The Martian Ranger Stetson

The legendary Rangers of Mars are known for many things. They are a breed apart. Their superlative tracking skills, their prowess with many kinds of guns, their uncompromising unflinching sense of justice and that which is right and that which is wrong. But there is something so ubiquitous that it is as well known as the guns they wield and the skill in which they use them. Few are those across the system who cannot instantly recognise a ranger by one simple thing.

Their Stetson.

There is nothing special about the Ranger Stetson. It is of course reinforced around the crown to protect against headshots. It is waterproof and remarkably durable. There is no secret in its construction and no clandestine artificer makes them. The stetson is not handed down from Ranger to Ranger like an heirloom. It is simply a hat they wear, as much a part of their uniform as their weapons.

Not even the Rangers themselves know how long they are an organisation have worn the Stetson. They don't care overly in all honesty. They wear the Stetson because they have always worn the Stetson. Its their uniform. They aren't protective of it, though its a fool who dares to take a Stetson from a Ranger still breathing. You have to earn the right to wear a Stetson. You have to prove you're of Ranger material by your deeds and your honour on the plains of Mars between the Arcologies. You have to prove you know right from wrong and when and where to be fair and when to be wrathful. Those who survive the bandits, the mutants and every other threat before you earn the right to wear the Stetson along with the duster and the goggles and your weapon of choice. But once you do, everyone knows that because you are wearing the Ranger Stetson, that means you're a Ranger.

Those who aren't Rangers though. They who take them from the dead and wear them as a trophy. Well, they had really better keep a low profile and not wear it openly and brazenly because if a Ranger catches something not of their organisation wearing a Stetson... well. That fool is judged and the call will go out and every Ranger who hears that call will come to dispense judgement.

So, there is nothing special about the Stetson. The Rangers will tell you that.

Nothing special at all.