When it comes to quality there are no industry standards or government regulations. Because of a lack of government regulations, it’s important to know who made your hat and what their standards are.

Every hatmaker is different.

Our hats are thinner, lighter weight, more weather resistant, more durable, and last longer. They clean up better and hold their shape better. Guaranteed not to rip, run or snag. They make conception a wonder and childbirth a pleasure, that’s Pure Beaver #HATitude®.

In the early 19th century, men would use an “X” to grade a beaver pelt when shipping it to Europe, to make a standard between old world and new world communications. The bigger and nicer the pelt was, the more X’s were marked on the back.

Jump ahead to the 1940s–each X meant it was made of 10% beaver and cost $10.00. You could look inside a 10X hat and know it was made up of 100 percent beaver and cost $100.

As consumerism grew over the years, big companies started to do whatever they wanted with the X markings and things got a little wild. The original “X Games” were born. These less honest companies started adding more X’s to the inside of their hats while the hat bodies were actually made of less quality. Since that time, 100X, 500X, and even 1000X hats became available to the public at all kinds of prices. 

This is why we don’t use X’s here at Greeley Hat Works. 

Our blends, weights, and the stiffness of our bodies are exclusive to us. We have relationships with three of the top felt makers in the world and have worked tirelessly with their teams to achieve perfection with our own hat “recipe”. 

The hat bodies you find on our website and in our shop are made of fine European hare, beaver. The beaver hair we use is only the finest belly hair, the best part of the beaver pelt. European hare is as close to beaver hair as anything else. A special type of rabbit, the European hare is durable and more commonly available than beaver.

The more beaver hair used in the hat body, the more durable the hat will be. For example, a pure beaver hat is the most durable, holds its shape the best, is easier to clean, and is, in general, more weather resistant.

Greeley Hat Works Qualities

Classic

This is our entry-level hat. This is a European hare blend comparable to our competitor’s 10X to 15X hat.

Competitor

Our Competitor quality is available in a very wide range of colors, so this is the most common quality people start with when building their #HATitude®. The Competitor is a higher quality European hare blend than our Classic comparable to other’s 20X to 30X hat.

Beaver20

The Beaver20 quality is 20% beaver blended with our higher-quality European hare. This hat is thinner, lighter weight, more weather-resistant, and durable than our Competitor quality comparable to a 40X or better.

Pure Beaver

This quality is self-explanatory. It’s 100% beaver and is our most popular quality. A little more expensive up front, but cheaper in the long run. If you ride a horse every day, you don’t buy a cheap work saddle. Why would you skimp on a hat? Our customers wear their pure beaver hats every day, outside, in all kinds of weather for 20 or more years–the quality is that good.

Quality Sweatband

The quality of our hats doesn’t end with our hat bodies. The sweatband in your hat is also incredibly important. Your sweatband is next to your skin, absorbing your sweat, and it needs to last as long as your hat body. 

It’s common for sweatbands to be made of synthetic leather, plastic, bonded leather, and other elements. All of our hats start with fine hand-reeded roan leather sweatband, and we never offer anything other than leather for our sweatbands. We also offer a raw leather sweatband that grips your head a little more than our standard sweatband.