Yojimbo Jones wrote:Absolutely, and it just comes down to what your criteria for your hat is. For myself, I look at it like the jacket, I could go horsehide for the jacket, but the drape isn't ever going to nail the look or the nuances of the right kind of lamb jacket. It's the same with rabbit. Personally I spend my money the same way with both because compromise kind of defeats the point of going for the perfect replica.
Put that together with the fact that it's not like a beaver or beaver blend felted hat is going to be guaranteed taper-free, and to me it's a no-brainer that there's a place in the market for an accurate rabbit hat. Especially when I see that there are so many beaver hats that just don't look quite right to my eye. As one of my customers explained, it feels more like they are wearing a helmet. Sure it's tough, but not how they image the Raiders hat to be. Plus, given the beating the original rabbit felt hat took, looking at Desi's hat I think it has held up quite well - though it could definitely use a reblock!
Bottom line is, it's not like most people wear their hats every day, or abuse them. Much of what we end up discussing is overkill for many people - there are a lot of people that just want something that nails the look the closest to the Raiders hat, and have no desire to wear it in a thunderstorm or wear it 7 days a week. (Not that a beaver would beat such a drenching, anyway.) But that doesn't stop me trying to create the most hardy rabbit hat someone can get. Uh oh - I'm digressing again. For me, the accuracy vibe is where I'm trying to excel.
...Wow, I can go on. I'm starting to see why my wife got sick of me talking about this stuff a year ago!
Desi's rabbit Raiders hat would not be around today, if worn all those years. But as I said, rabbit felt makes the most accurate Raiders fedora, because that was the felt used in that film hat. I only gave the reason I chose beaver over rabbit for my main line of hats. Nothing more than that. I reckon I used beaver so as to make a longer lasting hat, as that was important to me at the time, having gone through numerous rabbit hats that just did not hold up to my outdoor lifestyle of that era. But remember, I came from a backpacking background too, and gear failure was in my mind when I started making hats. I was tired of rabbit hats that seemed better suited for file 13 way too soon.
I must also say that will all of the new additions of Raider fedoras I have seen here, I still have not seen one that really captured the original's looks of that first film hat. No matter what felt was used. That includes any that I have ever made. All seem to be "off" somewhere. Some are very close, sure, but then there always seem to be something missing. Perhaps it's in my mind though, so I will allow for that. But most just look too darn straight, too much of a good thing, or the top of the crown is just too full. I think it has more to do with the type of felt used in the Raiders fedora, because the right felt is really big in getting the hat to look right. So, one can have a very close block, but it will only do so much, because if the felt is not the same, the looks are not there. IMO.
The folks that think a beaver dress hat is like wearing a helmet, must have never worn a really stiff western hat, is all I can say. You would get the same feeling as a helmet from a heavy weight rabbit dress hat too. But there is a vast difference between a soft thinner rabbit hat and a beaver hat, UNLESS the beaver was a lighter weight felt. A lightweight beaver hat feels just like a soft rabbit hat.
On the taper issue, yes, even beaver will taper if exposed to the elements. But its on a different time scale than rabbit. I have never seen a rabbit hat that if soaked in the first rain, that would not taper pretty badly. It generally takes a few rains for the beaver to do it. Plus, if you wear your hats outside, all the time, you will still own your beaver hat a few decades from now, but doubtful the rabbit would be around. And as far as reblocks, beaver will take alot more reblocks than rabbit. Beaver felt is just alot tougher felt than rabbit.
Yeah, I guess when I decided to use beaver, it was because I personally like tough, long lasting things, so it's a personal deal with me. But you make the trade off between longevity and Raider felt accuracy when you do it. If you go with a really high quality modern rabbit felt, you get some of the characteritics of beaver felt, but most rabbit felt today is a loose felt, and not a tight felt. And a loose felt will leak pretty quickly. I guess felt choice really depends upon what you are gonna use the hat for. If just for dress up, it really doesn't matter. IF you are buying to wear outside, everyday, you will find that beaver will cost you less over the long haul, because you won't have to replace it like you will rabbit.
For my, I see a hat as protection, as well as looking stylish. And personally, I want the best materials used for those hats, because quality has always been important to me personally. But quality and film accuracy are NOT the same thing. In fact, they are opposite when it comes to the first 3 Indy fedoras. So, I will gladly pat our other hatters on the back for a job well done, in trying to get the right felt for the Raiders fedora as well as their efforts to excel in replicating that hat. They are purists, where I am not. I just want to make the toughest Indy hat is all. I just wanted to make real world hats, for out of doors people, and if the felt was better than the original Raiders fedora, but did not look as accurate, I was ok with that. It was something I thought long and hard about at the time. I opted for better, higher quality felt. Plus, I really love the feel that beaver fur brings to a hat. It feels expensive. And it is the traditional highest and most desired fur to use in a hat, if price is not important. You get what you pay for in felts. But most know this.
, other than an occasional brushing. It has faded to a nice reddish brown. It is a hat worthy of the name Adventurbilt.
)
Beats me, but I intend to find out.
(no offense intended, but couldn't resist)
](./images/smilies/Indy_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
