The pure rabbit Adventurebilt

[Fedora]

I just finished this hat in rabbit for a new guy here, and here she is. Since this is actually the first rabbit that I have made, I thought I would let you see what it looks like. The rabbit takes the dye differently than the beaver, so it is about a shade or two lighter in color. In my opinion, this is some of the best rabbit felt that I have seen to date, if you don't consider the vintage rabbit that I have seen. It finishes out really soft when compared to other hats. No wooly feel at all. Before you look at the pics, just be aware that this fan wanted the hat to bulge a bit on the left side(as you look at the hat), so it makes it look not too symetrical. The crown is turned, and the brim width is 2 3/4 x 2 7/16. He wanted the sides to be 2 1/4, but I talked him out of it, but still made it narrower on the sides, more so than I normally do. He also wanted the pinch a bit crooked, so take that into consideration to. Enough talking. http://public.fotki.com/Fedora/hats/pure_rabbit3.html


regards, Fedora

[IndyFrench]

Beautiful lid!

Mike

[Hemingway Jones]

Fedora,
That hat looks awesome. It looks, to my eye, totally SOC, with it being asymmetrical and bulging. It actually has reverse taper, which leads me to ask, can reverse taper be engineered in?

That hat is great!
HJ

[Fedora]

Yeah, you get reverse taper with a straight sided block, and hand pressure. It works best if I can do it as soon as I take it off the block, and use some steam. All I do is push the sides out, while I push the ribbon in. But, it works best on rabbit felt, since it is less dense with less body. You can do it with beaver, but it seems to work best if you beat the hat up first, so it softens up the felt. The best way to get the beaten up look, is to beat it up as if you had actually been drug behind a truck, hit over the head, and had the hat to blow off while you were riding a horse. Like Ron at Hatsdirect said, most of that look comes from distressing. Indiana Dan had the right idea when he did that infamous stomp on his hat a few years ago. Fedora

[IndianaGuybrush]

I love the reverse taper on that lid, very nice. Also how would you compare the felt to, say, any of the recent HJs you've handled? My HJ has very soft and floppy felt, and that's because I've been manhandling it like crazy. It looks like this felt is a bit thinner than the one on my HJ.

[Fedora]

Also how would you compare the felt to, say, any of the recent HJs you've handled

I can't say with any certainty. I would need to put them side by side, and also to see how this rabbit holds up to the taper element. I would also need to pounce an HJ out to see how it finishes out. Too soon to say on that one. I guess I need to send one of these rabbit hats to Rick 5150 so he can do a field test on it. I am curious myself, on the durability. Fedora

[Indiana Texas-girl]

Wow, what a gorgeous shade of brown! Any chance the beaver will be offered in that color?

Nice work as always!

[Strider]

Isn't that the shade the 100% beaver felt adventurebilt comes in anyways? I'm looking at mine right now and comparing them with the first pic of the 100% rabbit AB, and they look the same to me. Maybe it's just my eyes.

Regards,
Strider

[Fedora]

Yeah, it is the luck of the draw. The hats vary in lightness/darkness from batch to batch, and there is nothing that can be done about it. But, the same dye is used on all of the brown hats, a French dye. It does not bleed, so it is good stuff. Sort of a "snake surprise". With that said, the rabbit is lighter than both runs of beaver that I have bought. The first run of beaver was lighter than the last run, by a shade. You can go too light on Indy fedoras if you are wanting to actually wear the hat. A light brown can be washed out in a couple of years, beyond any accuracy. Always better to go a bit darker rather than lighter if you plan on wearing the hat outside. Fedora

[Indiana Texas-girl]

Fedora, do you dye them or does the maker dye them before sending them to you?

[Fedora]

Fedora, do you dye them or does the maker dye them before sending them to you?

I do not do the dyeing. This is factory dye. I don't think you could homedye and have a product worth selling. The hats have to be dyed halfway through the felting, so they will absorb the dye to the core. Impossible to do at home. regards, Fedora

[Pyroxene]

Joe Jr. told me one time you have to have a pressure cooker-type device to do it correctly. And, the heat and pressure have to be just right. He said that's the only way to get the deep penetration of color.

[Ken]

The best way to get the beaten up look, is to beat it up as if you had actually been drug behind a truck, hit over the head, and had the hat to blow off while you were riding a horse. Like Ron at Hatsdirect said, most of that look comes from distressing. Indiana Dan had the right idea when he did that infamous stomp on his hat a few years ago. Fedora

Are you being at all serious?

Ken

[Colby]

Does anyone have anymore pictures of the rabbit adventurebilt? I missed the pictures that Fedora posted and I'm still interested on buying one.

[Fedora]

[quote]Are you being at all serious[quote]




Yeah, kinda, sorta. To me, the only way to get the true Raiders look is to distress the hat some. One way is to roll it up, sit on it, etc, just to break in the stiffener and give the felt an unironed look. These hats are ironed on the block to make them smooth and new looking, but the some of the Raiders hats sure did not look new, and this is one of these attractions.

[Strider]

I did all that stuff to mine. The Adventurebilt sure is one tough hat.

Regards,

[Luisiana Jones]

But guys, wich more or less what amount of strenght are you supposed to use to beat the @#$% out of your hat??

I mean to have it look like Raiders :