Product Review: Stetson Open Road Cowboy Hat
Today I would like to provide a review of a hat I received as a gift for my birthday a few months ago.
The hat is from Stetson and it is a black Open Road in their “Royal Deluxe” felt.
I don’t get any money or kickbacks from writing reviews. All my reviews are real and honest. But you already knew that.
As you guys are all well-aware, I love hats and have quite a few of them. Until now, though, I had never owned a hat that could be considered a “cowboy” or “western” hat. I have two Stetsons already (a Temple fedora and a Roadster) as well as a couple of Akubras (a Fed IV and a Campdraft) but no one would look at any of those hats and think “western”.
That’s for a couple different reasons. One is that they either have more “formal” traits like wide, grosgrain ribbons (Temple and Fed IV) or I have creased them in such a way that they look more like regular dress hats (Roadster and Campdraft).
Long story short, this Open Road is my first venture into unmistakable “Cowboy Hat” territory.
Now, those of you who are familiar with the Open Road know that the hat was originally supposed to be a “middle-ground” between cowboy hats and dress fedoras. They were marketed as being able to function in the country, but not look out-of-place in the city.
They were very popular. We’ve all seen the pictures of Harry Truman and LBJ wearing theirs and looking very cool.
At first, they sported an “open” crown, which meant that you would crease it yourself to your preference after you bought it. After a while, though, they all were given a factory crease in the “cattleman” style which is what they still have today. Stetson actually does sell an “open crown” Open Road now, but I think it’s only for a limited time.
Interestingly, the Akubra Campdraft I mentioned earlier actually has the proportions of the original Stetson Open Road and is sold with an open crown. I steamed my Campdraft into a teardrop crease, though, which is why it doesn’t look much like a cowboy hat.
Ok, that’s enough history. The Open Road is one of the most well-known hats in the world and you have more-than-likely heard of it.
So, if there is no shortage of reviews and opinions on the internet of this very popular hat, why am I choosing to write a review of it?
Because it’s a style that is just a touch outside my normal wheelhouse. I live in the northeast of the United States which means that cowboy hats aren’t super common here. The Open Road is a good style to start with if anyone out there is thinking of dipping their toes in the world of western hats.
Let’s get into it…
The first thing I noticed about the Open Road is the quality. I’m a fan of Stetsons so I was already familiar with their stuff when I received this hat. But the quality of their product is always nice to see (and feel). I’m not the kind of guy who needs custom-made hats, as I find the quality of brands like Stetson and Akubra is more than sufficient for my needs.
Out of the box, the hat was gorgeous. The felt was velvety and soft. The leather sweatband was thick and smelled like a baseball glove. And the white, silk liner struck a beautiful contrast to the rich, black felt. The pictures you see here were taken a couple days ago, so the hat has been worn numerous times, but the quality is still evident.
My first impression of this hat was that it was sturdy. The hat is very well-made, as it should be for almost $300.
As stated earlier, the felt used in this version is their Royal Deluxe felt which is the same felt used in many of their dress fedoras (and is the same felt used in the Temple fedora I’ve had for well over a decade). Because the felt is a dress felt, it’s a bit more pliable than their western felt. The Open Road is actually offered in the Royal Deluxe felt, the 6x felt (which is their western felt), and 100% beaver felt (which is very expensive, but probably super luxurious).
I like the pliability of the Royal Deluxe felt. I enjoy when I wear a hat a lot and it gets a little floppy and misshapen. It makes it feel like the hat is really mine. Like it’s conforming to my body.
Stiffer felts don’t really give me that same satisfaction. I’ve had my Akubras for years and I am very hard on them and they are just now starting to soften up a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Akubras but I don’t feel as much of a connection to them as I do my Stetson Temple and Roadster.
This Open Road is already beginning to soften up nicely. I’ve worn it consistently for chopping wood for the past few months. It’s gotten sweaty and dirty and I can already see how it’s molding to my head.
Given the factory-set, “cattleman” crease, the crown is rather rigid at first. I actually found the hat sat a little higher on my head than normal because of this. After a while of wearing the hat, the crease relaxed enough for the hat to settle comfortably on my head without distorting the crease much. This probably wouldn’t have happened as easily if the felt had been the stiff, 6x western felt.
Another point about the particular style of crease… the cattleman crease makes it so that the hat cannot be pulled down much onto the wearer’s head. With a hat that has a teardrop or a simple center-dent, one can yank the hat down on the head a bit if needed, like in a strong wind, to ensure a tighter fit. That’s almost impossible with this hat since the rigidity of the crease (even with the softer felt) prevents any profound distortion of the crown.
That means the hat sits where it sits on the head and there isn’t much you can do about it. For me, happily, the hat fits wonderfully well. Stetsons have a tendency of running a little large, but I found the Open Road fits perfectly (for reference I am a pretty universal 7.5 or 60cm).
The hat has also molded to my head pretty quickly. My head is a little bit of a “long oval” which means that sometimes hats tend to be a little too round to fit my head comfortably. This hat conformed to my head in only a few wears.
What I like most about this hat are the proportions. This hat has always been billed as a do-it-all kind of hat, as in: you can wear it in the country to keep the rain off, but it won’t look like a ten-gallon hat if you wear it with a suit.
I don’t know about all of that. I do know that this hat looks really handsome, though. And that has everything to do with the size of the crown and the brim. At 4.25 inches and 2.75 inches, respectively, I think this hat would look proportionate on the vast majority of men. That’s probably why this hat has been so popular for so long.
Even though this hat has always been thought of as a cross between a cowboy hat and a dress fedora, in this day and age the hat can only really be considered a cowboy hat. Maybe when men wore brimmed hats all the time people would make those kinds of distinctions, but these days, largely thanks to that cattleman crease, the Open Road is firmly in “cowboy hat” territory.
That might deter some men from wearing it. I get that. But if you’re curious about giving a cowboy hat a try, the Open Road, with its modest proportions, is a great place to start. For reference, the crown and brim measurements are almost exactly the same as the aforementioned Temple dress fedora, which, in my opinion, is one of the best-looking off-the-rack hats on the market.
Styling this hat is fairly simple. It’s a casual hat, despite what Stetson’s marketing department wants me to believe. I wear it with flannel shirts, jeans, and boots. This hat, like almost everything in menswear, needs to be worn with a little authenticity. You can wear the brim turned up or down. I think the hat looks best with the brim turned up.
Since my version is black, I probably wouldn’t wear it in the dead of summer in the blazing sun. I understand that black is usually not all that versatile in the world of menswear, but I don’t need this hat to be versatile. I’m going to wear it casually and only casually. Also, I already have hats in grey, tan, and brown. Black was a color that was missing from my rotation (until now).
Overall, I am incredibly happy with this hat. However, there was one thing that I was dissatisfied with.
Out of the box, the hat’s level of water resistance was sub-par. I expect my hats to provide at least a modest amount of weather protection, but that was not the case with this hat, at first.
During a heavy rainstorm I popped on this hat to walk down my very long driveway. After sustaining a consistent soaking for more than a few minutes, I noticed that the hat felt like a sponge. It was heavy and sodden. The water had seeped right through the crown of the hat and soaked my hair.
Not ok. My Akubras have been in heavy rain before and my head has always been bone-dry afterwards. Maybe this has something to do with my version being the Royal Deluxe felt instead of the stiffer 6x western felt (although my Royal Deluxe Temple fedora never had that problem).
I ended up purchasing some felt protector spray and gave my Open Road a good once-and-twice-over. The jury is still out on how well the spray worked since I haven’t been in much more than a light mist while wearing the hat since. We’ll see how it goes. I am thankful, though, that something like a hat is easily treatable in situations such as these.
My overall opinion of this Stetson Open Road is extremely positive. It’s a fine hat that looks rather handsome and, in my opinion, is a great gateway hat for men who have always wanted to try out western hats.
