Here's something from my first book, Ghost Medicine. In that book, Troy wears a flat-rimmed black Stetson that was a gift. Not coincidentally, I've had this hat for many years... since before I started writing that novel.
And, like Troy's Stetson in Ghost Medicine, this one happens to be 4X Beaver, which, in hat language, means it's a pretty decent hat that will last a long time -- maybe forever.
Also, like Troy, I prefer flatter brims. But I haven't worn this one in years, so it's starting to curl a bit. I'll have to get it straightened out this winter, when I may wear it again.
But 4X Beaver also means (sorry animal people) that the felt used for making the hat consists of about 15% Beaver fur and 85% Rabbit fur.
That's just how cowboy hats are made. Used to be, in the old days, that 4X was about the best-quality hat you could get, but those marks meant different things 100 years ago. Now, you can find 100X hats, but you could spend four or five thousand dollars on one, too.
