That is unless of course you are the kind of person, like me, who likes to chat about Indygear for hours and likes to be tempted by gorgeous beaver fur fedoras.
Preface: Consider this a shameless plug for Penman Hats, because frankly they deserve it. These impressions are based solely on my close inspection of more than one Penman hats earlier today. I do not own one myself – yet.
I paid John a visit this afternoon and had an absolute blast. Since I live so close, I figured it was time to meet another gearhead in person. Plus it gave me a chance to show off my new Henry and see some of John’s work first hand, and even pick up one of his new brushes. We chatted at great length about fedoras, Indy IV, and all things gear. Let me just say publicly John is one helluva nice guy. This man knows his hats. He cares every bit as much about the craft as anyone else in the business of making Indy hats. Good enough will not do for John. This is quickly evident by speaking to the man about his craft. As for the hats themselves - let's just say I was blown away. I was lucky enough to see several different styles of hats he has made, and they are some of the finest hats I’ve ever seen. I’ve owned my fair share of Indy hats, so I feel comfortable in passing some discerning judgment. We played a game where we lined up a variety of Indy hats from various hatters, including John, to see how they compared. Boy if I wasn’t in for a surprise! If the Penman did not have a liner, I wouldn’t have believed for a second it wasn’t an AB
. That is how nice his hats are. And he’s only been doing this for a couple of months! He’s got the felt, the ribbon, and boy if his sweat bands aren’t of the nicest quality leather this side of ‘roo hide. With all of those nice hats right there in front of me, he asked me if there was anything I could suggest to him needed improving on his hats, and I was hard pressed to find a single thing in need of betterment. I hate having to compare this hat so closely with ABs, because it truly stands on its own, but ABs are the only other Indy offering in league with what John is offering here. Gearheads, listen up, there is a new name in town finally in league with AB in terms of fine quality Indy hats – remember this name - Penman Hats. Get your orders in soon, I have a feeling that as word starts to get around his roughly 3 month turnaround won’t last for very long.I also got one of John’s new hat brushes, which are a steal at $12. If you have never brushed your hat before, I promise you will notice a difference after just a few minutes of brushing. I know it’s been said by others more knowledgeable than I, but if you own a hat, you must also own a brush. Period. Even my practically new AB looked better with a few strokes of the brush. With promise of quality water repellant on it’s way, John is quickly becoming your one stop Indygear hat shop.
If there’s one thing I regret about my visit with John, it’s the strain my wallet is sure to feel in the coming months for knowing such hats are being made so close to me. I will surely be doing business again in the near future! Thank you for the hospitality John!
Regards,
Brian
;-) 
I guess its backt o the drawing board for me.
Guess I should get him his own.
