on the comb - a perennial problem for me. With the average ball cap, I have a tendency to cut half the brim off. Looks like hell, but the grouse don't notice.

They have been making that hipster SK hat for about 120 years, so someone must like them. The bow tie can be snugged or loosened so the ear flaps can come down better over one's ears since not all head and ear shapes are the same. I like these ear flaps better than the type that folds up into the hat (eg, a Filson ball cap) because with SK one has the same size hat whether using the flaps or not. Btw Prof, I have hunted grouse in the Northwoods alot and never had the bow catch on anything. A ball cap button, however, seems to catch on most any overhanging branch. Stormy Kromer hats have no button.

I am happy you like yours, Buzz. Now, you can be one of the cool kids on campus.

I'm good without, and that is fine too. Today, it is a standard Cabelas hat with an unmodified brim, just for the record.

Here in the UK we do not get the extremes of weather that you folks live with, here it is a Maritime climate that usually consists of hale Rain Sleet Snow and gales very often all in the same day. To try and keep the cold and rain out I ware the tradition "Wax Jacket having a large adjustable hood" with a choker collar to stop rain runing inside. I do ware a hat under the hood to keep the wind and rain out, Now I have given this a lot of thought in whether I should mention it because of todays political climate so here goes. I ware the traditional Russian ear hat the "Ushanka" under the waterproof hood for these reasons the ear flaps and neck cover fold sown also the ear flaps can be tied down under your chin. Because the ear flaps are shorter than the Trapper Hat they can be folded up out of the way and tied in place also the Military versions are readily available here in the UK and are far cheaper and better than the fashion versions on sale. Just a page from history these hats saved the lives of the Russian troops during the winters of 1943/45 during those bad times when we Brits fell out with our German cousins who did not have such head gear and lost ears amongst other things. The Military Ushanka s usually have a badge in the front that is extremely easy to remove just a couple of bent pins. May be the Ushanka could be given a try if they are available on your side of the pond.

I never wear the wax Barbour stuff anymore, too stiff when it is really cold and I am just cold in Fall or Spring when in them.
A company called Dietrich in Germany makes the ultimate dry snow outfit, I do have one of them, then the Russian walenki felt boots that saved many ruskie soldiers feet from frostbite.
Here is the website for the fur suit.

https://www.h-dittrich.de/fellbekleidung/

My warmest hat is full of memories of old friends, now long gone, of hunts and hunting areas also gone. The hat was made for me by a hat shop in Wuerzburg from a winter fox I shot with the shot barrel of a 16 ga. x 8x57IR SxS combination gun on the hunting area of one of my oldest and best hunting friends in Gross Winkheim. He was a veteran of both the Spanish Civil War and WW2 and shared many of his experiences while adding to mine. The fox ran into the woods after the shot, and we went to his house and got his dog to help find it. We let the dog loose where the fox went into the woods and then went downwind to the next path into the woods. After a couple hundred meters my friend stopped, smelled the wind, pointed into the wind and said there. Leaving me on the path, he went into the brush and came back with my fox in hand, having found it before the dog got to it. That was one of two times another hunter found an animal for me with his own nose (the other being a Roe Buck, which was another interesting experience). After having the raw fox skin tanned by a tannery in Kitzingen/am Main, I took it to the hat shop. It is the type with fold down ear flaps that tie under the chin. I wore is on the stand for many very cold weather hunts but can seldom wear it now because it is seldom cold enough in Alabama. Some years later, I had the same hat shop make a hat for my wife from a Martin I shot on a different hunting area of the same friend. It fell at the shot (rifle) so I had no problem to find it. My wife's hat is the type that doesn't have ear flaps, because a Martin skin is smaller than a fox. She also seldom wears Her's now.
Mike

Your complaint about your "Barbour wax jacket" is very common indeed. The Barbour company took a Farmer Countryman's and Fisherman's working coat and over time turned in to a fashion item and along the way it has been degraded to the point they are so far from the initial item making them as much use in bad weather as fitting an ash tray on a motor cycle. To start the original jackets where made rom very fine weave Egyptian cotton cloth with double stitched seams two deep hand warmer pockets and two rather large bellows external pockets. Inside lining of wool material also what we call an internal "Poachers pocket" runing the entire length of the bac of the coat at the bottom, this was made of waterproof material to stop any blood from shot game leaking out and dripping down tour trousers finally thick tight internal storm cuffs enabling you to pull your hands internally out of the weather. In the photograph is my wax jacket now some fifty years old and comes out every winter so seen a lot of service. The next photograph is how supple the jacket is after all this time and how small it can be folded including the hood that is detachable..





Barbour do not treat the jackets with the traditional wax finish for a very good reason it stays slightly soft and can rub off on your hands, so it made the garment rather clothes in a wardrobe unfriendly. I am not going to go into what type of waxes the fashion coats dress their cloth but what I will do is tell you what the lets say traditional wax finish is that I have always used it is not that expensive to make but possibly to expensive for the fashion market.
50% Bees wax. 30% Paraffin wax. 20% Petroleum Jelly. Melt in a double boiler to avoid a flaming disaster, Now comes the trial and error part you add a small quantity of Liquid Paraffin (Baby OIL) and let it cool this is added to enable the wax to be soft enough to spread over the cloth with the help of a hair dryer. The colder the wearer that you expect the coat to be used in the more Petroleum Jelly you add, tee petroleum jelly and liquid paraffin is used to replace the traditional fish oil used in the mixture no one wanted to smell like a fish sandwich.

I hope this is of help.

Ernie

Waxed cotton coats have their place, I'm certain. Back 30 years go I wanted a Barbour so badly but would not spend my hard, farm earned cash to buy one. I did, however, buy one for my bride. I would rather her have one than me. Turned out that she didn't really care for it and wore it maybe five times. It has hung in the closet for many years now, like new.

A while later I got the idea of making my own. I watched for a barn coat of the appropriate style for a long time and finally found a brown cotton one, with cuffs and collar trimmed in leather, for about $25. It was on a "Half Price" rack in a department store and had been marked down at half price several times. Lined with flannel plaid it looked like the perfect candidate. i ordered two cans of Browning Reproofing Cream and waited until my wife was gone for a day or two. When that occurred i heated the reproofing cream until it melted clear, on the stove, then "painted" the outside of the coat with hot waterproofing cream with a new paint brush. It totally penetrated the cotton twill. When it cooled I had a waxed cotton coat for maybe $50 bucks. I have worn that old coat every fall and winter for all these years and it has worn into having a character of its own, while the wife's almost new Barbour languishes in the closet.

Her Barbour Bedale:



My department store barn coat: