Club Obi Wan

Strider wrote:THERE ya go, KT! Though, how on earth did you get that center dent as deep as you have? I can't get it much deeper (if any at all) than the way it came because my head pushes it back up the way it was originally. Am I just wearing the thing down too far on my head?

This is probably a major hat no, no, but a little moisten with water and just letting it sit overnight to dry out. I do't wear it low enough to push it back out (for what it's worth).

Your one looks cool.

Rest of you guys too, awesome looking hats!

Indiana Max wrote:After a real fight at the custom office I affranchised my AB
Many thanks Jeff for this lovely AB :!:

Jeff? As in Snakewhip Sable's AB?

I really love that side profile, Indy89!

KT, what I did was wetted it down with a little water, and pushed it down where I wanted it, and left a soda bottle on it overnight, and it looks fine. No taper or anything.

Jeff Pimental

Oh, haha! I was gonna say ... Snakewhip sold his hat!? NO WAY!

Here's my SOC style AB:


and my KotCS AB:

I'm very proud of this hat since i bashed it myself and it looks very close.

Michaelson wrote:Definitely looking good, Strider! Yours and VP's look like you've had them long enough to make them 'old friends'! THAT'S how fedoras are SUPPOSED to look!!

Michaelson, I am here since 2003. I know your posts quite well. Could you be so kind and explain, why you've decidedly condemned jacket distressing and now singing ode to "sitting on the out of the box AB"?

Distressed jacket = evil,
beaten, NEW AB = 'old friend'...?

Come on... Where is Michaelson's consistency...?

Just out of curiosity... I am for beaten ones (both - jacket and fedora).

Cheers,

:junior: Raider

I never said I sat on my hat ... only VP said that. All I got from Michaelson's post was that it looks like we've had the hats so long that they are old friends, not: "Gee, those hats look great now that you've beaten the tar out of them!" On a side note, sitting on a hat and getting rumples in it can be fixed by reblocking. Distressing a jacket is permanent and cannot be undone, which is why most natural distressing proponents are against the artificial distressing.

Yeah I think that beating up a hat goes in the same category as using water to form wrinkles and loosen the jacket up.

VP wrote:Yeah I think that beating up a hat goes in the same category as using water to form wrinkles and loosen the jacket up.

Yes!

It forms the character we want for that Indy look;)
But VP is yours a Beaver? It looks like its well taken its beating, I beat the @#$% out of my Beaver ABD and it doesn't look as " Well Loved" as your does.

Yeah mine is beaver.

Hey Veep, when you got yours, did you push the creases back a little farther and deepen the center dent any?

Yeah. I ordered it open crown but it came with some shallow creases for some reason, practically redid it since I had to turn it.

On a side note, sitting on a hat and getting rumples in it can be fixed by reblocking.

If I am wearing an Indy fedora(I occassionally wear a couple of other fedoras) I like mine beat up somewhat. But, I wear it with casual clothes too. If I were to don a suit, and decide to wear a hat, I would want it to be crisp, to fit with the other attire.

On my own hats once I finish one, I will immediately beat the heck out of it for perhaps 30 minutes off and on as I watch the History Channel. I start with just chopping it with the side of my hands, working the crown and then the sides, all around the crown. I do this for quite some time, softening the felt up. If the hat is still not the way that I want it, I grab the brim brush, and literally beat the hat with the wooden back side of the brush, until it gets to the way that I want it to feel. I then brush it well with my crown brush, and put the creases in. Even when the hat is new, it looks like it has been worn much more than it has, but still has the good fresh blockshape to it. I really don't sit on them, except for the HJ, just to see what the result will be.

Really, if you take one of these new beaver ABs, you can abuse it the way I described and it will just mellow the felt out. You may pick up a little more fuzz on some runs, but nothing drastic, plus the beaver nap has a really nice expensive feel to it. So, you guys who own my hats, don't be afraid to beat em' up. You will not hurt the hat. Just don't go and beat on the ribbon, you may break a stitch, but from the ribbon up, it is open season. With the long method we use to make our hats, the initial blockshape is really set well, so you won't change it by doing what I do. In fact, I think softening up the crisp new blocked hat actually helps it to look better, that is, if you are going for a good Indy look. Fedora

As I sit here reading Steves advice on his hats. I decided to take off my AB and beat it up a little. Now granted I wear this hat in rain and other weather but I have also not beat it around any.
BUT I can already tell the felt is looking a little more 'travelled'.
Thanks for giving me the courage to do this Steve.
It is after all an Adventurebilt......

Feels good, don't it?

Strider wrote:Feels good, don't it?

Man... it feels... SO GOOD!!

Well, I ordered back in May, though I only made the last payment in October, but Steve tells me that hats ordered should be in by the time the new film comes out, in spring. The only item I have waited this long for delivery on was my kids, though there was more daily feedback from the manufacturer in those cases! Looking at all your new or recent hats has gotten me excited again. I'm going with the Indy 4 hat for my first one.

Here's a few new shots of my rabbit AB. Sorry for the grainy one of it on my head. The brim got wet one time in the rain and formed this shape to it that I really like. It looks perfect on my face.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/netpix27/AB.jpg
(front shot of the hat by itself)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a126/ ... ABhead.jpg
(on my head)

Here's my SOC style AB:

What dos ''SOC'' mean? I like the way it looks and it makes me curious.

ST wrote:

Here's my SOC style AB:

What dos ''SOC'' mean? I like the way it looks and it makes me curious.

SOC means "Streets of Cairo" -> hat is bashed like Indys hat in the Cairo scenes.

Ah. Thank you.

Marc's AB AVIATOR. Inspired by the Golden Age of flight and aviator/movie mogal/ adventurer/ entrepreneur...Howard Hughes. If the 1940's could be captured in a jar, then this would be the beaver felt jar!


Moderator edit: viewtopic.php?t=14735

Woe, PADDY! Great hat and nice suit

I've been waiting for what seems like forever to post my own AB in this forum! This is my new ToD, purchased from Nevada Jones, that arrived today. It was looking a little frumpy when I pulled it out of the box, so I gave it a good steaming (sans liner), and shaped the crown until I got something I liked. The front is lacking in stiffener unfortunately, so I couldn't get the pinch as stiff as I would like it. Perhaps when Steve is less busy I can send it his way for a Raiders job (and maybe a downsizing; it's a little loose). What can I say, when a brand new AB comes up for grabs you take it, no matter what film/scene it's modeled after!



Regards, Andy

Moderator edit: viewtopic.php?t=14735

PS: Apparently my previously posted pics were a bit too big (apologies, Mods), so here are some new and different ones. I decided that, with my KotCS coming in the next few months, I'd try something a little different with this AB. I realize this may be sacrilege to some, but I really like the look of a diamond bash. So, here it is, non-Indy, in all it's Fortune & Glory!

You gotta post some pics on your head AFI!!

Anyway, when I received the hat it came without stiffener and I gotta agree about the frump thing, I like a hat that holds it shape throughout the day.

Glad it worked out and happy birthday.

Nevada

Thank you again, Nevada! Yes, the stiffener will definitely be a future improvement, along with a soft snap-brim. I'm tempted to keep it in diamond form, as there is such a thing (IMHO) as too many REAL Indy hats (2 ABs and a Fed Dlx). So, as I said, it'll take a trip to Mississippi sometime when Steve is less swamped for some finishing touches.

Regards, Andy

Andy, it looks good! It's nice to see a different bash on these hats now and again.

I agree Bink that it's nice to see a different look, and it's nice looking hat

In the "old days,' when you ordered an Indy hat from Herbert Johnson and they shaped it for you, the crown used to come shaped like that; so, I guess in a way it could still be called an Indy style. It looks great!

Jack

Thanks, fellas! Now, the next hurdle is waiting the AB I actually ordered!!!

Regards, Andy

Well I got my first non DP Indy hat the other day when my beautiful rabbit Ab showed up at my door last week. I finally was able to take a few pics today while I had my brown suit on. Steve I couldn't be more pleased with my hat thank you!

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m94/ ... og/ab1.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m94/ ... og/ab2.jpg

This is a pic of me at the end of the first "all day" wearing of my AB. Gotta say I love this hat.



http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m94/ ... 010433.jpg

Nice looking lid, Kev! Is that a Magnoli, or an actual AB rabbit? I was under the impression that Steve had stopped making those...

-Andy

Thanks Andy! That's an AB rabbit. I ordered that a long time ago when Fedora offered up the last of his rabbit bodies. I think that my hat is the last of the rabbits to come out of Fedora's shop. It may be that I've got a bit of a collectors item.

Another Happy AB recipient. Enjoy!




Opinions welcome

Looks good! Congrats on the AB.

Man, congrats on this AB
Another beautiful hat in possession of a classy wearer

Indiana Johnson,
Fine looking AB you've got there! Just to gauge where the the rest of us are on Steve's list, when did you order that one?

-Andy

Ordered January 4th, 2007, received Feb 13th 2008. And for those of you still waiting, please know it is worth every day of wait, I would happily wait twice that long. Steve did an outstanding job, and I can only give him heaps of praise for creating what is probably the MOST sought after piece of Indy Gear in history. I now own a piece of Cinema legend, and I couldn't be happier.

Congratulations on a fine hat!

Indiana Johnson wrote:I would happily wait twice that long.

Well, now let's not get carried away....

Indy Kev and Indy Johnson, those are fine-looking hats!

WOW!!

Jack

Nebraska Schulte wrote:Indy Kev and Indy Johnson, those are fine-looking hats!

Thanks! Now I just need to get a grey one.

I like seeing all the AB but what I want to see is..............


hey Steve and Marc, show us your Adventurebilt hats. I would like to see the AB's that you guys wear day to day.

hey Steve and Marc, show us your Adventurebilt hats. I would like to see the AB's that you guys wear day to day.

The thing is, I have not had the time to even make me my own AB. Marc made me a Deluxe last year, and I wear it all the time. But, with these interviews coming at me from all angles, and one that includes a photo shoot next week, and their insistence that I wear one of my hats......well, I am gonna HAVE to bite the bullet and make me one this weekend.

Now, I could wears Marc's, but I think the maker needs to have his own hat on his head. So, this is the only excuse that would pull me off of my orders and take that valuable time that is a precious commodity with me these days, and spend the time on myself. But, I am forced into it I am afraid.

So, when they do the shoot, I will save a pic of me in my own hat and post it here, or a link or something. Fedora

Well, if anyone deserves to take off a weekend to make himself a hat, you certainly do! I'm sure I'm not alone in saying we look forward to seeing those photos.

Steve,
I don't think anyone here would hold it against you to make yourself a hat.

Wow, Steve the wait time on YOUR hat beats all!

Hey Steve for the photo shoot are you going to sit on the hat you make for yourself and dump fullers earth on it or leave it pristine?

so steve,

if you placed on order on your own hat today....then you wouldn't get it till november??? can the interviewers wait till then?

i thought you would have made yourself a hat a loooooong time ago. thats interesting to know steve.

i think in the end.......your hat will be, if i may be so bold, exactly the same as every other hat you've made........ why is that?

can't improve something that is already perfect my friend.

cheers,


G