What's the purpose of the fur on the front of the canadian-style hats?

Fashion, bad fashion.

Fur, by its natural construction, serves as first layer insulation for animals. It serves like a wind-breaker to lessen the wind chill effect on bare skin. The picture that you related to your question essentailly is made of animal fur or a simulation of. . . . Again the construction of a faux fur mimics the wind-breaking property of animal fur.

You are right. It is for catching snow. I have a similar hat. On mine the inside is lined with rabbit and flap in the front serves no purpose other than catching snow. I wear glasses so this helps a lot. Mine is one of these but a different color. It is ugly as hell but insanely warm.

@johnpowell Why would you want it to catch snow? Wouldn’t it be better to have a snow-repellent hat?

The one I always wonder about is the coat with no fur except for right around the face- what’s that doing? Wind breaker?

@gemiwing :: The snow falls down on your face without fur. It doesn’t come close to getting it all but 25% is a lot better than nothing. Especially when you wear glasses.

Well, in white-out snow—or while going to sleep under a snowdrift—you can’t see anything anyway, so you can pull the thing down over your face, cover and protect your eyes and the bridge of your nose, and still breathe.

But for most people who would wear that hat? Fashion and tradition.

It’s a good question, though. Until you asked I hadn’t ever thought of that.

If you live in Canada or somewhere equally cold and windy, being warm is far more important than being fashionable at wind chills of -40 to -80.

Stay alive and smile in the winter!