Open Road as Raiders? (Comparison pictures)

[Dr.Seuss]

So if the crown is too short to begin with - I wonder if _ just got as much as he could off the thing and had a very, very shallow top dent - is it possible that they'd have gone through that much work to make a hat taller? Or did the Campdraft change from a taller crown to the 4. someting incher since then?

You should give it a try, Seuss. Just to see how it turns out. * * *

In another thread, Aeris C suggested a Raiders look on the Stetson Open Road. Here is the result of a quick shaping. The 15 year old felt is somewhat resistant to holding a shape.

The crown is just about 4 5/8 inches (very top). Brim, 2 3/4 inches. The ribbon is 1 1/8 inches; anything wider looked out of proportion (sorry, no time for a bow). A very shallow top dent.

Sincerely,

[airforceindy]

Doctor,
Not a bad looking hat! I really like the color, a good approximation for the much debated Raider's traveling hat, other than the brim binding of course. Is the crown height 4 5/8" open or bashed?

Regards, Andy

[Castor Dioscuri]

If the brim's a bit too short, I see no reason it could not have been one of the many hats used for LC, especially in the grail knight scene.

Seeing as how Stetson was reportedly one of the main suppliers of hats for ToD, perhaps they used a leftover 'Open Road' (assuming it comes in brown as well) for LC?

[McFly]

There's something about that hat - maybe the orange light reflecting onto it - that reminds me of Treasure of the Sierra Madre (that's a good thing). Give that thing a teardrop crown (or did he have a C-dent?) and beat it up and I think it'd look just like Bogie's!

In Christ,
Shane

[Dr.Seuss]

It was an interesting and fun "experiment." I did pull it over a Lamode Block and gave it a quick "steam," before shaping. Without the block steam, the shape would have been considerably "off."

As Aeris noted, the crown is simply too short (at least for my head) to ever offer a "Raiders" look. The narrow ribbon, I used, buttresses the argument the crown was too short to have been a Raiders hat.

Couple of comparisons to a PB Custom.


The PB has a 5 inch front pinch. The ribbon is the standard PB, almost 1 1/2 inch.

If anyone is looking for a short crowned hat, I've got one.

Sincerely,

[Chewbacca Jones]

The crown height on Open Roads can varry quite a bit depending on year. I used to have one that was the same as the current Campdraft.

[Dr.Seuss]

The crown height on Open Roads can varry quite a bit depending on year. I used to have one that was the same as the current Campdraft.

It seems the Open Road/Campdraft remains "questionable." From this excursion into shaping, the 1982 version (or whenever this Stetson was actually made) appears to be out of the running.

What did Fedora once say, "That dog won't hunt."

Sincerely,

[3thoubucks]

As Chewbacca says, there seem to be both high and low crown Open Roads. Click this link and read "thunderw21" 's comments. http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=22932

[Dr.Seuss]

As Chewbacca says, there seem to be both high and low crown Open Roads. Click this link and read "thunderw21" 's comments. http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=22932

Interesting. An anecdotal observation?

Perhaps there was little consistency to the Open Road. Or, was it simply a matter of different companies producing their own version of the style, with subtle differences? Or, just the types of variation we see when comparing products from our own Raiders hat craftsmen?

Sincerely,