James River canoing and a Beaver felt Fedora

[beaverlid]

I am a new attendee to this awesome community. Just let me say I had no idea their were so many people with a love for the Fedora. I come from a town in Virginia that I swear I am the only one that wears a Fedora. I get the occasional older gentlemen wearing one but it is rare. So anyway I am glad to be here!!

I bought my first wool felt fedora over a year ago. I am an avid outdoorsman. I love to be on the river in my canoe. Sometimes for days at a time. The weather in virginia can get very hot and muggy. The summer brings frequent 4:00pm daily thunder and rain storms. Needless to say my wool felt Indy has not held up. It faded it shrunk and the hat is an overall mess.

The good news to this story is that I realized I am a fedora wearer for life. I wear it everywhere. It is not used as a dress hat. It is my everything hat. So I ordered a 100% Beaver fur. It has a "Temple of Doom" block. The differences are astounding.

I have a few questions about this hat. I want a hat that will last a lifetime. Is that even possible with a fedora. Will the beaver hold up to the above listed abuse it will frequently go through? Will the felt color fade? Will the felt shrink. I have heard that Beaver is the best felt for the elements. I am hoping for some advice from the experts in this fine community on how to put a hat through the ringer and still have it for a lifetime. Thanks for any help you can give.

I am about to take a 4 day trip down the James river. I will post pics after that trip of my fine new Lid.

Beaverlid.

[binkmeisterRick]

First off, welcome!

A good beaver felt fedora will last years, years, and more years beyond a wool felt hat. If you want a hat that will last a lifetime and put up with a ton of abuse, a good beaver felt will stand up to the elements the best. Keep in mind, however, that any hat seriously put through the ropes will eventually require a reblock or maybe even a new sweatband (especially if you sweat in it profusely). That doesn't mean it'll be a month down the road, however. All felt will taper to a degree, but a beaver felt resists that the most of any other type of felt, and at that, it won't shrink up like your wool hat did. Beavers live in the water, so the felt is used to the elements.

As for fading, any hat will fade over time, especially if it's in the sun a lot. It also depends on how the felt was colored, as to the degree of fading.

Mind if I ask what hat you ordered?

[beaverlid]

Thank you for the welcome. I am learning a little bit each day. I am probably about to be cut off from the community for having purchased this hat from this particular company as they seemed to be held in a low opinion over an ordeal that is all before my time in this community. So that being said I bought the Baron Cliffhanger. I could not wait for the Adventure built as my first Beaver fedora. My plan is to purchase it when he opens for orders again. I understand he is backlogged over a year at this point.

Let me just say as far as Baron's goes Mr. Mejia called me personally multiple times when he had trouble getting the Beaver felt that he uses. All in all with a little patience he was able to get me the fedora I wanted. I liked the shorter crown with the pecan color. He provided me excellent customer service. It is rare that the president of a large company calls personally. I was also given gift certificates and additional discounts on a fedora for my wife named "The Lover".

I will keep you all posted on the abuse it takes and how well it holds up. It is likely to get sunbaked all summer wet from downpoors and profuse sweating.

One other question. Is the minut amounts of felt that come off a new fedora normal. I am gently working in the felt to give it a little bit more of a lived in look and I noticed the small amounts that come off and make what looks like little brown beaver lint. I am assuming it is normal but would love to know if it isn't.

[binkmeisterRick]

First of all, if you love the hat and enjoy it, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, much less who made the hat. You have to be happy with your hat, be it a Dorfman Pacific or a vintage Borsalino. Undoubtedly, you'll come across folks here who will say you should've just purchased this hat or that hat. Again, if you like the hat you bought, then that's all that matters.

Second, the idea of felt coming off any hat does concern me a bit. If it's just "lint" I would hope it's something left over from the pouncing job, where the hat body gets sanded down for a smooth finish. I would think the hat would be brushed before being sent out, though. If the "lint" is NOT because of the pouncing, I'd personally be worried as to the quality of the hat body. I've never had that problem on any of my beaver hats, much less any of my fur felt hats. Can you share a picture of what you describe? Either way, you might want to call Barons just to get their take on it. I'll be interested in a progress report on this hat.

[beaverlid]

Actually I probably made it sound worse than it is. I believe it may have been left over from the pouncing. I have run my fingers over the pinch and it is not doing it now. So whew, hopeful sigh of relief. I do like the hat, but at the same point I like fedoras so much because I love the area that they dominated from the 30's to the 40's. I believe men held different morals and values of that age then alot of the men of this age. Integrity and honesty mean a great deal to me and if Barons is guilty of some of the things I have read then they lack qualities I respect. However maybe a lesson was learned and the past is the past. I believe he provided me with a solid hat and I will certainly put its durability to the test. At this point I am new to the community so anything I have read is all second and I think I will leave it that way.

I am at the office awaiting a co worker to come snap a photo of the fedora on and off my head. As soon as she gets freed up I will get her to snap pics and I will post.

[beaverlid]

Just as a follow up, I gently ran a lint roller over the brim and got nothing. I think it probably was not brushed good before shipping. I have a piece of white paper with a little of the lint I noticed earlier next to a paperclip for scale. As soon as my photographer gets free I will take the pics. Hopefully in the next few minutes.

[binkmeisterRick]

I'm glad it was just lint!

[Tron7960]

Welcome to COW.

Enjoy your new hat and be sure to post pics when you get the chance.

Although some may judge you by the hat you wear, my experience here is that most will judge you by how you conduct yourself and how you treat others.

It's a very welcoming and supportive community!

[Long John Tinfoil]

;0

Don't mind me, I've just been waiting for a chance to do that.

LJ

[beaverlid]

I am glad to hear this is a good community to be involved in. I am thick skinned and don't mind criticism at all. I attempted to load pictures yesterday and apparently I either have to request it from the administrators or I have to import the pics from a public domain or I am just a little slow and don't know how to do it yet.

Any suggestions?

I took a pic of the felt lint on a yellow piece of paper next to a paperclip for scale and wanted to post that plus a couple of pics of me in the new lid. I am eager to get involved in this community I just need to get all of my tools in order.

[Texas Raider]

Welcome, Beaverlid! I spend most of my time outdoors as well! Here is a pic of my canoe and I in the Big Thicket reserve here in Texas. It's a nice trip, you can get lost in there for a long time if you really want to! White sand beaches to camp on, great river! About your hat, just remember it's no indestructible just because it's beaver....the heat, humidity and rain/water, not to mention the occasional dunk in the drink is bound to happen. It will need reblocked probably again and again if the abuse is 'good' Much better than wool, though! I'm wearin' an AB beaver in this pic.



TR

[VP]

What canoes are people using? I work for the second biggest kayaking, canoeing and paddling retailer in Europe and we represent the Mad River Canoe canoes. We also sell numerous other brand plus manufacture our own products, here's a link to our brand page: http://www.bearwater.fi/fi/linkki_sivulle/

[Jens]

Beaverlid -welcome aboard (pun intended ). I did some kayaking myself and like you I was very anxious concerning my Fedora. But in the end I was very happy to have taken it with me - not only does it complete the adventurous look ( ), but it's also a good (if not the best) protection against the elements when spending a day on the water. These felt hats can stand quite a lot, they're tougher than one might think. Some good beaver felt, professionally crafted will last for a very long time - even (or especially) if you are giving it a hard time "in the field" (with just some care and a brush every now and then, I can still wear my Fedora with a suit, although it had to last the dust of two deserts and some foggy and rainy days in the far north. Even the fading (which will occur over time) can be fought to a certain degree by your favourite hatmaker in a "work over".



VP: Interesting news about your profession. I think I'll keep this connection in mind - never know, when it comes in handy to know the right people at the right time.

[beaverlid]

Great water pics guys. There is nothing like being on the river or a large lake.

To answer your question VP, for me it is Old Town all the way. They make great canoes.

[beaverlid]

Sorry about the delay for the pic. I had to open a fotki account.

http://public.fotki.com/beaverlid


Hopefully this is the right way to let you view images. I will add more pics after this weekend.

[VP]

Yeah that's lint. No worries, good looking hat you got. Wear it proudly. Old Town is a good brand, their dealer is located a few kilometers from me. I've paddled in an Old Town Discovery 174 since I was a few months old.

Hey Jens, is that a Prijon Excursion you're paddling there? We sell 'em you know. http://www.bearwater.fi/kauppa/show_pro ... &menuID=51

[beaverlid]

Thanks for the compliment. The ribbon came out shiney in the picture. I will take a few better pics and post them today. I hope to get a few good pictures on the James river this weekend of some of the native beavers. They are all over the river and hang out in family groups.

[beaverlid]

Jens where is that picture of you kayaking with the ice in the background taken? It looks gorgeous!

[Jens]

Hey Jens, is that a Prijon Excursion you're paddling there? We sell 'em you know. http://www.bearwater.fi/kauppa/show_pro ... &menuID=51

Boy, you're good! You know your stuff - really, really good! It is indeed a Prijon ... not my own 'though (rented in Greenland - bringing an own boat would have been to expensive), but a really good kayak, imho!

Jens where is that picture of you kayaking with the ice in the background taken? It looks gorgeous!

Thanks for the compliment. These pictures were taken last summer in Greenland, where I spent three weeks kayaking in the area of the Viking settlements. Somewhere around here is a thread with more pictures ... ah, yes - here.

PS: Just a friendly advise - if you want to correct an earlier post or add something you could use the "edit" function (button in the lower right of your post). Don't worry, you did nothing wrong, it's just consensus to try to avoid double posts.

[beaverlid]

Texas Raider that sounds like a great place. There is nothing like getting lost on the water away from civilization for a few days!!

[norton]

What canoes are people using? I work for the second biggest kayaking, canoeing and paddling retailer in Europe and we represent the Mad River Canoe canoes. We also sell numerous other brand plus manufacture our own products, here's a link to our brand page: http://www.bearwater.fi/fi/linkki_sivulle/

I try to canoe the boundary waters every other year or so. I have two kevlar canoes that I purchased used from an outfitter. One is a Mad River double and the other is a wenonah solo. They're pretty beat up but I'm happy with them both.

[VP]

Saw a Wenonah going up the river today, their dealer is the same guy who sells the Old Towns.

[Texas Raider]

What canoes are people using? I work for the second biggest kayaking, canoeing and paddling retailer in Europe and we represent the Mad River Canoe canoes. We also sell numerous other brand plus manufacture our own products, here's a link to our brand page: http://www.bearwater.fi/fi/linkki_sivulle/

Mine is a Pelican 160. It's a beauty,,has custom wood decking and trim. Sweet! Those green pool noodles are on there for my dogs , so they can hang on the sides. (also helps with carrying it on top of my truck)

TR

[binkmeisterRick]

Is this still a hat thread, or should I move it to Lao Che's now?

[VP]

I'm here for the canoes, dunno 'bout the others. Just sold a Mad River Explorer 16 with two Beavertail paddles by Bending Branches.

[binkmeisterRick]

Well, unless you plan to wear the canoe on your head like a turned Indy fedora, then we might want to get back on topic, this being a hat forum, and all.

[VP]

Sure, I do it all the time.

[Ranger36]

Deleted by Ranger36

[binkmeisterRick]

Nice. But back on topic, please.

[WConly]

I have a Baron's Cliffhanger...infact wore it to church last night....it is my dress brown fedora. I have others I wear for more serious chores. I really love the hat! It fits great...looks great and has a wonderful feel all around! W>