Crushable Straw Cowboy Hat

This summer we spent time in Lake Tahoe and water skiing at Lake Nacimiento, Don Pedro, and Lake Berryessa. All of these places were great, but my neck, face and head was sun burnt at everyone of them. I needed a wide brimmed hat. While we were in Lake Tahoe, I was introduced to Shady Brady hats. Shady Brady makes a crushable straw cowboy style hat that comes in standard sizes, including XL. I was immediately attracted to the straw cowboy style hat because of the wide brim which has the benefits of a panama style hat to protect my head, neck and face from the sun. I also liked that it was straw and vented so it would be cooler than felt hats.  This is perfect for a hot day at the lake or beach.  I also liked the cowboy style.

The hat is labeled as crushable. This means that you can crush the hat up and it will return to it's previous shape. This is part true. If you give it a quick poke in the top, it will return to shape, but there is a wire in the hat brim and I bet if you bent it, it would be hard to bend it back to shape. Also, straw isn't the most durable material. If you stuff it in a suitcase, you can easily damage the straw materials. That said, the hat is very nice, highly stylized and very comfortable. It's a keeper.

I ordered mine from Amazon from a retailer called Rodeo Beach. After my order, they called me to let me know that the hat I ordered was out of stock, but they would send me a more expensive model with a nice hat band. I accepted the alternative hat, but was worried that the hat wouldn't arrive in time for Halloween. Yes, after going to all the hot places this summer, I finally ordered the hat for my Halloween Cowboy costume. I figured if I was going as a cowboy, I might as well get a hat that I'll wear during the summer. That's when I remembered Shady Brady from Tahoe. The customer service lady from Rodeo Beach was outstanding. She was so good, I told her I'd write a Hub about the hat and her store. The best part is she knew HubPages and made sure I got the hat before our Halloween Party. Thanks Rodeo Beach. Even better is when I opened my box, they included a truck driver style straw hat. Very cool. To quote her "That's the power of the internet, baby!" Good to be a Hubber:)

So, now I have a great cowboy hat. I just hope I can store it so that it makes it in good shape until next summer when we hit the beach or lake.