Nutria and beaver

[Fatdutchman]

You don't hear much about nutria fur nowadays. I know that it has always been considered to be a very high quality fur, ranked with beaver. Any experience with nutria fur? Most specifically, how does it stand up (literally) against the elements? Particularly in respect to the dreaded tapering. I've not seen much written about it, other than some folks saying that nutria was "better" than beaver, and others saying beaver was "better" than nutria, though no one ever was able to state exactly why!

Jersey Jones is offering the 1936 Fieldmaster (which I am VERY interested in) in a beaver/nutria blend. This sounds like it would be an excellent quality felt.

My hats are worn outdoors. Working. Rain or shine. My interest is in a very durable felt that can take it and come out on top.

I've been wearing my Akubra (wild rabbit fur) to work lately. A couple of days of pouring down rain. With this hat, I noticed that as the day progressed, and I and the hat got wetter, the hat became somewhat looser, and sank down a bit lower on my head. After drying, everything went back to normal, and it fits nicely again. NO signs of shrinking, tapering or anything else (and I have used steam extensively to shape the hat!).