La Pine dad invents cinch to keep cowboy hats on cowboy heads

La Pine dad invents cinch to keep cowboy hats on cowboy heads

Published 11:28 am Friday, January 2, 2026

There’s nothing worse for a rodeo competitor than losing a hat.

In some cases, the rider can lose points or pay a fine for the failure to secure a cowboy hat. In other cases, it’s just bad etiquette.

That’s why La Pine dad Steve Fuller invented the hat cinch, a piece of fabric that is added to the hat band to ensure a snug fit that stays on the head.

Fuller’s year-old company, Bandit Hat Cinch, took its product to the rodeo circuit last month where flag bearers wore it, as did rodeo competitors.

Riders at the National Finals Rodeo — a championship event that is held every December in Las Vegas — used his product, according to Fuller. It works by keeping the hat in place without compromising comfort or style by using rubber to grip the hat to the rider’s forehead, Fuller said.

“Vegas was a huge success,” Fuller said. “We set up a booth for the toughest race and we sold a lot that day. We got to meet a lot of top rodeo athletes who are using our products. We are trying to grow the brand to be recognized in the western-wear industry.”

Culver High School sophomore Hadee Keegan, said the Bandit Hat Cinch has saved her dad a lot of money in fines from her hat falling off during an event. Before finding the cinch she often would stuff her hat with paper towels or tissue.

“My sister and I both use them,” Keegan said. “We bought another in Vegas and they absolutely work and they don’t make your hat too tight.”

CEO of Bandit Hat Cinch, Stephen Fuller, holds his cowboy hat, with a Bandit Hat Cinch installed in it, during a tour of the Bandit Hat Cinch warehouse in La Pine. (Andy Tullis/The Bulletin)

Fuller got the idea while watching his daughter in the arena and figured he could find a solution.He hired a team of engineers helped design the hat cinch and used rodeo participants to test out prototypes, he said.

CEO of Bandit Hat Cinch, Stephen Fuller, inserts a Bandit Hat Cinch into his cowboy hat, during a demonstration of the hat accessory at the Bandit Hat Cinch warehouse in La Pine. Andy Tullis/The Bulletin

“We thought to it because the kids were getting fined,” Fuller said. “They were losing their hats entering and or exiting the arena.”

Cowboy hats are not cheap, he said. When they blow off they can get dirty or trampled on — or blown away and lost.

For now, the business is mostly direct-to-consumer. But he’s finding more retail businesses to partner with and sell merchandise, Fuller said. The big western wear store in Texas, Teskey’s Western Store, now carries the hat cinch, he said.

After the two-week-long national competition and rodeo sales events that were held in December, Fuller hopes the business will grow.

“We’re getting a lot of five-star reviews with marketing on social media,” Fuller said. “We have a patented rubber grip that grips to the skin of your forehead.”

Oregon brings home high marks when it comes to courting the entrepreneurial spirit for businesses like the Bandit Hat Cinch, said Cara Turano, Oregon Entrepreneurs Network executive director and president. Each month the state registers thousands of businesses, Turano said.

The total number of active businesses in Oregon increased from 515,000 in 2023 to nearly 540,000 last year.

“The region is ripe with founders in the outdoor and recreation industry addressing real world problems from staying warm skiing to losing hats during a rodeo,” Turano said. “If a passionate and creative individual sees a need that is large enough to address, there is a culture that says: ‘Go for it.’”