AB Deluxe field test

Fedora · Post by **Fedora** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:30 pm

I had to get some R and R, so I went bass fishing this last weekend, and wore my AB Deluxe that Marc sent me. Now, a two day fishing trip is not enough time for a real field test, and of course the hat held up as I knew that it would, but I discovered something that is very important. And that something is about the nature of the roo hide sweats that Marc offers as an option on his line of hat. First, if you buy an AB Deluxe, pay the extra for the roo hide and here is why........

Both days I sweated profusely, to the point of totally saturating the roo hide sweatband. When I got home the first day, I intended to put the hat stretcher in the hat just to keep the sweatband from shrinking, as every hat I have ever owned would shrink up in the sweatband. Leather just does that, once it gets wet and dries. At least all of my hats over the years have done so. Well, I still had to make hats, so I got busy and forgot to put the stretcher in.

The next morning, I grabbed my fishing tackle, and then grabbed the hat. As I was putting it on, I remembered that I had forgot to put the stretcher in the hat the night before. I was shocked to find the hat still fit perfectly, just like the day I pulled it from the box. Amazing I thought.

I got home Sunday, again with a saturated sweat and wondered if I needed the stretcher. I decided to see if the roo hide would shrink any at all, so I left it out. Monday afternoon, I was leaving to mail the hats, and was again elated to find the hat's sweat was still the exact size it should be!!

So, it seems that out of all of the leathers that have been in my collection of hats, old and new, the roo hide is the perfect leather to use for a sweatband. Forget about the roan, the split leather, and the goat. Perhaps it is because Marc has his roo hides tanned in Australia, and they are using the old tanning techniques, the veggie tanned process. Or perhaps it is just because roo hide is naturally shrink resistant. I dunno. But what I do know is it don't get any better than roo hide. I am still amazed. It seems to defy logic. I am a steadfast convert. You learn something new all the time in hatting, and I just learned a new fact. Roo hide definetely makes the BEST sweatband for an adventure hat. The only problem is, roo hide sweats cost the hatter as much as some of their bodies cost them, so I don't expect to see many using them. Fedora

BendingOak · Post by **BendingOak** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:02 pm

Hey Steve, thanks for sharing that with us all. Thats great to hear.

Johnny Fedora · Post by **Johnny Fedora** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:26 pm

First bullwhips and now yet another Gearhead use for roo hide.

John

p.s. But did you catch anything?

Fedoraman · Post by **Fedoraman** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:55 pm

AshGl1914 wrote:But did you catch anything?

Yeah - any luck? I haven't ventured out yet as 2 weeks ago we had S-N-O-W everywhere...

Fedora · Post by **Fedora** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:59 pm

Yeah, did well. Had a stringer over 5 feet long both days and only fished or around 3 or 4 hours each day. Threw many back to grow up, both bass and crappie.

I caught the bass all but two on plastic worms, with the crappie being caught with beetle spins. I fished early for the bass and then changed to the spinners when the bass stopped biting. I took the fly rod to see if I could catch some shell crackers, but the crappie were biting so well, I never got around to using it.

Almost every cast would bring back something when using the beetle spins.

We accidently put the boat up in some brush on the shoreline, and I saw my first cottonmouth of the year. He was a huge one. He was close enough to fall into the boat, but stood his ground. That's what I don't like about cotton mouths. Sometimes, they show no fear and sometimes they will even come after you in a very aggressive manner. And that is why I pack a pistol when I fish.

Fedora

Dr.Seuss · Post by **Dr.Seuss** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:03 pm

Baitcasting tackle? I am looking for an ultralight baitcasting reel; it seems Shimano is the only player.

Sincerely,

BendingOak · Post by **BendingOak** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:46 pm

Sorry to go off topic a bit. Being a city kid ( NYC ) myself and had never gone fisheing before. A friend from the fire department and his dad asked me to go along with them. I said yes, and off we go on my friends dad's new boat. Now I know nothing of boats nor fishing.
To make a long story short. They couldn't keep the motor running or the kicker. We hit a docked boat and some rocks ( a couple of times). At this point I said " will there be any fishing on this fishing experdition." My friends dad said two words to me ( I'm sure you can fill in those to colorfull word in for yourself). We all had a good laugh but no fish. With the motor not running and the cold( plus beginning to rain ). these nunkle heads wanted to keep going deeper out. I said " no way" and back we wen't and for some reason they have yet to ask me to go fishing with them again.
Well thats it for the city kid.

Post by **Michaelson** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:35 pm

Well, after reading Fedora's story, NOW you have something you CAN do if you're asked to go fishing again......wear your hat out for a field test!

Regards! Michaelson

IndyFlyer · Post by **IndyFlyer** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:59 am

Fedora, do not sell yourself short. I've been purposely wearing your AB in adverse conditions to break it in, and yet it wears perfectly regardless, with some character on the outside. I've been in the brush outside my home stalking small predators that I desire to eradicate out here in west texas. I wore it in the mist of the northern califronia coast hiking the redwoods. I've even gotten into wrestling matches with my bro-inlaw and used it to cushion my dome when I was taken down. I've sweated streams inside of it and it only gets better both inside and out. I've yet to even think about a stretcher/keeper. Your leather band holds well, and the hat itself even better.

As my luthier says on a guitar build, "It's not furniture, don't polish it!"

Mountaineer Lasher · Post by **Mountaineer Lasher** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 3:16 am

Ok, now I'm confused. Is there more than one AB dealer location? All I see on the AB website is the Fedora. I don't see a deluxe version, or a roo-hide sweatband option. I'm looking to buy one of these in the near future, so I'm a man with a need-to-know!

P.S. How should COW members place their orders with AB? I read somewhere on there that we get a discount. Is there truth to this?

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 4:58 am

Oh boy, I must do something COMPLETELY wrong in order to constantly get ignored...

Here's one topic: viewtopic.php?t=20083

another one: viewtopic.php?t=19968

and please visit our homepage: www.adventurebilt.com

Regards,

Marc

Mountaineer Lasher · Post by **Mountaineer Lasher** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:13 am

Marc wrote:Oh boy, I must do something COMPLETELY wrong in order to constantly get ignored...

Here's one topic: viewtopic.php?t=20083

another one: viewtopic.php?t=19968

and please visit our homepage: www.adventurebilt.com

Regards,

Marc

Ah, now I see. I had only been to the US (Fedora's) website, not your's yet. Sorry for the inconvenience. This was the first time I had ever heard of the Deluxe version. So... is it an option to order a regular AB, but have a roo-hide sweatband installed?

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:50 am

As stated in the threads linked above, the goal with the reg. AB was to create a dead on screen accurate hat, that was made by hand, the way they were made "back than" from pure beaver felt for a price that would be affordable for other fans (after both Steve and I had been ripped ourselves before).

On the AB-Dlx. the goal was to create the ultimate in Indygear headwear, also made by hand, the way they were made "back than" from pure beaver felt, but this time without any compromises on the costs (except keeping the profit margins as low as possible - true to our inofficial motto: made by fan(atic)s for fans).

So, what you can get from both of us is the original HJ ribbon, which took me 10 months to source and which we both use. The felt, liners and sweatbands we use are from different sources and only come "as a package" (i.e. you can't get me to make a hat using Steve's felt and vice versa).

Regards,

Marc

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 8:36 am

Marc, Fedora, ML's confusion as to being "more than one AB dealer" is a good reason why you two need to integrate your websites. If there is one main Adventurebilt site or page that makes it obvious as to the choices, I think there will be less confusion and equal draw to both the regular and deluxe AB. I think the customer base would be better for it, too. My feeling is that when you type in www.adventurebilthats.com, that very first page should tell you about Adventurebilt as well as make it obvious to the two choices offered. Sure, one button can link to the U.S. site and the other to Marc's, but I think you also need to be able to access one site from the other's, too. Regardless of clicking back and forth between sites, I think any given customer will get the hat he or she wants, be it the regular or deluxe AB. Just my two cents worth.

Mountaineer Lasher · Post by **Mountaineer Lasher** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:57 am

So I can only order regular ABs from Fedora, and only order Deluxe ABs from Marc. By George, I think I've got it.

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:14 am

Bingo.

Post by **Michaelson** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:14 pm

Marc wrote:Oh boy, I must do something COMPLETELY wrong in order to constantly get ignored...
Regards,

Marc

Ignored?

Hardly, Marc.

Problem is, you don't have that many examples of your hat in play over here (I've never handled one of your hats myself!), and as bink has pointed out, those of us who KNOW there are two different AB's are totally aware of you AND Fedora's line....but as you have seen, when new folks come on board, confusion reigns supreme when the discussion of an AB, regular or deluxe, comes up, unless you know who the players are (that is if you KNOW that there ARE two players in this particular 'game'), it's easy to get confused.

I agree with bink. It would probably be a really good thing if you and Steve could get together on somehow keeping separate, and yet together on a website.

Hopefully someday I'll get to check out one of your hats for myself. Until then, keep up the great work. If Steve is ranting about your hats, you KNOW you've hit a home run!

HIGH regards! Michaelson

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:13 am

Problem is, you don't have that many examples of your hat in play over here

Your right Michaelson. And the weak Dollar ain't a big help either.

However, we HAVE one mainpage: www.adventurebilt.com from which you can go either directly to Steve's ( www.adventurebilthats.com ) or my homepage ( www.adventurebiltdeluxe.com ).

Regards,

Marc

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:02 am

Very good!

Regard! Michaelson

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:00 am

Marc wrote: However, we HAVE one mainpage: www.adventurebilt.com from which you can go either directly to Steve's ( www.adventurebilthats.com ) or my homepage ( www.adventurebiltdeluxe.com ).

Regards,

Marc

When I do a google search for "adventurebilt hats," Steve's site comes up at the very top, with HtasDirect right underneath. The "mainpage" is shown farther down near the middle bottom of the page. My thinking is a customer will go to the link he or she sees first, so there's a chance they may never get to the shared main page. Maybe you guys could put an obvious main page button on the home page of each of your sites to take you directly to this page?

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:30 am

Good idea Bink! That would also cause more hits on the main page me thinks.

Regards,

Marc

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:54 am

Methinks yep.

And don't tell anyone I had a good idea. They might start expecting them out of me.

michaeljcr · Post by **michaeljcr** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:05 pm

Hi Marc - just to let you know the AB Dlx is next on my gear wish list after reading Steve's review. I've got the standard AB from him and a Camptown 1945, but after reading about the Roo hide sweatband and the other details, I'm going to cave in before too long!

If I hadn't just bought a new laptop I'd do it now!

Steve, thanks for such a great thread, it's given me the urge to buy more hats.

Michael.

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:14 pm

If I hadn't just bought a new laptop I'd do it now!

Sounds familar Michael! If I hadn't bought a new laptop in Dec., I'd probably have the money together for grey rawbodies, but only checking in here while at the office.... naaaah

Steve, thanks for such a great thread, it's given me the urge to buy more hats.

Yeah, thanks from my side of well

Regard,

Marc

Indiana Jerry · Post by **Indiana Jerry** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:37 pm

binkmeisterRick wrote:Methinks yep. And don't tell anyone I had a good idea. They might start expecting them out of me.

Don't worry, Bink, we're pretty sure it was a fluke...

I used to work with an infuriatingly exacting guy on this one project...after years of his grief, I came up with a very clear, very simple idea that was going to save a LOT of work and make everything BETTER.

What did he say? He turned to everybody else to get their attention and said, "Hey, you have to hear this...Jerry just had his FIRST good idea!"

Grrr....

(Congrats on your first good idea, btw...

)