AM,
I have in years past had one of the British flat caps in the oil cloth like the Barbour, and as a kid I wore them all the time. I have one now in wool, but instead I prefer to wear the paneled "newsboy" style more. It is bigger and doesn't "perch" atop my head as does the flat cap. I have worn mine here in New Mexico as well as all over Europe. It is warm and does a good job of shedding water except in the heaviest of downpours. Now, I am going to call attention to your post to my brother who is also in Amarillo. He hates the flat British caps quite a bit because he also was forced to wear them as a kid. However, he hates something else even worse: yep, you guessed it! Knickers!! He was forced to wear a pair as a kid, and I was then forced to wear those hand-me-downs after him. As shooting attire primarily in Europe where tall rubber boots and long, warm wool socks are the normal attire, knickers (breeks, etc.) make more sense than anything I could think of. However, here in the briar tangles of the swamps as well as some of the uplands, a man might be hard pressed to persevere wearing them with some of the hooligans with which he and I hunt. Of course, it is for this very reason that I continually tell him that I am getting him a pair for Christmas!!! He says he will only wear them if I also give him a European hunting trip too!!!
