Fur Hat

A Fur Hat is the Ultimate Winter Headgear

When winter comes it can be hard to face going out into the cold on a frosty morning to head to work. You probably have a nice warm coat and a pair of gloves, but did you know that a large percentage of the body's heat is lost through your head. If you had a fur hat to keep your head warm on those icy days you probably would not mind going to work nearly as much.

Fur hats have been around since man first learned to kill and skin animals for food and clothing and no matter how much more civilized we have become there is still nothing warmer than fur. However winter and the cold weather are not the only reason more modern men have used fur to create a variety of hats. Many luxurious gentlemen's hats began life being covered with or made entirely out of fur. For many years the top hat was made from beaver fur, the popularity of this hat spurred the decline of the American beaver until the hats became too expensive and silk took over as the material of choice.

Women also have long had a preference for fur hats especially mink and beaver and they not only can be made into very fashionable hats, but like the men's fur hat they are very warm in the winter. Whether made from real fur or the faux variety fur hats have always maintained some semblance of popularity as they are the perfect hat for winter, besides beaver and mink many other furs such as muskrat, fox, raccoon and many more. The Native Americans used the fur from the buffalo to make robes and hats that kept them warm even in the coldest weather.

Perhaps one of the most well known fur hats is the Bearskin worn by members of the Grenadier Guards whose ceremonial job it is to guard Buckingham Palace. However the Bearskin is also worn by many other military units as part of their ceremonial uniform and while there have been attempts to replace the real fur with imitation nothing has been officially approved as of yet.

The Russians have contributed several fur hats to the world in part due to their extremely cold winters and in part due to the practicality of the materials as there appears to be no shortage of fur bearing animals in Russia and Siberia. The most well know Russian fur hat is probably the Ushanka; this fur hat was introduced in the Russian Civil War when Aleksandr Kolchak the then current ruler of Siberia introduced a new hat called the kolchakovka to his troops. This hat was the forerunner of the Ushanka and featured a fold down eye flap as well as ones for the ears.

During the Second World War the Ushanka was issued to Soviet troops after thousand of Russian troops died of exposure due to poor equipment. The Germans soon began to take the hats from the dead and wounded to keep warm until the design was copied. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 there was a mass influx of Russian fur hats to the western world.

While some may object to the use of real fur to make hats, there is nothing that can be manufactured to come close to the warmth and protection of real fur. When you want to stay warm in the winter, start out with a good warm fur hat on your head.