So here’s a weird one. 

I’m a big fan of the Accidental Tech Podcast, hosted by Casey Liss, Marco Arment, and John Siracusa. You are probably familiar (I’d imagine there is a pretty big overlap in audience between Studio Neat and ATP), but if you’ve never listened, check it out! 

In an episode last year, John was lamenting not being able to find a replacement for his beloved winter hat. This hat is not just any ‘ol beanie, it’s a hat of unknown origin (it might have been his dad’s?) that he calls a “chicken hat,” presumably due to the way the extra material on top looks sort of like the comb on the head of a gallinaceous bird. You can listen to the timestamped segment here.

For as much as John loves and prefers this style of winter hat, for whatever reason it seems to be completely out of circulation. No one makes this style of hat anymore. I’m not sure why; although “chicken hat” is a silly name I think the hat looks quite nice. 

John Siracusa wearing his original chicken hat. 

In the spirit of backups and redundancy, John was understandably uneasy about his hat being the only hat of its type in existence. So we had the idea, how hard would it be to make one of these?

And that’s what we did! It was actually really fun going back and forth with John, doing some detective work to find the right material and getting the dimensions just right. The hat turned out great; the felt material is soft and warm, and a woven ATP label is added to the rim of the hat. This thing looks nice!

The ATP guys are selling the hat in their merch store for the next couple weeks, or until it sells out. I have a $1 bet with Casey on how many will sell, so if you are looking for a new, stylish way to keep your noggin warm this winter, check it out.