Camel Humps cause taper.

[Strider]

*ahem*

Take a few moments to get the jokes out of your system.

Alrighty then. Onto my point.

This bas been buzzing around in my thoughts for awhile, so I thought I'd post this and see what everyone else thought.

I was watching Raiders, checking out several scenes to look at Indy's hat. In all of them, he has a very pronounced "camel hump effect" at the apex of the front pinch. I tried this with my Adventurebilt, and once I got the humps in there, I looked at the hat from a distance, and it looked ever so slightly tapered. Just barely.

I think the reason we don't really see much taper when we're watching the movie is the way Indy wore his hat. Back farther on his head than most of us do. Because of that, I think that we tend to see taper more than he would have, had he looked at it. Also, I think a little bit of it is that over time, we've come to think that a proper Indy hat should be perfectly stovepipe, or something along those lines.

Fact is, that's impossible. Putting those camel humps into the hat is going to make it look tapered. BARELY, mind you, and only from certain angles. That doesn't mean I won't be doing that to my hat, but I just thought it was an interesting topic for discussion.

Regards,

[J_Weaver]

Yup, pushing the top of the hat down to get the camel humps will cause taper, just like deepening the top dent too much. However, I have to disagree about the hat position thing. I've noticed that wearing the hat tilted back on you head will make it look more tapered instead of less.

I think the reason that we see the pronounced camel humps is mostly because of camera angle. Most of the time we see the camel humps, the camera is level with Ford's face and back away from him. I know I can put my AB on and look in a mirror, and see only slight camel humps. However, the farther I get away from the mirror the more pronounced the humps get.

Anyway, I'm not sure if that makes any sense. I just saying that I think that the pronounced camel humps come mostly from the angle we view the hat. Of course this is just my 2 cents, so take it for what ever its worth.

[BendingOak]

j-weaver , I think you are right on the mark on that one. Thats one of the reasons I look down in most of my pics ( to see those humps).

[Hemingway Jones]

Strider, I think you're correct about pushing too much hat into the formation of a camel hump, as it does if you push too much hat into the formation of a center dent, it results in a slight taper. When I formed mine I was careful to push the top of the bumps up and round them out towards the top corners of the hat to eliminate this. Also, remember that Indy's hat had uneven bumps. Facing him, the one on the right was almost level and the one to our left was more rounded and slightly higher. Pagey does this with his hats as well. This helps to maintain the block shape and reduces or eliminates the problem with taper.

As for how Indy wears his hat, it seems to me higher on his head, but perfectly level.

And weaver, I didn't realize that you could see your reflection in a mirror.

[J_Weaver]

And weaver, I didn't realize that you could see your reflection in a mirror.

Just what are implying pal?

Also, remember that Indy's hat had uneven bumps. Facing him, the one on the right was almost level and the one to our left was more rounded and slightly higher. Pagey does this with his hats as well. This helps to maintain the block shape and reduces or eliminates the problem with taper.

I think the uneven bumps are due to the turn of the hat. My hat has it, although not as pronounced as Pagey's or Indy's.[/quote]

[prairiejones]

There is a fine line with every style feature that you put in the hat. Camel humps, center dent(especially), front bashes and brim. Push it beyond a point and it ruins the look.

[The Aviator]

I was under the impression that the indyish block would give room for camel humps to develop i.e. 70mil straight on block and then 70mil in a curve giving the 5 1/2 inch open crown allowing camel humps with non taper..........if this is confusing or wrong dont mind me.... im never done talking hat gibberish..

[Alabama Jones]

The title reminds me of an old joke about Bill Clinton in the desert.

Deepening the center pinch and accentuating the humps in my hat definately caused some taper that I had to try and work out. (sitting on it helped).

The best of all worlds hat, (ie the humps center dent and stove pipe) that I have seen is Pagey's. I'd like to know how he does it.

[Strider]

The title reminds me of an old joke about Bill Clinton in the desert.

I know exactly what joke you're talking about.out. (sitting on it helped).

The best of all worlds hat, (ie the humps center dent and stove pipe) that I have seen is Pagey's. I'd like to know how he does it.

I too, have expressed interest in seeing his techniques. I suppose if we all chipped in to buy him an open crowned Adventurebilt, he'd drop us a tutorial.

Regards,

[Skippy]

This is exactly what has happened with my AB, having put a deep dent in the crown & having very clear humps (+ a tight front pinch).

What I've noticed, is that when I look at the hat (holding it) from a view where I can see the humps (as with jpenman's avatar), the hat looks like it has straight sides, even tho' I know their slightly tapered.

Look at the pics from the Cario Street scenes, the hat on the back of his head looks clearly tapered, but in shots looking down onto Indy/the hat (like the Raven Bar scene where he's in the doorway, gun drawn), the hat has very straight sides.

[Pyroxene]

Putting those camel humps into the hat is going to make it look tapered. BARELY, mind you, and only from certain angles. That doesn't mean I won't be doing that to my hat, but I just thought it was an interesting topic for discussion.

Regards,

You are correct. There are scenes, Cairo is probably the best example, where the hat looks tapered. But, when we know it isn't. Basically, what you are doing is looking across one of the front bashes that gives it the illusion.

[The Aviator]

I know of a scene where you can see a hint of taper in raiders...ill get the camera out and post a pic asap....if your interested

[IndyFlyer]

Also, remember that Indy's hat had uneven bumps. Facing him, the one on the right was almost level and the one to our left was more rounded and slightly higher.

I was familiar with this as well and happy to see my AB from Fedora arrive such characteristic and attention. Although Weaver had a good point mentioning that the turn is involved. When my hat is viewed from the front in a non-turned aspect, the humps appear level. When I turn it to the aspect matching the bash the left hump appears higher. Hmmm...

In a recently passed thread regarding my hat, as I'm sure you have all read ('Fedora is not far from perfection'), some similar slight taper discussion was tossed around. After that thread, and viewing different scenes in the movie where hat placement produced different appearances, I myself noticed that when wearing and viewing the hat level and then slowly tilting my head backwards introduced the illusion of slight taper as well, while the hat in reality is straight.

[BendingOak]

What I've noticed, is that when I look at the hat (holding it) from a view where I can see the humps (as with jpenman's avatar), the hat looks like it has straight sides, even tho' I know their slightly tapered.

I looked at my hat from all points of view and I have to say it's staight in some cases it's has a little reverce tapper to it. I eve wen't to the piont and laid the hat flat down on a table and took a ruler to it to prove it to myself.

[prairiejones]

jpenman has a perfect crown. It looks just like the shot in Raiders, right after the truck explosion scene, where Indy is getting drunk, covering his eyes, looking down slightly, the crown is viewed straight on. Best shot of the crown, I think.