A dedicated JPD thread
Moderators: Indiana Jeff, Dalexs
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binkmeisterRick
- Stealer of Wallets
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A dedicated JPD thread
I know this has been done with the AdventureBilt so folks can concentrate all their "look at my hat" posts in one place, so is it possible we could do the same for the JPD hats? I think it's great that those of you who have purchased a JPD are happy with them and proud to show them off. I just think it'd be nice to consolidate all of it into one thread like we finally did with the AB. That way folks looking into the JPD won't have to wade through a ton of threads. Just a thought, that's all. 
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pastimesteve
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Agreed
I agree with Bink -- mods -- can this be done using existing posts?
Steve
Steve
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Michaelson
- Knower of Things
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in an effort to consolidate:
It is a very good time to be a gearhead with respect to fedoras. The market today is ripe with quite a few affordable fedora options of considerable quality that did not exist just a couple years back.
This week I finally received my JPD rabbit that I ordered back in February. I was enticed at the time by the relatively short turn around time, but sadly that appears to be gone thanks probably to the glowing reviews Jimmy’s hats were getting back around the holidays. As a daily hat wearer lacking the funds for a second AB, I was looking for a replacement everyday hat as I retired my AB for display and special occasions (sorry Steve, I know this is against the AB philosophy! ) My Akubra fed. Dlx on the other hand just wasn’t cutting it anymore as a nice hat. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great hat, but the fuzziness has long bothered me, even after drastically improving it by spending severals hours on it with sandpaper. So now my Akubra is on extreme conditions duty, where just in case something were to happen to it, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Anyway, with that background, I present to you my JPD review.
Initial impression – It’s odd, I can’t tell you how excited I was to get my JPD. I was really looking forward to getting this hat and trying for some of that nice mushrooming most people’s JPD’s were showing. But for some reason, my initial reaction to the hat wasn’t as enthusiastic as I was expecting. There wasn’t really anything wrong, or bad about it I could see, but I wasn’t wowed like I was when I opened up my AB. Definiely not disappointed, just not floored. Please note though that my enthusiasm for the hat quickly built up the more I got to know it and held it in my hands. Right out of the box though, the JPD screamed “wear me!” whereas my AB on the other hand seemed more to say, “wear me on special occasions” (even though we all know not to listen to what our hats tell us
)
Felt - Not that I was expecting any different, but I was quite relieved to see how nice and smooth the finish on the felt was. There was one spot on the brim where the felt was a little rough and had a “torn” appearance, but a once over with my hat brush smoothed it right out. The stiffness of the felt I felt was just right. Not cardboard, but not floppy soft either. I’m sure it will soften up as time goes by though.
It wasn’t until I started bashing that I truly began to appreciate the beauty of the hat. Bashing was a pleasure and a breeze. I spent 15 minutes bashing and fine tuning it until I was satisfied; all completely dry mind you. The only thing I have to complain about with the felt is the crease marks left in the valley of the side dents. They’re not extremely noticeable (I couldn't even get them to appear for a picture), but this is the first hat I’ve noticed such marks with. I’m waiting to see if they’ll work themselves out as the felt settles in. Note: unfortunately I did not get any mushrooming as a byproduct from just bashing. I'll eventually feel the urge to sit on the hat, i'm sure, and work some in there. As for color, it looks almost identical to my "ford felt" AB, which is just fine with me, as that's my favorite color of the one's I've seen.
Ribbon – I think I have a love hate relationship with Jimmy’s ribbon. First off let me say the color is not that bad, nowhere near as “bright” as I was expecting from the pictures I’ve seen. I was expecting it to have the same bright sheen as the miller ribbon, but thankfully this ribbon seems to be darker, though still a little “glossy.” I actually rather like the color, distinctive enough to be unique while screen accurate enough not to be distracting for my tastes. What I really take offense to in the ribbon department though is the fact that the ribbon fabric has wrinkles in it. The fact that the ribbon is a little on the loose side only serves to make the wrinkles that much more noticeable. The bow work on the other hand looks really nice.
Inside – On the inside we have the liner and the sweatband. I really dig the green color of the liner. It gives the hat a very distinctive and classy feel. The custom embroidery work is quite nice as well. Can’t complain any about the JP logo; again, very classy and vintage feeling. The lack of a plastic cap on the liner means I get to keep it in for all season wear and keep the hat looking classy on the inside. My only gripe with the liner is the one area on the green where the fabric looks a little frayed. It’s no hole, but definitely an area I need to be mindful of, lest it become one. The sweatband is pretty run of the mill and unoffensive, I’m guessing roan. It would have been nice to see the Jimmy Pierce name stamped in gold somewhere on it. It would have also been nice to see a small bow on the sweat seam, but I guess that’s just a personal preference (though I thought the little bow was customary, anyone know of its origin?)
Value - At 140 shipped this puppy’s main competitor is obviously the fed. deluxe. You have to remember though that with the JPD you’re getting a custom hat, and at that price, its also pretty unbeatable. As far as I can tell, there are only 2 areas where the akubra has the advantage and that’s in the ribbon (which can easily be replaced on the JPD) and the wait. If you absolutely have to have a hat by next week (I think I had mine in 6 days) Akubra is your best bet, but if you can wait the roughly 11 weeks I did for my JPD, put your money into the JPD.
Overall - Was I a little picky on certain things with respect to the price? Yeah, probably so. It’s a tremendous value for its price range, especially considering it’s a custom hat. And in all honesty, the things I was picky about are things you would expect from a much higher priced hat, so it’s actually making quite a statement when this hat is being compared to say the AB, and holding its own. The one area the JPD has yet to prove itself is in durability. We already know the Akubra kicks some serious competition butt in this category. Here’s hoping the JPD can fair similarly. If it can, JPD will reign supreme as the hat to beat in the $100-150 range. When all is said and done, I have no regrets replacing my current everday hat of choice, the Akubra Fed. Deluxe with the JPD, in fact I’m excited to do so, what with it being a custom hat with a spiffy green liner.
Scroll down for some comparison pics
vs. the AB
vs. Fed. Deluxe (notice felt texture)
vs. LC bashed Indiana Miller (notice ribbon color, and wrinkles in ribbon fabric)
Brian
It is a very good time to be a gearhead with respect to fedoras. The market today is ripe with quite a few affordable fedora options of considerable quality that did not exist just a couple years back.
This week I finally received my JPD rabbit that I ordered back in February. I was enticed at the time by the relatively short turn around time, but sadly that appears to be gone thanks probably to the glowing reviews Jimmy’s hats were getting back around the holidays. As a daily hat wearer lacking the funds for a second AB, I was looking for a replacement everyday hat as I retired my AB for display and special occasions (sorry Steve, I know this is against the AB philosophy!
) My Akubra fed. Dlx on the other hand just wasn’t cutting it anymore as a nice hat. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great hat, but the fuzziness has long bothered me, even after drastically improving it by spending severals hours on it with sandpaper. So now my Akubra is on extreme conditions duty, where just in case something were to happen to it, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Anyway, with that background, I present to you my JPD review.Initial impression – It’s odd, I can’t tell you how excited I was to get my JPD. I was really looking forward to getting this hat and trying for some of that nice mushrooming most people’s JPD’s were showing. But for some reason, my initial reaction to the hat wasn’t as enthusiastic as I was expecting. There wasn’t really anything wrong, or bad about it I could see, but I wasn’t wowed like I was when I opened up my AB. Definiely not disappointed, just not floored. Please note though that my enthusiasm for the hat quickly built up the more I got to know it and held it in my hands. Right out of the box though, the JPD screamed “wear me!” whereas my AB on the other hand seemed more to say, “wear me on special occasions” (even though we all know not to listen to what our hats tell us
)Felt - Not that I was expecting any different, but I was quite relieved to see how nice and smooth the finish on the felt was. There was one spot on the brim where the felt was a little rough and had a “torn” appearance, but a once over with my hat brush smoothed it right out. The stiffness of the felt I felt was just right. Not cardboard, but not floppy soft either. I’m sure it will soften up as time goes by though.
It wasn’t until I started bashing that I truly began to appreciate the beauty of the hat. Bashing was a pleasure and a breeze. I spent 15 minutes bashing and fine tuning it until I was satisfied; all completely dry mind you. The only thing I have to complain about with the felt is the crease marks left in the valley of the side dents. They’re not extremely noticeable (I couldn't even get them to appear for a picture), but this is the first hat I’ve noticed such marks with. I’m waiting to see if they’ll work themselves out as the felt settles in. Note: unfortunately I did not get any mushrooming as a byproduct from just bashing. I'll eventually feel the urge to sit on the hat, i'm sure, and work some in there. As for color, it looks almost identical to my "ford felt" AB, which is just fine with me, as that's my favorite color of the one's I've seen.
Ribbon – I think I have a love hate relationship with Jimmy’s ribbon. First off let me say the color is not that bad, nowhere near as “bright” as I was expecting from the pictures I’ve seen. I was expecting it to have the same bright sheen as the miller ribbon, but thankfully this ribbon seems to be darker, though still a little “glossy.” I actually rather like the color, distinctive enough to be unique while screen accurate enough not to be distracting for my tastes. What I really take offense to in the ribbon department though is the fact that the ribbon fabric has wrinkles in it. The fact that the ribbon is a little on the loose side only serves to make the wrinkles that much more noticeable. The bow work on the other hand looks really nice.
Inside – On the inside we have the liner and the sweatband. I really dig the green color of the liner. It gives the hat a very distinctive and classy feel. The custom embroidery work is quite nice as well. Can’t complain any about the JP logo; again, very classy and vintage feeling. The lack of a plastic cap on the liner means I get to keep it in for all season wear and keep the hat looking classy on the inside. My only gripe with the liner is the one area on the green where the fabric looks a little frayed. It’s no hole, but definitely an area I need to be mindful of, lest it become one. The sweatband is pretty run of the mill and unoffensive, I’m guessing roan. It would have been nice to see the Jimmy Pierce name stamped in gold somewhere on it. It would have also been nice to see a small bow on the sweat seam, but I guess that’s just a personal preference (though I thought the little bow was customary, anyone know of its origin?)
Value - At 140 shipped this puppy’s main competitor is obviously the fed. deluxe. You have to remember though that with the JPD you’re getting a custom hat, and at that price, its also pretty unbeatable. As far as I can tell, there are only 2 areas where the akubra has the advantage and that’s in the ribbon (which can easily be replaced on the JPD) and the wait. If you absolutely have to have a hat by next week (I think I had mine in 6 days) Akubra is your best bet, but if you can wait the roughly 11 weeks I did for my JPD, put your money into the JPD.
Overall - Was I a little picky on certain things with respect to the price? Yeah, probably so. It’s a tremendous value for its price range, especially considering it’s a custom hat. And in all honesty, the things I was picky about are things you would expect from a much higher priced hat, so it’s actually making quite a statement when this hat is being compared to say the AB, and holding its own. The one area the JPD has yet to prove itself is in durability. We already know the Akubra kicks some serious competition butt in this category. Here’s hoping the JPD can fair similarly. If it can, JPD will reign supreme as the hat to beat in the $100-150 range. When all is said and done, I have no regrets replacing my current everday hat of choice, the Akubra Fed. Deluxe with the JPD, in fact I’m excited to do so, what with it being a custom hat with a spiffy green liner.
Scroll down for some comparison pics
vs. the AB
vs. Fed. Deluxe (notice felt texture)
vs. LC bashed Indiana Miller (notice ribbon color, and wrinkles in ribbon fabric)
Brian
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pastimesteve
- Dig Worker
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:05 am
- Location: Colorado, USA
Here's mine:
Well, much to my surprise, I received my JPD Indy hat yesterday (5/9), about a month earlier than I expected.
Way to go Jimmy!
The hat itself is awesome, just a great piece of work, and even better, it was custom made for me! Jimmy even added in a personalized touch to the liner (pics later). I'm extremely impressed and I highly recommend JPD for your hat needs (nothing against Steve and Marc -- they both make beautiful hats).
Now, I have zero experience with fedoras, so I'm not sure how this looks on me. I mean, I think it looks good, but my wife gave me a strange look when I tried it on at first. Even the greatest hat isn't going to help if my features don't match up. I do need to work the brim a bit.
Here are a couple of pics:
Please give me your honest thoughts,
Steve
Well, much to my surprise, I received my JPD Indy hat yesterday (5/9), about a month earlier than I expected.
Way to go Jimmy!The hat itself is awesome, just a great piece of work, and even better, it was custom made for me! Jimmy even added in a personalized touch to the liner (pics later). I'm extremely impressed and I highly recommend JPD for your hat needs (nothing against Steve and Marc -- they both make beautiful hats).
Now, I have zero experience with fedoras, so I'm not sure how this looks on me. I mean, I think it looks good, but my wife gave me a strange look when I tried it on at first. Even the greatest hat isn't going to help if my features don't match up. I do need to work the brim a bit.
Here are a couple of pics:
Please give me your honest thoughts,
Steve
Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 3:31 pm Post subject: New JP Designs Indy arrived today
________________________________________
Good Day,
Christmas came early for me in that I just received my new Indy hat from Jimmy Pierce. As soon as I can get some pics I will post them. But I will have to say that the color, look & feel are great. Not too mention that the hat fits like a glove with no assistance from anything in the sweatband. Overall I am very pleased. For the specs it has the standard Indy brim dimemsions with a 5 1/2in crown which suits my face better than something taller.
Like I said earlier I couldn't be more pleased and with hats like these I can see more custom hat purchases in the future.
Thanks.
I took some new pics of my Jimmy Pierce. Hope these are better than what I posted before.
________________________________________
Good Day,
Christmas came early for me in that I just received my new Indy hat from Jimmy Pierce. As soon as I can get some pics I will post them. But I will have to say that the color, look & feel are great. Not too mention that the hat fits like a glove with no assistance from anything in the sweatband. Overall I am very pleased. For the specs it has the standard Indy brim dimemsions with a 5 1/2in crown which suits my face better than something taller.
Like I said earlier I couldn't be more pleased and with hats like these I can see more custom hat purchases in the future.
Thanks.
I took some new pics of my Jimmy Pierce. Hope these are better than what I posted before.
Good Day,
Well the day has finally arrived. I now have in my hands a new JPD that I placed on order back in late January. I will make sure to get some pictures posted tonight when I get home from work.
But for those who are still waiting, all I can say is, it's worth the wait. At least I am of that opinion. This is my second JPD (I picked up one during his holiday special last December). I was very pleased back then and even more so today.
Here are the pics of my new JPD. The last pic shows both my JPD's side by side.
The new one has the follwing specs (2 7/8 brim / 2 5/8 sides / 5 1/2 crown / "Turn" / SOC bash)
My first JPD is just standard 2 3/4 / 2 1/2 / 5 1/2 Raiders Bash)
Well the day has finally arrived. I now have in my hands a new JPD that I placed on order back in late January. I will make sure to get some pictures posted tonight when I get home from work.
But for those who are still waiting, all I can say is, it's worth the wait. At least I am of that opinion. This is my second JPD (I picked up one during his holiday special last December). I was very pleased back then and even more so today.
Here are the pics of my new JPD. The last pic shows both my JPD's side by side.
The new one has the follwing specs (2 7/8 brim / 2 5/8 sides / 5 1/2 crown / "Turn" / SOC bash)
My first JPD is just standard 2 3/4 / 2 1/2 / 5 1/2 Raiders Bash)
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DanielJones
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