Years ago the number of X's meant the number of beaver pelts used to make a hat: the higher the number of X's, the more beaver fur and, therefore, the higher the quality of the hat. Alas, the hatting industry has fallen victim to the modern world where X's are more for selling than for indicating quality. Today you cannot compare one company's rating system with another because in the hat industry there are no standards for measurement of the percentage of beaver felt in a hat.
The number of X's are a valid measure only of the relative quality of the same company's line of hats. We classify our standard hats as 10X and industry experts have told us we are more honest than most. Why, we've even seen straw hats advertised as 5X!
clearwaterhats.com
The quality of a felt is determined by its beaver fur content, and the quality of beaver felt is determined by its density. Our 25X grade felt is a blend with no specifics on the amount of beaver. We offer in Western hats only a 25X, 50X felt and 100X. We also offer in all hats, our premium 25X, 500X, 1000X, 1500X (when available) and our Signature line. Sterling beaver felts are very fine hand selected and graded 100% belly beaver fur felts, the finest felt in the world. We also offer vintage felt bodies from 1928 with a makeup of 70% beaver, 20% nutria and 10% mink.
getahaton.com
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