Joke of the Day!

The Naked Blonde Cowboy

A sheriff in a small town walked out in the street and saw a blonde cowboy coming down the walk with nothing on but his cowboy hat, gun and his boots.

So the sheriff arrested him for indecent exposure. As he was locking him up he asked "Why in the world are you dressed like this?"

The Cowboy said, "Well it's like this Sheriff... I was in the bar down the road and this pretty little red head asked me to go out to her motor home with her....and I did.

"We went inside and she pulled off her top and asked me to pull off my shirt, .... so I did....

"Then she pulled off her skirt and asked me to pull off my pants... so I did...

"Then she pulled off her panties and asked me to pull off my shorts... So I did...

"Then she got on the bed, looked at me kind of funny and said, Now go to town cowboy....

"So here I am!"

Grizzly Hats!

Here it is the day before September and the month of September means fall time!  With that, there is no better Hat for Wild and Woolly Wednesday.  The fall weather brings cooler temperatures and the rule of thumb on Hats is Felt after Labor Day!!  In case you didn't know it's this coming Monday!

American Hat Company & Resistol Hats both make this Grizzly Hat.  It has fur that is close to a 1/2 inch long which gives it a real shaggy look.  There is NO Beaver content in these Hats what so ever!  They are all rabbit fur which makes the quality not much more then a 4x.  This Hat has a style of its own!!

Getting to know the Blogger - Part 2

Alright lets start by awnering last weeks questions.

Answer #1:  Bare Back & Saddle Bronc

Answer #2:  10 years age on the right knee, and 3 weeks ago on the left knee

Answer #3:  The Big Money

Answer #4: # 13

Answer #5:  Some would say 2 - Parker, our Son, and Jager, our Welsh Corgi Dog.  However, we only have 1 Human Child!

For Part 2 I am going to ask 5 additional questions about Kody and see who can answer these questions!  Once again, GOOD LUCK to all participants!!

Question #1:  What was the first hat he started creasing?

Question #2:  How many tattoos does Kody have (if any)?

Question #3:  Which horse did Kody break, train and compete on?

Question #4:  Which state is the farthest EAST Kody has been?

Question #5:  How old is Kody today?

Comment Issues

I apologize for the inconveinence about not being able to post Comments under the Blog Post.  I wasn't aware the settings had been set back to default settings!  I have now fixed them, and you should be able to post your comments on each Blog Post!

Bad Hair Dayz

I don't know if you have ever felt like this in the the morning and known that a fight was waiting for you in the bathroom with your hair!?!?  I sure have!!  Lucky for me, I have a pile of Hats to choose from so I never have a Bad Hair Day.  (And I don't have much hair to fight with anyways!)

Now here are a couple of hair cuts that need a HAT!

The good thing about Hats is that there are soooo many styles and sizes to fit some of the messes you have going on, on top of your head.  There shouldn't be a day that you wake up are not able to win the fight against Bad Hair!

There is no reason you can't feel like a Queen or King in a great looking HAT!!!

Get to know the Blogger

I am going to ask you 5 questions about Kody and the person who answers all 5 correctly will win something from our many travels!

Question #1:  Which 2 rodeo events has he never done?

Question #2:  How long ago did Kody have his right ACL repaired?

Question #3:  In all the pictures on his personal or Ropin Pen Facebook, which crease does Kody do the most?

Question #4:  What number is most significant to Kody and I?

Question #5:  How many kids does Kody have now?

Please leave your answers in the comments section of this post.  I will be checking them to see who is answering them correctly.  I will be sure to let the winner know as soon as he or she has won!  Good luck to everyone who participates!!

Rock Stars In Cowboy Hats

If you know me I'm a bit of a Rocker, so I was thinking of all the Rockers that wear Cowboy Hats.  Now I am not saying all of them should wear a Hat, but alot do!  I just wish they had better help with some of their Head wear choices!

Take for instance, this PINK Hat with the black fur trim?  I now there is a much better choice of Hat for him.  I would love to see this Hat on Carmen Electra, she could pull it off well!  However it's not working so well for this guitarist from Guns 'n Roses.

Now as for the lead singer of Poison, I do believe he pulls this look off well.  I hate the look of this Hat by itself, but on him it goes with his flow!  If you didn't have your Hat all rolled, looking all wrinkled and wore out, you weren't one of the cool cats!  I don't know who started this trend in Hats, but it sure is a popular style! If anything, I wish they would use this particular style in a higher quality of Hat.  It looks a lot better!  Believe me, I have distressed lots of Hats in my day and not matter what you do to it, quality always wins in the end!

You can't forget the little band from Texas.  They are the staple of Rock Stars in Cowboy Hats.  This band has their very own style, sound and swagger.  These 3 have always stayed true to their Texas roots!  I think if you want to wear a cowboy Hat and rock, learn from the best!!  Take it from me...stay a "Sharp Dressed Man"

Hat Etiquette

There are many rules to wearing a Hat, not a ball cap, but a real HAT!  My generation doesn't practice any of these guidelines in today's society.

Back in the 20's and 30's everyone wore Hats, both Ladies and Gentleman.  They cared how they looked and was a sense of pride to sport a Hat.  Personally, a lady in a Hat always catches my attention no matter the Hat.  It just shows confidence in themselves.  With more and more people wearing Hats there is an Etiquette that goes along with it.  Some of these rules I practice and there are others I don't, so here are some guidelines for you with your HAT.

*It is always proper to tip your Hat to a lady you are meeting for the first time.  Use your left hand so if she wants to shake your hand, the right is free.

*It is OK to leave your Hat on in a public building, only until you enter a private room.  That is when you remove your cover.  It used to be proper to remove your Hat in an elevator but in today's world they are to crowded so it's OK to leave it on your head.
*Always remove for National Anthem, the passing of the flag or a funeral procession.

Besides wearing a Hat to protect you against the elements, a Hat worn properly can give you a sense of Dignity!

I AM BACK BABY!

Holy Cat Fish there has been a pile of things I have done and places I have been since I last talked to you fine comrades of mine!  First and foremost we have the final touches of opening our very own CUSTOM HAT SHOP!  We have acquired all the equipment and skills and are ready to build everyone some custom Hats.  More to come on that at a later date!  Here is what has been going on while I was away from you all!


May was very good with our Straw Hats!  We ordered a couple of different body styles that pushed the standard and did very well.  Also our BIG GUN ROPE CO. sold many, many ropes to Cowboys all across the nation!!  It is very exiting to have people loving our product and have repeat customers!


June was amazing!!  I was home barely one week of the whole entire month. The 2nd of June, I left for the Utah Jr. High School Finals and sold tons of Straw Hats and almost our entire supply of Big Gun Kid Ropes.  Two days following that was the Utah High School Finals which my lil bro was apart of!  (He ended up 4th overall in the Steer Wrestling, and went to Gillette, Wyoming for the National High School Finals)  By the end of those 2 weeks I had sold and creased enough Hats to fit an army!  It was spectacular because everywhere you turned there was a Hat that some one had bought from me.  I was home for one day and the loaded another trailer with some Hats and Saddles for the Art of The Cowboy Makers competition in Loveland, CO.  So Holly (my SMOKIN HOT wife) and I left one day earlier and went to the San Diego Padres (my team) and the Colorado Rockies (Holly's team) baseball game in Denver!  I wore my San Diego Hat sitting right next to the Rockies dug out.  Needless to say I lost and Holly got fried so it was about even!  From there we went to Greeley, CO and were able to experience Greeley Hat Works and see there operation!  Let's just say it was very inspiring!  From there, we set up the show and got started with the competition.


I was Proud of my BLACK CHERRY PURE BEAVER HAT WITH AUTHENTIC OSTRICH SWEAT BAND AND HAT BAND.  I was also proud of KADE's WHISKEY PURE BEAVER HAT WITH A CHAR BROWN  BOUND EDGE AND MATCHING BOW HAT BAND!  Kade won second place in the youth and I didn't end up in the top 3.


Then my Sweetheart of a wife locked the keys in the truck in the Olive Garden parking lot. With my temperature pretty close to boiling, I was trying to break into my truck through the back sliding glass window.  I was trying too hard, and shattered my back window!  The next morning at the show,  someone clipped my bumper and left!!!  To top the whole entire trip off, we finally headed home and the water pump goes out in Grand Junction!!  I don't care if I ever go back to COLORADO again!


JULY 2nd, my brother and I were entered up for the weekend at 3 rodeos and a Home Town Roping.  During this Holly and I were moving into a new place!  Parker (my lil man) and I met Kade and his traveling partners in Mt. Pleasant Saturday morning to run our first steers, and Holly stayed home to start unpacking the trailer full of stuff.  No luck for any of us.  I had the boys stop and help move our couches in on our way to Salina for the rodeo that night.  Bad steers and again No Luck.  Then on Sunday Morning we got up and roped in the Redmond Jackpot Team Roping and I ended up winning a little money!  We left there, and I had to take a Cold shower because we hadn't even turned the Hot water heater on in our new place.  We then headed to Tooele to run our last steer of the weekend.  I was first out, pumped and had a good fresh steer. I called for him and got down alil early and he keep running so I reached up and set my feet and then my left knee completely popped out and I fell on my face.  I knew I couldn't stand up, so I bit my lip and hobbled over to the fence, and crawled on the Haze Horse (Pepper AKA the Old Man).  I hazed Kade and Trevor's steers then rode to the horse trailer and couldn't get off the Horse, so I slid onto Frank, went to step with my left leg, and my knee joint gave away and I again fell on my face!  Come to find out I completely tore my left ACL, tore the Lateral Meniscus and had a large Bone Bruise.  So the rest of July I limped around creasing Hats and getting things prepared for our New Hat Shop!


Now that it is August I have a New ACL, trimmed up Meniscus, awesome looking scar, Fresh Ideas and a Hat Shop to kick the rest of the year straight in the ass with!


LETS DO THIS!!!!!!!!

Extra Crispy??

I know it has been alil while since I have let you fine and sophisticated people, like myself, Under My Hat! I had a gentleman come into the store today looking for funeral clothes, and of course, I checked out the Hat he had on.  By looking, I think his Hat was Silverbelly under all the years of abuse, with a shorter brim, and crooked "Homemade" Gus crease.  I talked to him for a brief minute to make sure he didn't need my help, then one of the girls came and helped him pick out some nice new threads.  He later told me he had to go to his 101 year old Aunt's funeral.

Then he came back to me while I was shaping a Hat and asked me if I could sew in a new sweat band in his old Hat. He said "Y'all will never guess how the S.O.B fell out." So, I had to ask........ He insisted on telling me how the sweat band fell out.  This gentleman knew he had to use "steam" and heat, so he thought he could shape his Hat by putting it into the Microwave for 30 seconds.  When he pulled out his Hat, it was steaming and pliable for shaping.  However, the sweat band had shriveled and became brittle like "Extra Crispy Bacon"  He said, "I guess I should have only done it for 15-20 seconds."

I wished that was the end of this spectacular story, but it only gets better!!!!  He then told me how much he liked the shorter brimmed Hats, and how he made his own "brim trimmer"...YOU WILL NEVER GUESS!!!!!!!  Here are his step by step instructions:

1.  Find a pencil (or crayon), and a piece of string about yay long!

2.  Tie one end of the sting to the pencil (or chalk).

3.  Place the loose end of the string on the bottom part of the crown.
4.  Draw a circle around the Hat with pencil (or Sharpie Marker), while holding tension in the string.
5.  Once you have your circle, take your scissors, pocket knife, pruning shears, or nearest box cutters...and follow your circle until you have trimmed your brim to proper liking!

*********DISCLAIMER*************
Under Kody's Hat is not liable for wavy brims, snags, uneven measurements, and your own disliking of your new and "improved" Hat.   PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!

Needless to say, after his adventurous story, he walked out with a brand new granite Hat, with a properly cut 4 inch brim!  Thanks for the story "man from Montecello"

John Wayne's Hat Band

Trivia Tuesday! I have a question for all of you out there in Movie Land. What is the Hat band that John Wayne wears in some of his movies called and where did it originate from?? (see picture)

 I think this Hat Band gives any Hat a rugged look, and could also mean there are plenty of stories to tell, and also lived in this Hat.

Old Hats

For Memory Monday I would like to tell you a little bit about one of my old Hats. I was pushing some watusi cattle with my Grandpa in tamarack trees on the river. At the time of year the tamarack were dropping their seeds, and were really sticky. Our saddle pads, coats, and felt Hats were covered in the sappy thorns.

The good thing about a broken down felt Hat in this type of country is that the brim can fold down over your ears and cheeks to protect you from the thick, sappy, thorns. The tamarack was so thick, the cows would go lay in it, and we would have to get off our horses and crawl underneath the brush to push the cows back onto the trail. As we were crawling under the tamarack we would come across dead calf carcuses that were half way eaten by cougars. After seeing these dead, half eaten calves I never wanted to get my job finished so quickly!!! I wasn't sure if I should be loud to scare the cougars, or just sneak my way through the tamarack and find the hiding cattle. Finally we were able to rope the cows and "persuade" them back to the other side of the river where they belong!

It was a good thing I was wearing one of my old Hats that day. If it weren't for that Hat, I wouldn't have the ears and cheeks I do now!! After that day, my Hat was never the same. It did it's job, and had to be retired!

Hey Mister, nice Hat!

Today is Featured Friday! This is one of my personal favorite Hats. I was wearing one and had a gentelman buy it right off my head. The pictured Hat is a 10x quality, Pecan in color with a charcoal brown bound edge and matching bow. It has a 4 1/2 inch brim with a "5" hand creased cattleman crown. The five crown in our Hat line has softer creases and shorter than a "3" crown or "8" crown.

The great thing about the pecan color is that it really pulls out your skin tones. I would say this color looks smashing on 80% of people that try it on. It is also dead center between a dark or light Hat. With the darker brown edge it really pulls the dark under tones out, which makes it wearable with about anything! When you can't decide on a dark or a light colored Hat, try on the pecan and see if that works for you.

The Fuzzy Slipper

I found this poem, and it made me laugh! I thought it was perfect for Wild & Wooley Wednesday. The reason I think it hit me so funny is that all the woman in my life do everything in flip flops or slippers. My wife was wearing them through the last snow storm we had. My sister used to clean stalls every day in flip flops. Can you just imagine all that stuff between your toes?? Every time we go practice my mom cusses her flip flops, and yet somehow the next day she shows up to run chutes in her flip flops again, and we hear about it one more time.

Warmer Days

I am back had an AWESOME weekend off! I am ready to spill a little more information on Hats. I spent my weekend in a warmer climate, wishing I had packed my Straw Hat. This inspired me to tell you more about Straw Hats.

There are 8 main Straw types that are used in making these Hats, which are hand woven. I have already educated you on Jute Straw Hats, and the next one I want to share with you is Shantung. It is sometimes referred to as Shantung Panama.

Shantung is a man-made high performance paper yarn. The Japanese people named this high performance paper "Washi," which literally means "Japanese Paper." Because of availability, and tensile strength, washi is now mainly made from the Manila Hemp Plant. One of the characteristics is that it can absorb thirty percent moisture without having the feeling of wetness. It is considered to be one of the strongest of all natural fibers. It is awesome for making hats. Shantung is light weight, and durable.  It is very similar, by looks, to genuine Panama Hats. 

Funky Fact Friday

Here are some things I have come across this week that I think everyone should know even though you will probaly never need it.
*In the original version of Cinderella the slipper was made of fur, not glass.... maybe they should have just had it a Hat?
*Owls are the only birds that can see blue
*Iron weighs more after it rusts
*The only king without a mustache in a deck of cards is the King of Hearts
*Cans of soda have a 4x longer shelf life then bottled soda
*To be awoken by a kiss on Valentine's day is considered LUCKY!
*15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day

If anyone has some Funky Facts, leave a comment below to let me know what it is, and I will pick a few to feature on one of our Funky Fact Friday posts!

Kettle Iron Curl

Here it is "Throwback Thursday" upon us once again. I want to tell you a little about the Kettle Iron Curl. It is when you have your brim rolled up over the sides. I have heard lots of differnt names for it. Most of the names come from the diameter of the curl such as the quarter iron curl, pencil curl and rain catcher curl. To achive this look it takes a Heat, Steam, Water and a Kettle Iron.

By doing this, it helps strech the Hat fibers to curl in a half circle around the brim. (See above picture) You can just run it on each side, rather than all the way around, for a more traditional look. You can also do it just in the back for more of a flat top Buckaroo look. Or like Tom Mix, Hop Along Cassidy and Val Kilmer as Doc Hoiday in the movie Tombstone, with the Kettle Iron Curl around the whole brim.

This week I have been practicing the Kettle Iron Curl since going to visit JW Hats. It's really growing on me, and I think I want a Hat with that curl to it. Yesterday I had the opportunity to make a Hat that looks just like Tom Mix's hat he wore. I will post a picture of my replica Hat tomorrow.

Steer Wrestling Terminology

Here we go with some "Trivia Tuesday". So before we go any farther, everyone should know that I am a bit passionate about Rodeo especially the Steer Wrestling and Roping.

When you run up on a steer, get in the hole, grab the left horn and just when your feet come out of the stirrup, you and the steer take a nose dive and go ass over elbows. I would like to see how many of you know what this is called in the Steer Wrestling event.

Here is a picture to further my explanation! Going along with the theme of Hats, I have destroyed many Hats this way. Check out his Hat!!!!!! They don't last very long when you throw steers this way!

JW Hat Adventure

For Memory Monday I would like to tell you about my little adventure up to JW Hats in Salt Lake City, Utah. I have been working on my quarter iron curls but decided I needed some help. So I found out who made the irons for us and saw how close they were located to us. I called JW Hats Thursday afternoon and told him I needed some help on my technique. He told me to be there the next morning and he would show me how. Kade and I drove up Friday morning and spent the day learning and building Hats with JW. Both Kade and I built some Hats from a raw state, it was sweet to go through the process.

When we were finished at JW Hats, we drove over the hill to the Burns Cowboy Shop in Park City and helped sell some Hats to a few of the skiers and people shopping in the store. I got to try on one of the "ugliest coats in the whole world!" is what my wife says, but I think it is the most spectacular piece of clothing I have EVER tried on! This coat made me feel like a King! Hmmm......King Kody.....kinda has a little ring to it, don't you think?!

How It's Made Stetson Hats

Here is a video that i found that walks you throught building a hat! Check it out!

Tumbleweed

For "Featured Friday" I want to show and tell you about one of my many creations. This Hat I call the "Tumbleweed" is one of my own creases. The color of the Hat is Buckskin, and the brim measures 3 3/4" with what I call "Hand Curls". One of the coolest features about this hat is the Distressing!! I am constantly making brand new Hats look "broke" in. I love how it helps highlight some of the characteristics of the Hat. Distressing definitely adds character and personality to your lid! It makes the stories about "living" in this Hat more believable! Last, but not least is the sweet Hat band. It is made from vintage leather that has been saved from when Burns Saddlery was making harnesses for wagons and stagecoaches. Adding the antiqued studs to the Hat band, it makes for an awesome rugged appeal.

If you want one of our distressed Hats, stop by one of our stores in

Salina, Utah

Park City, Utah

or Carmel-By-The-Sea, California

Taller Crowns

For "Throwback Thursday" I want to talk about the late '70's and early '80's styles and creases in Hats.

One of my favorite things is looking at old pictures of my Grandpa, and Dad wearing Hats from that era. The style of Hats they generally wore were 7" crowns and 3 3/4" brims, also with outragous looking Hat bands. Some with so many feathers it looks like you ran into a bird.

For example:

If any of you know the movie "Urban Cowboy" you know what I am talking about! That was a staple for this kind of hat. After that movie was made, it helped the western attire grow more popular!

                                                                             

There is one Hat that is still floating around out there from this era, and the guys that wear it won't change. It's called the "Quarter Horse" crease. It has a 7" crown with a 4" brim. The crown is tapered with deep pocket vents, and the brim is dipped in the front and in the back with a slight quarter iron curl on the sides.

The gentleman that wear these Hats love it and is the only Hat they are interested in. If you try to show them something new, they turn and walk away. The only downside to these Hats is trying to find a new one. There are very few companys that have it still available.

"THE BIG FAN"

The way I would clean and shape a hat is as follows:
**Spray "Scout Felt Hat Cleaner" on the top of the Hat
**Take a Hat Brush and brush counter-clockwise on the brim and crown
**Spray Hat Cleaner on the bottom side of the Hat
**Brush the Hat clockwise on the brim
**Hold over steam until pliable
**Shape Hat as desired

Now for the Wild and Wooley Wednesday...

One of the things I have been reading about is "Hat Fanning". What this means is while riding a bucking horse or bull, you take off your Hat, and fan it at the stock. This spooks the animal to a more "colorful" ride. By doing this, it would increase the scores for the cowboys, and always entertained the crowd. Now a days you don't see much of the "Hat Fanning" because the stock have been bred for bucking.

Now I think that is pretty "Wild and Wooley". Don't you?

Cleaning Your Hat

I had a gentleman come in and was just amazed at our Hat wall and watched me clean 2 Hats. He picked up the pure beaver Hat that I shaped up for myself and began to praise it. He told me he was a novelist in Hats but loved them and had been starting to play with them. He told me, the old timers where he is from, told him that the best and only way to clean and shape a Cowboy Hat was to soak it in Windex then let it dry.

   So that started me thinking of a great question for Trivia Tuesday: How do you clean YOUR Hat? What are the proper ways in cleaning and removing dust, stains, ect. from a Hat??

Funky Fact Friday

*Did you know that Termites will eat twice as fast listening to heavy metal music. I am a rocker and feel like I work faster to faster paced music and to tell you the truth it makes me drive faster as well...
*Chewing gum while peeling an onion will keep you from crying...
*Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under his cap to keep him cool. He changed it every 2 innings.
* There wasn't a single pony in the Pony Expres, just horses.

Throwback Thursday

For our first "Throwback Thursday" I would like to talk about Jute.  Jute is a long, soft and shiny vegetable fibre which evolved from the plants in the genus Corchorus. Natural jute fiber is a golden color that can be spun into strong, coarse threads.

Jute is the second most widely used fiber in the world, only next to cotton. It is used in making industrial yarn nets, fabric, bags, furniture, hats, etc. The fabric made from jute is commonly known in North America as Burlap.

I had a gentleman come to me once and tell me he wanted a "burlap sack hat". Not knowing that Jute and Burlap were the same thing, I showed him a "Jute Hat" and he told me that is what it looked like, but was called Burlap. How coincedental that we were talking about the same hat, but different names!

The apperance of these hats have a rough and irregular surface. It looks like you could strike a match on them. The strands of the weave are thicker than your typical staw hat. There is better ventilation in Juke "Burlap" hats because they have a pourus weave.

The "Frost"

I was watching 8 Seconds and saw Lane Frost's Cowboy Hat, and felt inspired to make a "Throwback" lid. By "Throwback" I mean the taller crowns, bright colors, and the ever so popular feather in the Hat brought to you in the 1980's by the rodeo Cowboys! You also have the Black/Red color combination, which is always a classic! So here is what I came up with, a standard 4" brim with the RCA crease in the crown, a red bound edge with matching Hat bank and bow! The final touch would be a repilca of an Eagle's feather!!                             What do you all think?

We have had alot of interest in this Hat! Feel free to call for priceing 435-529-7484