How Many Fly Ball Caps Do You Have?
HINT: Watch the Video Before You Count!
Some videos just roll out so easy, and others take a chunk, a huge chunk of time and effort. This video, mostly about nothing important, looks at the culture of the fly fishing ball cap. Actually, it is part cult and part culture. And you already know this is the only place (c’mon now) for culture on the fly in Texas, don’t you! Yeah, a little bit of cult too.
I remember when fly fishing ball caps were being handed out like business cards, when I first descended into the fly fishing black hole. Businesses, startups mostly like mine, were anxious to get their brand seen, and this was in the wild and woolly wilderness days before what we have now – YouTube. And that’s how the obsessive collection of ball caps began. But obsession without a cause is, just plain obsession. This video gets down to what makes a good fly fishing ball cap, and there ARE STANDARDS that make a ball cap more than just another head shell for my turtle neck.
This one was in my head a lot longer than it should have been. BUT by now, I have seen hats, and their businesses and companies come … and go. There are those still standing, and those companies that have gone from the back seat of a beater car – all the way to the Hollywood Limelight, quite a trajectory in my way of seeing. If I had a few quid, in those back seat days, I would have TRIED TO BUY a ride too. What can I say? Howler was a sure thing – that’s how I saw it back then. If you doubt, just key in “Howler” into this website’s search box, and step into my fly fishing time machine.
Nowadays, ball caps are big, and I MEAN BIG business. They have gone from being billboard (headboard) promotionals – to fly counter culture – to fashion statements – to bougie – in a matter of a few short years. I give up my opinion on what makes a bougie ball cap, and even offer a few up for sale – not my cup of bougie anymore! The bourgeois takeover of a subcultural phenomenon, like Howler Brothers, is best exemplified in their hats. Hats by Howler, as well as their clothing, was a counter to the plaid, Tesla Plaid driving, tweeds … at first. But those of us old enough know, the plaid folks can co-op an entire brand, even entire industries. Howler hats went from cool designs, to basically a dude’s “team uniform,” and the team was/is HOWLER. That flipped my switch. No more Howler since that fateful day in Port O’Connor, Texas.
Now, we have the changes in attitude. What was rebel, is now corporate, and completely overtaken by the bourgeois class. Funny thing is, that is always the goal of these startups – to drown in success. Capitalism at its finest. It is only a few who get off the brand ride before it stops, or it hits some unseen wall (coming soon tariff lovers). Watch and you will see just how MY evolution away from the boys at Howler happened. OR, you can read about it in past stories here – NEW “FLY FISHING SPORTS GENERATION“
So this is one of those Seinfeld-like stories about nothing, nothing but ball caps, and thinning my herd of ball caps I already have, selling off some HOWLERS to afford ON great hat that got blown away recently – the QUAKER MARINE – OYSTERMAN. For GOD’S SAKE please do not make the Oysterman POPULAR! They are already insanely expensive – Tesla Plaid expensive!
Category: Adventure, Body-Mind-Soul, Clothing, Fly Shops, Industry
