March 10, 2004 6:00 PM CST

Slingin' Mud with Style

By Jennie Farnsworth

Sometimes the tool that's needed for the job is more than just a trowel, grade pole or hod, but leaning more toward safety and protection. Every once in a while a job requires a hard hat, so if you have to wear one, why not do it with style.

That's the idea behind the Western Outlaw cowboy hard hat, designed and patented by Bret Atkins, a former sales rep for a machine-tool company. Made out of high-impact, UV resistant, special HDPE blended plastic, not only does the Outlaw meet OSHA Requirements and ANSI Z89.1 1997, the brim also protects your face and neck from sun exposure.

"When they first came out and were first available to us, we probably sold about 200-300 of them," says Wendell Smith, President of Capitol City Scaffolding and Equipment. "Since we're online now, we're starting to ship them to people who haven't seen them before."

Smith says that they've sold the Outlaw not only to hard-working masons that are cowboys 24-7, but they've also come in handy for groundbreakings too.

"While they were building the stadium here in Nashville, we took a white cowboy hard hat down for Bud [Adams] to wear when he came to visit," Smith remembers. "He wore it, and about a month later we got a thank you note from his secretary out of Houston."

Capitol City claims to be, "The one stop shop for all your masonry needs," so while you're choosing any one of the four colors that the Outlaw comes in, you can also pick up some of those line pins that you're always needing or a Crick level, which Smith says are his biggest sellers. And, just like their company's name suggests, they also rent scaffolds, mortar mixers, saws and other equipment.

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About the Author

Jennie Farnsworth is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and editor. She is a former editor of Masonry magazine.