← National Park Service
Adam Savage’s Tested
The Origins of the Iconic Ranger Hat!
⏱ 10 min video · 2 min read19 May 2026
TL;DR
Adam Savage visits the National Park Service History Collection to examine the iconic ranger campaign hat with curator Nancy, learning about its evolution from 1911 to present day. The segment covers the hat's design history, the 1930 leather hatband with Sequoia cone decorations, and Adam tries to tie his own hatband.
Key points
1
The NPS ranger campaign hat was first authorized in 1911 as a 'felt campaign hat,' with Stetson specifications for the wide flat brim emerging by 1912.
2
The iconic leather hatband with Sequoia cone decorations was introduced in 1930 and has remained essentially the same design ever since — original cones were silver, changed to brass in the 1980s, making silver ones a coveted status symbol among rangers.
3
The hatband design and the famous NPS arrowhead logo were both created by landscape architects, not dedicated artists — the park service relied on them for artistic work well into the 1950s.
4
A straw summer version of the flat campaign hat was introduced in 1959; rangers are expected to tie their own hatbands rather than receiving them pre-tied.
5
The family company in California that manufactured the original Sequoia cone decorations still exists and still has the original punch, die, and model cone used in 1929.
Key takeaways
→
Silver Sequoia cone hatbands are older and rarer than brass ones — if you encounter an NPS ranger with silver cones, they or their family have significant service history pre-1980s.
→
The NPS History Collection website shares stories connecting outside families and former employees to park service history, making it a resource beyond official archives.
→
Tying your own NPS hatband correctly is a point of pride within the ranger community — the skill is passed down and considered earned, not just administrative.
Notable quotes
“The National Park Service is more than the sum of its parts. It is an idea and an ideal, a mission, and a model for the world.”
“Having the silver cones is sort of a one-up in the ranger world of like I still have a silver.”
“I stood up a little straighter the moment I put it on.”
Worth watching?
⏭️
Worth watching the full video?
Watch if you want to see Adam actually try on the hats and tie the hatband — the tactile charm is real, but all the substantive historical detail is captured here.
Saved you some time? The creator still deserves a like.
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