Show Us Your Worst Taper

[Darth Indiana]

My worst tapered hat was my first Indy hat, a wool felt from Cabela's. I wore that thing all day every day for two years, rain or shine. It was with me through summer camp, camping, exploring the woods, everything. While I was at school it was in my backpack. If I was out of bed and that hat wasn't with me you could assume that i was either dead or being taken by the Black Sleep of Kali. it was MY hat. Sadly I lost this hat years ago, and have no idea where, it just seemed to disappear.
Now I've seen people here discuss taper. I put forth that you don't know what taper is.

you think you can best this? it started with a flat brim and nearly straight sides.

[indy89]

Here's one. This is my first brown fedora. I bought it at Burlington Coat Factory back in 2003. I remember diving into the Frio river with it on

[suburbancomics]

Well at least you have a nice Raiders swoop going on with that lid indy89!

[Tibor]

Best to stay in the river with that on. Useful for bailing water out of your boat once you get back in though.

[Indycrazy5187]

crazy taper

[Fedora]

Here's one. This is my first brown fedora. I bought it at Burlington Coat Factory back in 2003. I remember diving into the Frio river with it o

This is a great example of the hat reverting to the basic cone the hat was, prior to pulling it over a block and forming a hat. This looks just like what I get in to make hats with, except, my bodies are not quite that coney(for lack of a better term). Must be a difference in the shape of the cone used to make the body between factories.

This also shows why a hat tapers, if you visualize this hat once looking like a hat! Once a hat gets soaked to the core,(hard to do for beaver, but much easier for rabbit) the felt totally forgets the shape you put into the cone and reverts. That is, until the felt finally dies, and I really think this takes alot of years.

Felt is the only textile like material that is alive. This is why it reacts the way it does and tapers. And being alive, it is unpredictable, whereas, dead fur isn't so much. More stable is what I am getting at.

Of course the key to any new hat not tapering is to use a block with the same amount of taper as the cone had! But not many of us could put up with that much taper. Fedora

[Darth Indiana]

wow. that's hideous. and i mean that in the best way possible.

[Texan Scott]

Yeah, but how about that "turn"?

[indy89]

Yup, I have a lot of fond memories of that hat. It saw many adventures. Haha, I don't even remember what the hat looked like before it took a dive

[DoubleOhSeven]

Here's one. This is my first brown fedora. I bought it at Burlington Coat Factory back in 2003. I remember diving into the Frio river with it o

This is a great example of the hat reverting to the basic cone the hat was, prior to pulling it over a block and forming a hat. This looks just like what I get in to make hats with, except, my bodies are not quite that coney(for lack of a better term). Must be a difference in the shape of the cone used to make the body between factories.

This also shows why a hat tapers, if you visualize this hat once looking like a hat! Once a hat gets soaked to the core,(hard to do for beaver, but much easier for rabbit) the felt totally forgets the shape you put into the cone and reverts. That is, until the felt finally dies, and I really think this takes alot of years.

Felt is the only textile like material that is alive. This is why it reacts the way it does and tapers. And being alive, it is unpredictable, whereas, dead fur isn't so much. More stable is what I am getting at.

Of course the key to any new hat not tapering is to use a block with the same amount of taper as the cone had! But not many of us could put up with that much taper. Fedora

Fedora:

If you've a hat that starts getting a taper to it, is there anything you can do to help it other than reblocking?

[Captain Micahtoons]

We got a tornado warning here in Oregon a week ago and I went out in my little dorfman. While it fixed my crease a bit, it sure started to taper. That's when I decided to get my Akubra Adventurer.

Not a baaaad taper, but it was worse and, as I said, I'd had enough.

Now, my akubra...

Much Better!

Still working on the bash a bit.

[BendingOak]

Where in Oregon. Always good to find another gearhead near by.

[Travner Ravenweird]

Is this bad for a 25 year old wool hat?

1984-ish


Today

[Fedora]

If you've a hat that starts getting a taper to it, is there anything you can do to help it other than reblocking?

Not to my knowledge. Of course, if it is just a little, you can knock it out to the open crown, and recrease it. This helps sometimes, because a hat can settle into a tapered look, from the way it is handled, or worn, when in fact the taper is not actually true taper. I have gotten in a couple of ABs for reblocks that were not tapered, they were just creased a certain way that made the hat taper, and then the felt settled in to this. I reblocked them anyways, since that is what the customer paid for, and it never hurts to freshen up a shape. Fedora

[Captain Micahtoons]

Bending oak, I'm situated in our grande old Capitol. Some folks give Salem a bad rap, but it's a nice little burg for Oregon. It's no Portland, but that, in my estimation, is a good thing. Nothing wrong with P-town. One is enough.

[RCSignals]

.....Sadly I lost this hat years ago, and have no idea where, it just seemed to disappear.
..........[/img]

If this happened while still at home, this is something mother's ( ) do but will never admit to.

[RCSignals]

Where in Oregon. Always good to find another gearhead near by.

There are a few people here from Salem. I see it in their location but have never run across them.

[Hollowpond]

.....Sadly I lost this hat years ago, and have no idea where, it just seemed to disappear.
..........[/img]

If this happened while still at home, this is something mother's ( ) do but will never admit to.

Wives are guilty of this too.

Travis

[RCSignals]

...
Wives are guilty of this too.

Travis

True. It's not usually such an unsolved mystery when wives do it though

[Captain Micahtoons]

Ah, Mothers. Bless their hearts, but they do the darnedest things sometimes. I lost a hat too. But the funniest story is perilously off topic. Indulge for a moment, folks....

I got a VHS copy of a performance of Mozart's opera, "The Magic Flute", or "Die Whistle Hokus-Pokus" in the German Anyway, I was halfway through it and I left it out. I come back some days later and it's gone. She copped to it and made to buy me a new one. I'm watching the new one and again am called away. I put it in its box and set it out of the way. No good. It too disappeared. Remorseful she got me a third one. I actually never got the wrapper off that one before it was exiled to the great beyond.

I see some folks with style trotting around Salem. Maybe I'll have to tip my hat to them. At the risk of sounding like a shill, I got my hat at Dinkum Gear in the Reed Opera House if anyone wants to swing in and see fresh new hats.

I thought I was going to get rid of my little Dorfman but I cannot seem to. We've been through a lot.

[RCSignals]

Dinkum Gear is an interesting place, but I hear it will be closing

[Tremolo]

I just found my first hat while looking through some old boxes, it is also my worst tapered. But it brings back a lot of memories.
Here it is:

[beaverlid]

I had to post this pic on another thread and thought I might drop it here as well. This is only about 1 1/2 years old. It is a wool felt. The picture with it next to the other hat is my AB.





Beaverlid

[indyclone]

i dont have a pic of my bad taper but i was in florida this june and i left my dorfman in the back window as i wore my indiana jones baseball cap to the theme parkand when i got back to the car that night the heat really messed up my hat it was warped looking , so i took into the motel room and spent a better part of an hour trying to reshape it and it finally got better , the next day i wore it to the disney hollywood studios and took this pic with the stunt actor from the indiana jones stunt spectacular

[Mattdeckard]

People's biggest complaint, yet so few pics.

Anywho... GET THOSE HAT'S REBLOCKED!

[fenris]

Here's my Christy's... it's more of a shortened crown with a slight taper...



I pretty much beat this hat up through daily wear in a hot and humid climate.

Here's a comparison between the Christy's and the Fed IV...


Notice the slight taper and shortness of the crown compared to the Fed... Oh, the taper may also be due to my head being a round oval. My head kinda pushed the sides outward.

[fenris]

The Christy's will be experiencing some extreme weather the next few weeks, being that it is rainy season and we're going to the beach next week (I know, it's weird to go to the beach during the rainy season... we've got guests coming from the US who want to go to Boracay).

Since the Christy's is now my beater hat (understatement), it will be the hat to accompany me to the beach.

[Mattdeckard]

Here is one my friend Jake steamed before he decided to sell it to someone that wanted to turn it into a Freddy Kruger hat.

Like with most I've seen in person, they taper on one side more than the other... the steaming of this felt brought that issue to light in spades.

They seam to stretch one side out far more than the other when blocking. This is probably due to it being a machine that drags the felt onto a block from one side.

[fenris]

Seeing the amount of taper of the other hats posted here makes me feel relieved. The Christy's taper doesn't seem that bad after all.

[Indiana Jake]

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I can't say enough bad things about the Christy's hat. Sorry. It was a waste. Glad to have a custom beaver Penman.

Indiana Jake