OK, here are my findings after wearing my
AB solid for 2 weeks now. But firstly I will say this...
I believe
Steve/Fedora is right about the hat looking taller on screen.
My initial suggestion of a
6 inch open crown is based on the letter from
Richard Swales to
Michaelson, stating 6 inches, but there again
Swales has been known to quote different measurements to different people. Also, I had
Steve cut my brim 2 7/8 inches - front & 2 3/4 inches - sides; as per the
Swales letter dimensions & there are times I look in the mirror & wonder if the brim is too wide!
Nick/Pagey is correct IMO too, that the
Raiders hat is worn high on
HF's head & I think a smaller hat size would better fit me currently, as this one is almost on my ears with number 2 / 3 crew cut hair.
HF had fairly long hair in
Raiders tho' IMO & if I let my hair grow out that much again, my current hat (size 7 1/8 ) would fit me better (I wanted a cooler (temp. wise!) shorter hair cut for travelling!
)
Thinking about it now, I wonder if
HF had a shorter hair cut when he was fitted for the hat in London & then growing out his hair for the film caused the hat to have to sit higher on his head
Michaelson is right as well. Because of my short hair cut & therefore
artificially larger hat size, without a deep centre bash the hat would be resting on my ears instead of just above it & on the top of my head, which is slightly pushing up the deep bash (ARGH! :evil: )
Now, getting to the point!
Looking at the pics of
jpenman's hat I would have to say this. Currently I have jammed
ALOT of my hat down into the bash to get it the way I want, which IMO emulates the
Raiders hat. I also have a
VERY tight front pinch. Again, as
Rick rightly pointed out, this has caused noticable taper to the sides of the hat.
The hat itself is
NOT tapered.
Steve stated in another thread that taper can be judged by the back of the hat. Well mine is a complete right angle. Brim flat, the back of that hat goes straight to the sky. But the sides are being pulled in by the depth of centre bash I have. If I push out all the bashes, the hat is a stove pipe again.
Now as
Steve has pointed out as well, alot of people here are leaving their
AB as found on arrival in delivery. I too am noticing pictures of
AB's here with the dents pushed out & people actually wearing them like that & happy!
IMO
jpenman's hat (which does genuinely look very good
) does not have as tight a pinch or deep as bash as mine. I won't get into which looks exactly like the
Raiders hat, as it's always going to be a matter of opinion
All I know is this...
My hat is tapered because of the depth of bash I've put in the top &
I still don't think is it deep enough! 
I want a deep bash.
DEEP I tell you!
But I also want stove pipe sides & I genuinely don't believe you can achieve both without a 5 3/4 or 6 inch open crown.
It's not a matter of what height the hat ends up, because as I've stated, I believe the height of
HF hat in
Raiders is the same height as
Nicks hat in his pics. But then to get a deep bash & achieve the same hat height
WITHOUT pulled in taper,
you need more hat to shove down.
OK, long post, but it gives you people a lot to discuss until I get back in a months time
IndyJens – thanks
We’re having a great time so far & trust me there will be loads of pics!
)
