Critique my Raiders Bash

[JockThePilot]

Hey Gang,

Well, I finally got my first "real" Indy hat after years of wearing one I made myself from a $30 fishing hat. (I was actually pretty proud of that one, but that's a story for another time...)

I recently received my Akubra Fed IV deluxe, and I gotta say I am thrilled with it. It felt WAY too big when it arrived, so I stuffed a bunch of the foam strips behind the band. Then I wore it on a particularly sweaty hike, and it is fitting great now. (Kudos to Trudi at Hats Direct for helping me pick out the right size, by the way.)

Anyways, I've been working on getting the Raiders bash, and while I'm pretty happy with it, I just feel like I'm not quite there. I've hit it with steam a few times, and have got a good, tight centre pinch, but it just isn't quite clicking for me. The tricky thing is, I feel like I can't actually see what isn't working about it (perhaps I've been looking at it too much.)

So, with that in mind, perhaps someone here can suggest what tweaks I need to make to get "the look"?

(PS: I have watched and followed along with the Penman hats tutorial a bunch of times already, and have searched out all the references I can.)

Here's the hat:




(I feel like this picture the hat is "rotated" a bit, so the crease looks like it doesn't go as far back as it actually does.)




(I love this high angle shot... I feel like this looks the most like the Raiders bash, but I think that's a trick of my iPhone camera.)

(Bonus points if you want to scribble on my pictures.)

[Jeremiah]

I think it looks good but I would push back the dents a bit further. Should take out some of that taper. Mainly the one on the right side of the hat as you wear it.

[McQ7]

I agree about the dents being further back--depending on the scene, the top point of the dents can extend to almost halfway back the hat. I think the bashes on my Fed IV go back 3 inches, and they might look even better at 3.5 inches or so. When you're doing it, you might also want to emulate the distinctive non-bow side shape of the bash, which is less of a \ . It has an angle to it like an "L" that has been rotated 180 degrees. As you're bashing, see if you can get some overhead lighting going on to simulate that direct overhead sunlight from Raiders. Good lighting can really help one see what's going on with the shapes for comparison to the film.

I'll add that I'm also not 100% satisfied with my bash, because I can't seem to get the camel humps going on. I think it's due to my front crown height being 4.25" while many have said the Raiders hat was at 4.5" plus that the Fed IV was designed to look most accurate at 4.5". I can't recall who said it, but someone on here. And I think Holt's awesome Raiders bashes are always between 4.5" and 5" front crown height.

[JockThePilot]

Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a shot when I get home and post the results!

[BendingOak]

Make sure your center debt are at 4 1/2 in the front and 4 in the back. Once you get that set then start the side dents. Try tweaking as you go rather then putting in anything too sharp.

[JockThePilot]

Make sure your center debt are at 4 1/2 in the front and 4 in the back. Once you get that set then start the side dents. Try tweaking as you go rather then putting in anything too sharp.

Thanks! I measured my heights, and it turns out I was pretty bang on just doing it by eye.

I did take another look at the video too, and just pushing back the dents seems to have helped. (I tried to do the L-shape thing, although admittedly I don't quite see the "L" people are talking about.)

Anyways, this is where it's at, I'm getting happier and happier with it:







So the next question is: I feel like it's getting soft, like I may have "worn out" the stiffener (is that possible?). Is it possible to "re-stiffen" the thing? Maybe by spraying it with starch?*

*(I want the record to show I realise this is a great set-up for a Viagra joke... )

[BendingOak]

You can't knock out stiffener. Steam will be your friend to re-activate it. But in my opinion the fed
Is way too stiff.

[JockThePilot]

Turns out you're right - by this morning it had stiffened right back up!

It is really stiff, although I don't have anything to compare it to. It does feel like a solid piece of art that sits on my head, which I kind of like. It feels like bullets might bunch off this thing!

[zeus36]

Well, you don't want a stiff Indy hat if you are going for Raiders.
The Herbert Poet was very floppy. Beat the snot out of your Fed and soften it up.

[mcmanm]

Just got a Fed 4 Deluxe this eek and was surprised how soft and floppy it was. Nothing like the Standard I picked up here on the forum.

[JockThePilot]

Just got a Fed 4 Deluxe this eek and was surprised how soft and floppy it was. Nothing like the Standard I picked up here on the forum.

Is yours new from Hatsdirect? Interesting that yours would be so floppy and mine so stiff.

Also, how was your ordering experience size-wise? I'm now thinking I did end up with a too-big hat, even after some shrinking. In fact I think that might be the reason the bash isn't sitting properly for me.