Club Obi Wan

Not chasing anyone away. I'm just saying that the quality issue of these hats have been already covered plentfully and we've heard what's Steve's point of view on it, but I don't see the need to cover that argument over and over again. These are cheap hats cheaply made, fine. We all know that.

Gread post havershaw. I think it's a sentiment that most are trying to convey.
Fedora - I fundamentally agree with your last post in this thread, as well. However, we're talking about one single element in one single aspect of our ( hopefully ) much fuller lives. That single element is PURELY form over function; how this hat, the Christys' Adventurer looks as an Indy hat, and not so much how it functions or performs.
Applying the AB story to a much broader malady ( economic, disposible society, etc... ) is admirable but I think, in this case, misplaced. I'm sure most of the people who have posted thusfar on the thread would agree that if we could only have one hat for the rest of our lives, it would not be the Christys' ( at least, those who ever leave the house ). Some would leave that to AB, others to Akubra, and still others to vintage. I wouldn't leave it to Christys'. Then we get back to another fundamental however, and that's availability. You and Marc are the only ones making ABs. Therefore, the cost is high and more importantly, the supply is short. If I could drop $400 dollars and have an AB in my hands in two weeks, I'd do it in a flash. I would have saved my money, and then see the fruits of my labor in ( what I feel is ) a reasonable amount of time. I simply can't scrape together several hundred dollars, send it off, then go hatless for AT LEAST a year. I mean, even those who are on the AB list are looking for their "stop-gap" hats. So technically, they're paying more than a hundred dollars over the cost of an AB just to have something in the meantime. These factory hats are what is on hand, in lieu of what was once found at the local hat shop. While I don't agree with a disposible society either, I can't fault people for making do with what they have, or seeing something good produced in today's factories. ESPECIALLY if it is what is economically feasible to them and they intend to take care of it. I am in a fortunate enough economic position that about every two or three paychecks, if I want to, I can buy a moderately priced hat ( and by moderate, I mean Akubra or ebay vintage ). I, like havershaw, have hats for different occaisions. I've got my feelers out if an AB in my size if one becomes available, and I'm considering the Henry ( except I can't find anyone to tell me what delivery time is like right now or how I identify myself as a COW member when I paypal, or really, just generally place an order. I need someone to hold my hand... even though I've posted in "vendors", pm'd, and e-mailed Marc... ). When the opportunity comes, I'll get an AB, but back in the day, no one had to wait more than a year for a hat, either. ;-) .

edit:
The last statement isn't a dig - we all know the time investment involved - just a factual observation based on the availability of hats in the ol'days

Here are a few pics of a Christys' outside doing it's job. These are from last summer at and about a lake here in Tx:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... G_0351.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... ie/057.jpg

On a train:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... IM2364.jpg

After the train ;-) :

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... G_0312.jpg

Hanging out by a different train:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... IM2330.jpg

So, you can see it got out of the house some ;-) . The interior train pic was definately after the rain, but before the reblock. Other than that, I don't remember too well, except to say the lake pics would show it pretty new.

BendingOak wrote:

Erri wrote:Steve, pardon moi, I think you have been making your point very clear for a long time. I'm sure everyone has understood by now. It appears that this thread is for appreciators of cheap stuff only, I don't understand why are you still attracted by posting your fairly-well-argumented opinion in such a thread. I thought the point of quality has been already well covered about these hats

Please don't chase him away.

No he's right, I find it weird why he's spending THAT much time in here to begin with. He's made his point a long time ago like Erri said. He should be happy that you can get such a great hat for that amount of money.

Let's not turn this into another bashing thread, if you know what I mean.

binkmeisterRick wrote:Let's not turn this into another bashing thread, if you know what I mean.

Sure thing

Kiltie those pictures near the train are fantastic. You know I'm a train lover like you, so double appreciation from my part!

I'm off work this week, so I actually have time to read and contribute...

Don't get me wrong; generally speaking, I agree with Fedora in regard to his opinions on quality, and how things are made today vs. how they once were made. More than two-thirds of the gear in my recording studio was made before 1980 (and probably one-third was made before 1970). I find this particularly true of guitars, amps, and drums. You can say what you want about technology improving things, but it just seems like all of these leaps and bounds in technology really only helped people to take shortcuts, and figure out cheaper and easier ways to make things. I own about thirty snare drums and only three of them were made after 1970.

But when you own as many hats as I do, owning one or two that you have to baby is not that big of a deal.

If hats were as expensive as cars, you'd make sure you buy the hat that's going to be the least amount of maintenance and will last you the longest.

The truth is, they didn't use great quality hats in the original trilogy (though I'm pretty sure the Raiders hat was nicer than the following two). Lambskin jackets are what they used for the film, but it's a lot more likely that in real life, Indy's jacket would have been goatskin or horsehide (my guess is goat).

In real life, Indy's hat would of course have been made the way they made hats in the 30s...and thus, the AB is probably the closest you can get, if you want the kind of hat Indy would really have worn (and of course, if you're after CS, it IS what he wore!).

If you want SA (for the first three), you're going to be stuck with the fact that they used a hat that wasn't that tough (just like they used a leather for the jackets that wasn't the toughest).

It bothers me how "disposable" today's products are, but the fact is, that's certainly the mentality of most film costumers. This shirt got too dirty? Bring me another (from our pile of 30).

Steve, pardon moi, I think you have been making your point very clear for a long time. I'm sure everyone has understood by now. It appears that this thread is for appreciators of cheap stuff only, I don't understand why are you still attracted by posting your fairly-well-argumented opinion in such a thread. I thought the point of quality has been already well covered about these hats

Sorry. That's what happens when you get old!!! I had forgotten that I had already posted the quality issue. So, give an old man a little rope...and he will hang himself. Fedora

LOL no need of such extreme measures Steve

Guys, while I was away, I received a Christi's Adventurer fedora, and I really like it! I thought that the felt is ample and was very easy to bash. Now, I will not comment on durability, etc., etc., but for the money, overall I love this hat. It will get light use and look forward to breaking it in. 3 stars out of 5.

lets see some nice grey adventurers

I am one of those "lucky" people, I supose to have a Christys that I am fond of. Steve I have a question for you. I have re-blocked my hat on a block I made variouse times, always getting the hat wet or damp with variouse fabric stiffners before putting it on the block, and now whenever I take it off the block and re-bash it, it looks a little tappered, but within afew days and about a week or so, it begins to take on the light bulb effect and has a reverse taper. So my question to you (may seem like a newb question) but, did the chemicals I use do anything to the felt? And does the climate here in Texas have anything to do with this, when I first got my Christys it suffered horrible taper, but now it looks fantastic, with an LC bash. (By the way, I tried it with your KOTCS measurments and it didn't look too great).

Thats because the Crystal Skull hat is a very straight sided hat with virtually no taper, perfectly stovepipe. The Christy's will not lend itself to a proper Crsytal Skull crease. I have a Raiders/CS crease in my grey Christy's and I like it, but I'm not too concerned about it being accurate to any movie. I was just going for an overall look that I achieved.

Dave

DR Ulloa wrote:Thats because the Crystal Skull hat is a very straight sided hat with virtually no taper, perfectly stovepipe. The Christy's will not lend itself to a proper Crsytal Skull crease. I have a Raiders/CS crease in my grey Christy's and I like it, but I'm not too concerned about it being accurate to any movie. I was just going for an overall look that I achieved.

Dave

I see. As I said I don't know if my current tampering with my Christys has cause any changes to the felt, but it has virtually no taper at all, and more of the light bulb effect going outwords.

Got a Christy's today, for my gandpa, 7 3/8. A little comparison review btw Christy and Henry - no photos, sorry


Felt: the Henry is a bit darken than his british companion. Actually, the Christy's is floppier than the Henry, but this one is smoother at touch. Both are very easy to shape with no steam or water. Same thickness, I'd say.

Crown: open crown, you can notice a very pronounced back and front taper in the Henry, that there is not in the Chirsty's; this one, anyway, shows a slight side taper which is not featured in the Henry.

Brim: Chirsty's fatal flaw. While its crown is floppy, its brim seems to be made of cardboard, and it crinkles when you try to shape it. It comes all curled up, even in the front, and I really will need some steam to make it right. Henry' brim is much better, very responsive.

Sweatband: Henry's one is soft and nice, Christy's is hard as a rock. Plus, I have a feeling that Christy's golden writings (which are stamped and not embossed as for the Henry) will fade away with time.

Ribbon: Henry's is darker. Christy's stitches are in the middle of the ribbon, which makes them more visible than Henry's one, which are near to the lower edge. Henry's bow is much better and elegant, but Christy's one is muuuuch more LC SA.

Liner: Henry's is plain white, Christy's has its logo, which is not that beauty (AB logo is much more beautiful, too bad is not featured in the Henry). Chirsty's has plastic liner covering the logo, anyway.

Durability: I haven't used the Chirsty yet, so I really can't say if it can stand rebashes, beatings, heat and rain.

Overall: both are nice hats, worth the price. Both can sport a LC bash, even if Chirsty's bow is more accurate for that look, while only the Henry can make a decent Raiders bash (but if you have a round head like mine, you will come up with a slight side taper even with it).

Restless Dreamer wrote: Brim: Chirsty's fatal flaw. While its crown is floppy, its brim seems to be made of cardboard, and it crinkles when you try to shape it. It comes all curled up, even in the front, and I really will need some steam to make it right. Henry' brim is much better, very responsive.

Give it a month and it will be so floppy to move at the slightest hint of wind (like in the raiders scenes).

I didn't know that LC had a similar bow to the current Christy's. Sure about that? I'm not a LC expert, it might aswell be.
By the way, nice quick review!

I'm no expert too, but that's what it looks like to me.

Even if I've decided to go for a TOD suspension bridge scene. For many reasons. First of all, an "unbashed" look suits better large, round faces, I reckon: so, it's gonna be good for my grandpa's face. Second, I like that style Third, I'm hoping my grandpa will eventually get tired of this hat (he is a man who easily gets bored of new things) and I will inherit it: a shallow bash like TOD's will avoid to leave creases in the felt (just like what happened to my Herny...it's was Raiders style, then I rebashed in LC, and there's still a shadow when there was the tight pinch). So I will be able to rebash it the way I will like

A little add-on to the review: I noticed that Christy's crown is much more oval than the Henry's - its own is quite round. And I discovered that, even if my head measures 58 cm, I feel more comfy with 59 measurements: they leave more space between my head and the top of the hat - my Henry almost sits on my noggin, flattening my hair

TOD and LC had the same look to the bow work. It really looked like they just pushed the bow in the knot and where ever the bow creases lay they just iron them. It look like they put no care or effort into it at all. Very ugly.

BendingOak wrote: Very ugly.

Love that last sentence, Oak.
Straight (and true) and to the point.
In fact, I can't help but imagine Short Round laughing and pointing:

"Ha ha HA! VERY ugly! Ha ha HA!"

Well, in fact, Oak, Henry's bow is nicer than Christy's; but the latter is more TOD-LC SA.

Anyway:

Felt quality: Henry wins - well, it's a beaver blend after all

Felt color: Christy's wins - more SA, Henry is way too dark

Hat floppiness: again, Christy's wins - for some reason I found it a little easier to bash than the Henry

Felt smoothness: Henry wins - compared to the Christy's, it's like silk

Crown shape: Chirsty's wins - the Henry is too round on the top and has got too much back and front taper; plus, I like Christy's oval better

Ribbon color: draw - I really don't mind it much

Bow work: Henry wins - but Christy's has got the better TOD-LC appearence

Brim: Henry wins - I trust Erri, but judging out of the box I'd say Christy's brim is made of cardboard

Liner: draw - the white liner is more SA but I prefer liners with logos but I don't like Christy's logo and the plastic liner but I like it's shiny white (brighter than Henry's)

Sweatband: Henry all the way - even if its sweatband tends to get stained very early

Overall: I'm happy with my Henry and I don't think I would trade it for a Chirsty's, but I have to say I'd like to have them both. And a Penman. And two or three ABs. And three or four ABDs. Ok, I'm stopping. Ok.

Why do they make the henry so dark? The color is probably the most important thing outside of the blockshape, which is also wrong on the henry, two major and significant flaws. The materials appear to be above standard, great smooth felt and quality sweatband, but those are detailed refinements compared to block and color! PS the christy's brim sounds awful from your description.

Henry is supposed to be a Raiders hat, and Raiders hats are supposed to be dirty, abused and discolored. Marc made the Henry a little darker because the color would eventually fade away with time and abuse, or become brighter applying fuller's earth.

about the block...dunno what to say. I too think it has something wrong, and I wonder why Marc doesn't use a block more reminiscent to those used for his ABDs.

Christy's brim is awful, indeed. If you work it with your hands, you can hear a cracking sound. Erri said it will become softer with time, but at the moment it is really disappointing, with the edges all curled up like Clint's hat

Yes do not worry abou the brim, at the beginning is like cardboard but it soften quickly and amazingly. I have no means now to post a video but in a week when I'm back home I can show you how the brim will end up being (= no stiffness at all)

I shaped the brim with an iron and a wet towel. No shrinkage, no crinkles. In the first, the brim seemed to be stiff. After a few days of wearing the brim began to flatten in the wind.

That's why I love the Christy's. The floppy brim and the colour.

I don't know, the block shape gives me a good Raiders hat.

The henry looks like a good raiders clone there to me, I'm just going by what people say and what I observe on this forum. I have seen the unbashed crown, and it did look kind of weird and some other owner's shots reveal a front tapered crown even after bashing. I guess I can understand about the fading thing.

Let's keep in mind this is a Christy's hat thread.

Yep, the back brim of my Christy's never looked right until I got out the iron and a towel--a little too much curl.

I, fortunately, never got too much, if any, taper with either my sable or grey Christy's. But the crowns always look small compared to my Feds, I guess because they are!

Does anyone have any experience with re-blocking these hats? I know, generally most agree that they're not worth re-blocking, or that they won't stand up to it. Just wondering if it's capable of yielding a different block shape, or just a little taller crown. I'm 7 5/8, and the crown doesn't seem proportionally tall, especially in the back. I think with 3" of brim in front and back, some could be sacrificed for height. Maybe it's not a cost-effective experiment.

I already have (or have ordered) the hats I really want (except a Penman--I can't hold out much longer--it's pathological!)

Just kicking sand, I guess. Otherwise, my hats seem fine for what they are, even with their inconsistencies. They're not really good enough to stop my own hat quest, but good enough for most occasions and probably most people, no more than most wear them, and for the ways they live and work these days. But after having my hands on my Fed Deluxe, I can't say I'd want another Christy's Adventurer unless they made significant changes in their current offering--which, if they were asking the right people the right questions, i.e. some of the fine vendors on this board, they could really hit a home run with another true economically well made Indy fedora. I know we have some good ones now, but a Christy's with high entry-level quality and consistency might fuel interest for the higher quality felts and blends from premium hatters, instead of leaving a new, cash strapped enthusiast with a bad experience. They already have good customer service. I suppose they've crunched the numbers already and figure what they offer now is the way to go. Gearheads aren't their only customers, after all. It's not that these hats melt in the rain, it's just that you really don't know what they're going to do, I guess.
I'd still want another Akubra for the same reasons I do now, I'd just want another Christy's too! My thoughts, anyway.

To answer a question posted here. I think most people see things in the extreme so when they get a new hat and crease it they make the front crease either very hight or very low. I think most of the offering here are right at 4 3/4 in the front and 4 1/4 in the back to get a good Raiders look. If you look at some of the Henry's post as well as the Chisty's there is one extreme or the other. people seem to focus on one feature.

As for re-blocking a Christy's. It can be done but you have to realize that these hats have never seen water. They are dry block or at least thats my understanding of them. They will shrink. Add that and the fact that they have very small tight machine stitching that goes around twice near the brim break. A very high risk hat of pulling apart. There is 2 ways to tackle the Christy's. one way is to let the block it up what ever felt and loose some crown height ( 1/4 to 1/2 inch). The other is to try and stretch the crown ( risky). I'm not saying it can't be done but it's a high risk of doing so.

Once the felt get hit with steam all that stiffener will activate agin. One more thing the stitching holes left behind from the sweatband and ribbon could show up.

BendingOak wrote:
As for re-blocking a Christy's. It can be done but you have to realize that these hats have never seen water. They are dry block or at least thats my understanding of them. They will shrink. Add that and the fact that they have very small tight machine stitching that goes around twice near the brim break. A very high risk hat of pulling apart. There is 2 ways to tackle the Christy's. one way is to let the block it up what ever felt and loose some crown height ( 1/4 to 1/2 inch). The other is to try and stretch the crown ( risky). I'm not saying it can't be done but it's a high risk of doing so.

Once the felt get hit with steam all that stiffener will activate agin. One more thing the stitching holes left behind from the sweatband and ribbon could show up.

I made a foam block for my Christys. It's a stove pip block, and I usually soak my Christys, at least get it a lil wet with fabric starch, and it streaches over the block easy. I've reblocked it so any dang times because I can't be satisfied with one look for too long and my Christys has stood up to it all. It's stood up to creeks, and hot, humid climate, here in Texas. It's been through rain. (And yes it tapered horribly at first) But after I started working with it for so long and I would supose becasue of the chemicals I put into the felt, I no longer deal with any taper at all. Just a nice reverse-taper.

That's good to hear! As I related earlier in this this thread, I got a little, uh, aggressive with mine with regards to experimenting. I'll betcha I could bring it back to life using this technique. Either way, I've definately gotten my hundred bones out of it both in wear and fiddling around with it. It's also been fun being part of the discussion, if not a bit frustrating at times. I think it's worth mentioning that over in the jacket thread there's discussion about how movie costumes are meant to serve a purpose and not really last forever. The custom jobs being offered by Penman, AB, etc... are fine, fine real world hats that pull off what people on this forum are looking for; an Indiana Jones hat*. They're hats that will last ( and will probably end up on eBay or at an estate sale or in their childrens' hands many, many years after the original owners move on to greener pastures - if you know what I mean ).
The Christys' is also a good hat for a lot of folks, and it's nice to see it's gained some credibility, even with the upper tier folks on this forum. The post above this one is excellent in that it both pulls no punches with regards to the hat standing up to the elements ( not the best ), but that it will also survive rebuilding, reblocking, etc... as well as most other factory made hats. All I've said, all along, is that this is a DECENT hat in a DECENT price range. That, and while it can be nit-picked to death like any other hat, it does have qualities very similar to the COSTUME hat worn in Raiders, et al. The feel, the color, the way it reacts, etc... Very Indy. Survivablility in adverse elements - not so Indy . But it CAN bounce back - VERY Indy, indeed .
If you get one, simply take care of it. You don't have to treat it with kid gloves; it'll roll with some of the punches. And if you have any imagination and dexterity, you can bring it back from the brink, anyway. If it get's roughed up, well, that's certainly very Indy. If you want a perfect costume hat, don't take it - or any other hat out of the house. The best example I can think of is Snakewhip Sable's hat. I don't know if his is an AB ( I think it is ) , but it doesn't look much like a Raiders hat, but it DEFINATELY is an Indiana Jones hat - an adventure hat. It's been used, and I mean used. And it looks like it. It looks great. You'll get a Christys' out of the box, get it looking Raiders, and then use it. It won't always look like the movie hat, but then neither would the ones used in the movies after any length of time - just look at Desi's hat.

* and a GOOD one

Aside from only afew people, I've mostely heard bad reports, at least little complaints on the Christy's unfortunelty. When I first got mine and bashed it, it was tappered alittle. But after constatn use and exposure to rain, it tapered very severely. It looked like I was ready to be brought down by Lao Che's goons in a plane full of live pultry .... BUT, getting tired of the taper and not wanting to pay even over 20 bucks for a reblock, I bought a foam cube and a can of heavy duty facric starch.
I started cutting the cube into the shape of a stove pipe block, and kept putting my hat on and off of it until I got the perfect proportions. Finally when it was finished, I reblocked my Christys and rebashed it, no sighns of taper. After a while it bagan to taper alittle again, so instead of using the cold water meathod before putting my hat on the block, I sprayed it with starch and got it wet with that instead.
After I took it on the block and bashed it, it did not taper for a very long time. Now, I don't know about any of you but when I watch KOTCS, I want it KOTCS style, so I reblock it and make it that way, when I watch LC I wnat it LC style, etc. My hat has (and probably will continue to be ) reblock many many times, I've fallen in creeks on several ocastions with it on, it's withstood the burning, humid climate of east Texas, and has been sat on multiple times. And it even has a lovely reverse taper.
Right now it's somehwhat of a LC/KOTCS mesh, it looks best that way I think.

Tremolo wrote:Fedora, can you show us a picture of these 2 Christies?
Here are some pictures of my 2 Christies when took them out of the box. The gray one is from September and the brown one from November.

Grey:
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u202 ... C00832.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u202 ... C00833.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u202 ... C00834.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u202 ... C00835.jpg

Brown:
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u202 ... 0018-1.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u202 ... 0019-1.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u202 ... C00020.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u202 ... C00021.jpg

WOW , that is the most untapered christy's i ever saw.
Did u ask for a taller crown or something?

thecoolmiester, I guess you mean the sable one, right? The only thing I asked for was a smaller brim (just the normal 2.75" front/back and 2.5" sides) because I was going for that look here


As you can see in the pictures a few pages back, it has held up quite good with normal use. But you´re right, the crown is a little bit taller than my grey Christy´s. In fact it´s the tallest hat in my collection.

Hey guys,

I'm getting ready to go on a dig in Israel. I'm thinking of ordering a Christy's Adventurer. From what I've read, it seems like a really good hat. Do you guys think that it would hold up on an archaeological dig in Israel? Would it be worth it to buy one for my trip?

Or is it more of a dress hat instead of a field hat?

Thanks!!

Mississippi Jones,
Starkville, MS, USA

I don't know what's the weather now in Israel like but we can safely say that it's a dress hat which can take some little abuse. I woudn't define it a real adventurer hat (I wouldn't bring it to the tropics) but if it's a dry heat as I imagine Israel is, I'm sure it might hold on allright.
The good point is that it's one of the fastest delivered, even if you wanted any other brand you wouldn't receive it that quickly. If you're bound to leave soon and need a hat quickly get it and tell us how it was

Agreed with Erri. I'd put the Adventurer more in the dress hat catagory than field use type. The Akubra Fed fedoras are more in that line of 'work'.

Even with 'dry heat', when you perspire it builds up moisture in the sweatband and crown, and you can experience taper from that exposure. That's what the Stetson's used to do, and they tapered something awful.

Regards! Michaelson

Mississippi, I have not come into personal contact with the Christie's, but I did bring my AB on the dig in Israel last summer. If the Christie's is a dress hat akin to my old Stetson Sovereign, then I would say it might not hold up well to the desert/wilderness heat there. Something more like an Akubra would hold up better.

Also, because of the heat during the work of a dig, I might recommend getting a wide-brimmed ventilated hat while shoveling and pickaxing (sp?), and the fedora for the rest of the time. Basically, that's what I did (sorry for those who've already seen these photos:


Ventilated hat for hard work like lifting these ashlars, and

the AB when investigating sites and touring.

I'm thinking that I may get to wear my AB more on the dig this year because I'll be an assistant supervisor and may not be doing quite as much of the intense physical labor. We look forward to seeing your photos from Israel, and feel free to PM me for more info about traveling there.

best wishes,
Nebraska Schulte

P.S. Mississippi, here's a link for a good way to get a scholarship for going on a dig in Israel:
http://digs.bib-arch.org/scholarships/. The deadline is in early April, so there's still time to apply. Good luck!

Thanks for the responses, guys. I think I might lean toward an akubra instead of a Christy's.

Nebraska, thanks for the link for the scholarship. I'm getting ready to apply now!

Looking forward to posting pics upon my return!

Nebraska Schulte wrote:Also, because of the heat during the work of a dig, I might recommend getting a wide-brimmed ventilated hat while shoveling and pickaxing (sp?), and the fedora for the rest of the time.

Highly recommended. I used a Penman on a dig in Jordan this past winter, and if you work up a sweat, it is like a steamer under the brim. A wide brimmed, mesh hat is best under hard digging conditions. The fur felted fedora is a very nice dress hat, but due to the density of the felt, does not allow your head to "breathe". I would break the seal of the sweatband, and sweat would literally come pouring out. The goal was to break in the fedora, and this is why it was used for about half of the dig season. Fortunately, I brought an oil hat that was better suited for daily activity. Next season, I will most likely use a mesh hat for daily work and a fedora for our traveling adventures on the weekends.
(Disclaimer-ha!: Please note that this is not a critique on anyone's hat, specifically, but just a general statement on the tendencies of a fur felted hat, in even the milder winter months of the Middle east. No offense anyone. )

NB, your photos remind me of a Roman era floor, large stones, etc.? We have the ruins of Roman era bathhouse on our site with aquaducts intact, and the floor looks much like the findings on our site. In the course of excavating, I found a Roman drainpipe made out of plaster, maybe 1 1/2" to 2" diameter. Typically, the Romans would build the shape of the aquaduct out of stone and cover it with plaster. Near our excavation, a large boulder was found resting on it, with the aquaduct still intact. That's what I like about them....they really built things to last! No shoddy workmanship there!

Ok ... some of you have had your Christy's hat for some months now... tell us, how are they holding up? How much do you wear them?

Also ... do any of you have the hat in the color "cork?"

Post pix!

Mike

Tremolo has a cork hat http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37052
and ANJALI has one too http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39295

My hats haven't been used at all in the last few months so it's no help saying that they have not changed one bit is it?

I have had my Christys for nearly a year now and it has seen fairly regular light usage. It still looks as good as new, which surprised me because of the dire warnings that it would fall apart as soon as I touched it. Not so in my case-- perhaps the sample to sample quality varies, but I'm very happy with mine; I think it's the best-looking cheap Indy hat out there, and at its current price would highly recommend it.

Jack

Okay ... good news so far! Anyone else want to tell us about their well worn Christy's?

Not well worn, as you know Alph, but for me...it's got a good beat and you can dance to it! As Easybox said....I expected it to pull a Dietrich on me, implode, but so far it is good to go for the idol grab, and for govt. work, a good specimen! ...I don't know about swinging on a vine into the water with it...?

A good hat stretcher helps to retain its shape, in my opinion. Picked one up at the local western store. I plan to take mine on the next dig.

My grey Christys has held up very well. I think it looks better now than the day I received it. I know there have been one or two cases of these hats tapering almost immediately, but mine has held up very well. I have been considering buying another and with the exchange rate, I don't know why I haven't.

Dave

Here are some new pictures of my Christy´s from last weekend. It was a sunny but windy day. Comparing it to my older pictures, the hat seems to have tapered/distorted slightly. But somehow it is still my most Indy-looking hat.




As I said it was quite windy, so it was inevitable not to loose the hat...
but I think the hat lying in the sand gave quite a nice picture

Looking good and, most importantly, looking like a good time. It appears that your hat has taken on a similar sort of distortion that mine did. That is to say, sort of a "lean" on the bow side. I wonder if this is ( and actually I assume it is ) due to incorporating "the turn", as it not only manifests itself in the side of the hat, but also makes the front pinch cant a bit. I'd end up putting mine on, then grabbing the whole front pinch in my fist and jerking it back into the upright, 90 degree position. I'm just about to get mine out for "summer trials" without the liner.

The_Raiders wrote:

BendingOak wrote:
As for re-blocking a Christy's. It can be done but you have to realize that these hats have never seen water. They are dry block or at least thats my understanding of them. They will shrink. Add that and the fact that they have very small tight machine stitching that goes around twice near the brim break. A very high risk hat of pulling apart. There is 2 ways to tackle the Christy's. one way is to let the block it up what ever felt and loose some crown height ( 1/4 to 1/2 inch). The other is to try and stretch the crown ( risky). I'm not saying it can't be done but it's a high risk of doing so.

Once the felt get hit with steam all that stiffener will activate agin. One more thing the stitching holes left behind from the sweatband and ribbon could show up.

I made a foam block for my Christys. It's a stove pip block, and I usually soak my Christys, at least get it a lil wet with fabric starch, and it streaches over the block easy. I've reblocked it so any dang times because I can't be satisfied with one look for too long and my Christys has stood up to it all. It's stood up to creeks, and hot, humid climate, here in Texas. It's been through rain. (And yes it tapered horribly at first) But after I started working with it for so long and I would supose becasue of the chemicals I put into the felt, I no longer deal with any taper at all. Just a nice reverse-taper.

Lets see it.