Club Obi Wan

@DOOR ... I really like the shape you have done to your FEDIV ... Looking good ...

The idea when I purchased this Fed IV Deluxe a couple of years ago was to let it "distress" naturally. But despite my wearing it while doing stuff like tearing down old garden sheds and cutting firewood, it's holding up extremely well! Too well, some might say if the "distressed" look is what they're after. These Akubra Feds are built tough, that's for sure! Brush off the dust and it looks as good as new!

Fine rain protection - Fed IV nad goatskin

Is the Fed IV dark brown close to the color seen in the Movies? Any of the 3 (ok..4!)

Not really. I mean it's okay but it has a grey tone to it where the Indy hats has a more reddish orange tone to the brown. But most Akubras seem to have that problem no matter the color -- IMO it probably comes from them trying to save on the dye, since the hoods naturally have a blue-grey color before dying it seems to stay with it. Akubra's colors can often seem muted and almost sickly I guess you could call it.

But the dark brown is ok if you're not picky. In certain light it can look greyer or browner or even have kind of a purple thing going on. But the consensus is that it's generally too dark, especially for a Raiders style (plus brim dimensions are small). But IMO it makes an okay LC hat; the LC *seemed* darker in some scenes. And the other thing in my experience is that the Imperial and Heritage color will behave slightly differently. The Heritage seems like a flatter color, almost matte like, while the Imperial seems to have a marbled thing going on if you look at it closely and the rougher texture probably scatters light differently. They're good knockaround beater hats, though, and the color will distress and fade fairly nicely.

How do you lighten the color? Will it eventually fade to a lighter brown?
Anyone try any methods to lighten the color ?


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Here’s a Fed IV Deluxe I had back in 2014 (sold it a while back though)
It has a good color but also could be the lighting


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Heyjude7 wrote:Is the Fed IV dark brown close to the color seen in the Movies? Any of the 3 (ok..4!)

Heyjude7 -- One way to change how the color of the Fed IV looks to the eye is to change the ribbon to a darker, more screen-accurate color. The standard ribbon doesn't offer quite enough contrast to the color of the felt.

When I had a couple of dark brown Fed IVs before moving up a notch to AdVintage Harrison hats, swapping the ribbons gave the look of the hat a little more "pop". Otherwise, the Fed IV is a great hat at a nice price.

Should you want to go that route, there may be some members of the gang here who can help you find some screen accurate darker-brown ribbon.

Howard Weinstein wrote:

Heyjude7 wrote:Is the Fed IV dark brown close to the color seen in the Movies? Any of the 3 (ok..4!)

Heyjude7 -- One way to change how the color of the Fed IV looks to the eye is to change the ribbon to a darker, more screen-accurate color. The standard ribbon doesn't offer quite enough contrast to the color of the felt.

When I had a couple of dark brown Fed IVs before moving up a notch to AdVintage Harrison hats, swapping the ribbons gave the look of the hat a little more "pop". Otherwise, the Fed IV is a great hat at a nice price.

Should you want to go that route, there may be some members of the gang here who can help you find some screen accurate darker-brown ribbon.

Yeah that's the other major thing is getting a slightly darker ribbon for more contrast. The stock ribbon on the Fed pretty much matches the brown tone of the felt and the main contrast between them is the texture. The felt will lighten up with sunlight in a different way from the ribbon, plus if you're going for the distressed look that always helps, especially if you throw a little fullers earth on it.

I know Thomas at Advintage used to sell meters of the generally correct ribbon he uses, and there are some others. Etsy is a good place to look for ribbon as well.

And another thing I've seen as well is the Tawny Fed makes a pretty good SOC hat with some work. The ribbon contrast is already there and with some darker and lighter additions to the felt it looks pretty good -- I know someone who used ground up pencil lead I think. Again, the brim dimensions of the Fed aren't exactly big enough for Raiders but they're ok (especially if you have a smaller head) and it will work fine, especially for the price.

Looks good Arch. Due to the lighting, I can't tell if the hat is brown or gray...

Woah... yeah, I didn't notice that until you pointed it out. It's brown. Crazy.

Nice, I was thinking it was brown due to the color of your jacket.

Got my Akubra Federation Deluxe a few weeks ago. I’m very pleased with it so far. Slowly getting it to a Raider’s Bash that I’m happy with. This hat has already gone on some adventures and travels with me and I know it will be around for years to come!

The Fed IV is always a solid choice. Looks great on you.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Hi everyone, new to the forum! Got a Fed IV Deluxe a little over a month ago which I quickly gave a Last Crusade shape to. Hopefully I can get better photos soon but I wanted to share something with everyone since I’ve been scouring the various topics here.

Looking good!

Looks Great!!!!!!


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Hi, Hobbit Fedora! Welcome to the forum! Great way to introduce yourself! That Fed looks fantastic!

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! The Fed is really awesome, been wearing it nearly every day, brings a little fortune and glory on the walk into work

I've had this Federation IV Deluxe for a long time and finally got around to giving it shape. Happy with the Raider's turn and shaping overall, but would love pointers on how to get closer to the "Idol Switch" look.

I think you’ve pretty much nailed it. The only thing I can think of is making the dents more crisp. In the film, if you look at a profile shot, they’re very pronounced and triangular. However the way yours is now that may be on verge of nitpicking.

Well just make sure the front is slightly higher than the back. The Fed's felt is different from most fedora felts -- it's generally thicker and heavier, sort of between a dress and western felt. The Heritage felt in the deluxe is lighter and more pliable, but Akubra felt nonetheless. That quality makes bashing an Akubra a bit different. A lot of first-time open crown wearers tend to overdo the center crease for an Indy because they focus so much on the "camel humps" and the stiff and thick Akubra felt can pull the sides with it when the dent is too deep. It's best to start shallow with the center dent, and don't go dead straight with it on the Raiders. Make it subtle and slightly "off" with the turn.

And don't go crazy with the pinch. Wet it, get it pinched adequately, then leave it. It'll work in with time and use and develop character.

Little bit late but here’s a picture of my Fed IV from Halloween. Starting to break in and take on some more character



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Your gear looks great!

I wanted to mention Hats Direct customer service.
I bought a Fed IV brown deluxe a few months ago. Great hat. I did sell it off because the color just seems too dark for me personally. But with that said I may buy another one and make it more Crusade style.
I did however order a carbon grey a few days ago for not only my whenever hat but of course it looks closest to the clipper color that they sell. I dropped down a size to a 55 on my order. They took the time to write me to say that last time I ordered a 56 and am I sure I want a 55. I replied yes I did so they moved forward. But they took it a step further and measured two 55's and they came out closer to 54.5 whereas the 56 was much closer to an actual 56 and of course will shrink a bit. Then they wrote me again to tell me what they found and left it up to me. I ordered the 56. I guess it is better to pad down vs not being able to even wear the hat at all.

Well I pulled the trigger on one, I've been posting in the other thread that Holt started, but since this is IV display thread I figured I'd post the pictures here. With maybe one or two on the other thread.

So to start, felt is a little thicker and stiffer, but that's to be expected. This isn't a Penman or AdVintage beaver felt.
But I like it, it'll do fine for what I wanted it for and that's a hat to wear while working in the woods, just about what ever. I'll remove the plastic inner liner this spring.

So my first attempt at dry bashing, wasn't to bad, put a little steam on the brim as it would pop back up annoyingly.
One this the site makes it look much lighter tan, it lends itself to the ol is it brown or grey.

The box came with no damage.










This is next to my Adventurebilt KotCS made by Steve


This is next to my Penmen KotCS travel hat


So, how'd I do
Croft

That's a real neat color! Very nice!

Which color is that?

Fits you well, Croft. Well done with the bash.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

My daughter,son-in-law,and son went in together and got me a Carbon Grey for Christmas.




Side by side with my “Cairo” Fed IV

Side by side with my Fed IV Deluxe


Under different lighting.


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Thanks for the compliments.
The finish is Heritage Fawn.

And really has a tendency towards the grey. But sometimes tarnish.
Site really looks more Tan.

But I like it and it was fun bashing it my self.

And that’s a nice lookin Carbon grey Sheffield Jones, though that last one looks very bluish.
You have started a new debate. Is it grey or blue

But I like it.

Croft

Indiana Croft wrote:And that’s a nice lookin Carbon grey Sheffield Jones, though that last one looks very bluish.
You have started a new debate. Is it grey or blue

But I like it.

Croft

Thanks. Lol. Those last two pictures are actually under a fluorescent light.

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All those Fed IV’s are looking great! Making me really itch to jump the saving-up gun and get another one in Moonstone for a “Maltese Falcon” look.

Those are some fine looking hats, I'm getting the itch to order one. Must resist must resist

I've had a carbon grey Fed for about 5 years and nearly wore it out. I wore it several times every week. It went on many vacations and trips and letting it get very wet many times was the hardest on it. I've sweated in it so much the ribbon has salt stains. The leather band has lost all of its lettering and the leather finish is nearly 100% gone. The lining is very discolored and stained. Overall it has shrunk at least 1/2 a size. I now consider it my beater hat to be worn when I'll be outdoors and sweating a lot or when it may rain. I thought about asking a local hat shop to replace the band and may end up doing that at some point.
About a year ago I bought a moonstone Fed absolutely love it. I was a little concerned the lighter color would get dirty easy but that hasn't been the case. I didn't realize how worn my carbon Fed was until I opened the box and got a look at the new moonstone. Now the moonstone is my 'fancy' hat. I do enjoy wearing the carbon Fed as it has a great well worn look to it and is not overly nice in any manner. I know there are other hats out there but I think I'll be a Fed customer for a long time.

Don’t mind the goofy face lol these are screen shots from a video I took as I concentrated on getting all the angles LOL

They shorted me 2 while cm on the sides and 1cm on the front and back on brim but still looks amazing


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I got around to replacing the hat band with a black one. Nice little Sunday morning project that really makes a difference.

Yeah, the contrast does make a difference. I actually know somebody who took the ribbon off their Fed and put the hat in a tanning booth for awhile to try to sun bleach it. Came out okay, maybe a little greyish (Akubra is stingy with the dye), but the contrast is definitely there.

My lovely wife bought me an Akubra Fed IV (and an Akubra Territory) in fawn. It arrived Friday!

I haven't steamed it yet or decided on a final bash or pinch, but here it is.

Love it the fawn Fed IV, thats the same as mine a few post’s up.
It looks like a cross between tan and grey all at the same time.
I did just a dry bash, but this will be my work hat, so we’ll see what comes of it.

I did remove the plastic cap liner, very carefully.

Your wife done good, wear it in good health.

Croft

its funny, you can look at a fed and the felt looks super thick, then you look at another and it doesn't look that thick. sorta like an optical illusion, as scientists used to say about the curve ball...but just try hitting that 'optical illusion'...

A Territory? With the wide brim? Niiiice!

Lookin' sharp in the Fed, there! I much prefer the fawn color to the dark chocolate brown of the one I have.

Just wanted to show off my Last Crusade Fed IV up in Colorado! I keep worrying that the brim is too wide for me but boy it came in handy with all that sun.

I actually got to stay at the Indiana Jones Bed and Breakfast a couple weeks ago...also known as the house at the start of “Last Crusade”! The Fed really completed the picture!!!

Dang, seems like a ton of fun. Also, great job shaping the hat.

It was really cool. We obviously watched “Last Crusade” that night...well I did, my wife was asleep What was even more interesting is that little town in Colorado is where my family’s from so we had that connection too.

Wanted to share my new Moonstone Deluxe. I was going to go with a “Clipper” style but this feels more elegantly nonchalant to me. I also think it may have turned out better than my brown Last Crusade one