Club Obi Wan

First, a short introduction, I've been reading these forums for a little over a month now. Found them after first, I started my WWII Re-enactment gear buying a mussette bag, and watching RotLA on tv later that same day. Had never thought about Indy's bag before, but thought I might be able to find it online, and happened upon this place. Needless to say, I got a WPG bag later that same day, and started reading the other forums here and over at the Fedora Lounge.

Got pretty interested in the other stuff that people with similar tastes enjoyed, including the jackets and hats. I had never owned a hat before, so I figured I'd do a little bit of research on the subject before diving into them. I decided to go with something a little light on the paycheck, and got the Iconoclast from VillageHatShop (Btw, these guys are top notch. I had to change my size right after the order and they dug through the boxes on their dock to replace mine with a different size, and did so without any word of hassle) first for it being a little more economic for a beginner to this all, and it being a great training hat.

Being worried I wouldn't look so great in a hat I figured it was the best option. If I didn't look good at all, and didn't fit my face, I could resell it and not worry about things too much. If I liked it, it would be a very good jumping off point. That being said, here are pictures of it out of the box I got yesterday.

http://home.comcast.net/~0see3/files/jaxonicono_01.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~0see3/files/jaxonicono_02.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~0see3/files/jaxonicono_03.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~0see3/files/jaxonicono_04.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~0see3/files/jaxonicono_05.JPG

Overall, I like it a lot, and it looks pretty decent on my melon. I'm going to try rebashing it a bit, after reading the "wooden spoon" tutorial. Not sure how I'd change the overall shape of the crown though, if I could still do it with just the aid of steam and some pressure. Worth looking into, though I like it as it is very much already, and considered leaving it as is, and later on getting an un-bashed one to do myself later (the AB looks to be a good bet on that).

Just wanted to post this to first say hi to everyone here, and to let others know just what they can expect from this hat if they're a little frightened of dropping $140 on a hat, and they've never worn one before. Great alternative to start with, but I'm sure this is just the beginning of an addiction that is going to last years... Guess I should thank all of you for that :)

Congratulations on the hat. It looks very nice, very TOD to my eyes. I would probably take that tear-drop bash out, if it were mine. It would be nice if you took some pictures with it on. That is really the only way to truly evaluate a hat. I wish you luck with it.

Welcome aboard ohsee! I think you made a good choice, from what I hear its a great starter hat.

WElcome to our humble but big community!

Yeah, I'm thinking about taking out the teardrop bash, and the hat seems pretty hardy. Once I get it how I like it, there will be a few picture with me wearing it (as it looks decent, but not to the way I want it yet).

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Welcome aboard! Glad you could join us!

In Christ,
Shane

Does anyone know if that hat is crushable and heard wearing??

Regards
Luke

Hello and welcome aboard, ohsee.
Nice hat you have there! Congrats.

@Lukmas: If somebody can say anything about the hat, it might be ohsee. just ask him.

As for it being crushable, I'm not sure to tell the truth, been trying to rebash it so I haven't had the nerve to crush it up and see what happens (scared to do it like most people were their first time, or still are ). But rebashing it is going better than I thought it would, small sample of me reworking it a bit.

http://home.comcast.net/~0see3/files/ohseeicono_01.JPG

It needs a lot of work, but i've started working out the teardrop, redenting the front, but the bash it came with wants to hold in a lot, so I imagine it's going to take a good bit of work over the next few days. Once I get it to where I want it, I'll crush it up and see how well it reforms Lukmas. Problem if I did it now, when it reformed, I'm not too sure if it'd be similar to what it's at now, as it's sort of a mess. Worth every penny though.

Welcome to COW!

Ah, the Iconoclast! See my experience with the Iconoclast rebash here and here.

I was able to get most of the tear drop bash out, but had some problems fixing the side dents. I've had a recommendation to send it to Fedora for a reblock to see if that helps, but I haven't followed up on that yet. I don't think the hat has the height to get a really good Indy type block, and will always have a bit of taper. Strider has some thoughts on that as well. Sometime when I am in San Diego I will have to drop by Strider's so we can bash heck out of this hat!

The side dents in yours don't seem very noticeable at all, especially from certain angles, but I'm sure if the light catches them at a certain angle, you'd be able to see the remains of the old ones (how it seems to be with mine). I noticed you mentioned a toothbrush in your 2nd thread, what is that about? Brushing the felt trying to remove the marks from the old bash?

As for sending it for a reblock, I'm not that into it thus far to do that. I can't say for sure I won't end up looking into that option, but I figured I'd be doing a lot of bashing and reshaping, from the posts in your threads and others with similar type hats. I'm up for the challenge. I definitely like this hat more and more as I give it character, and that's pretty much how I feel about it. If it doesn't look perfectly Raiders, no biggie.

All in all, I'm really happy with this purchase. Now I just have to start saving up for a jacket, boots, shirt, pants, belt, holster, whip, etc.... These forums are great at creating monsters, that is monsters that eat checking accounts...

ohsee wrote:The side dents in yours don't seem very noticeable at all, especially from certain angles, but I'm sure if the light catches them at a certain angle, you'd be able to see the remains of the old ones (how it seems to be with mine).

That's good to know! probably I am too sensitive to them, and think they show much more than they do.

ohsee wrote:I noticed you mentioned a toothbrush in your 2nd thread, what is that about? Brushing the felt trying to remove the marks from the old bash?

The toothbrush was something that Curator Rick had used to pretty good effect when he rebashed his lid. I think he provided some details on his rebash a while back, but basically it fixed the nap so the the old creases didn't show as much. I don't think I had my hat wet enough, but I haven't rebashed since then to try it.

ohsee wrote:As for sending it for a reblock, I'm not that into it thus far to do that. I can't say for sure I won't end up looking into that option, but I figured I'd be doing a lot of bashing and reshaping, from the posts in your threads and others with similar type hats. I'm up for the challenge. I definitely like this hat more and more as I give it character, and that's pretty much how I feel about it. If it doesn't look perfectly Raiders, no biggie.

My feelings exactly. When I have the extra cash I hope to get an AB, but I if I spend all my cash on accessories, I'll never be able to leave the house to go on any adventures! In the meantime I just want to have a little fun

ohsee wrote:All in all, I'm really happy with this purchase. Now I just have to start saving up for a jacket, boots, shirt, pants, belt, holster, whip, etc.... These forums are great at creating monsters, that is monsters that eat checking accounts...

And so the madness begins...

You do WWII re-enacting as well? I've got a little of that fever myself. Still working on my Eighth Army gear, though IndyGear has sidetracked me a bit.

I've wanted to, for going on 4 years now. Started getting into history after high school on my own, and heavily into wwii. I'm getting into other eras as well, but that's the thing that sorta pulled me into the 30's and 40's.

Until now, I really haven't had the financial means to buy anything to start really collecting and building a uniform. I do now, but this place doesn't seem to help that, as I want other stuff that will be more "real world" useful than some of the uniform accessories. So I'm sure it'll be some decent time 'til I acquire what I want and would need to start re-enacting.

That said, in my area, there's not much in the means of it. I know there are some activities that happen down in West Virginia every year, and many to the southeast in Virginia. Problem with Pennsylvania, everyone is into civil war re-enacting, so they do that moreso. Not really a problem, as that interests me more than it used to, but not enough that I'd start collecting a uniform and hoping to be a part of it. Then I see sites dedicated to wwii re-enacting in the northwest US, and I just drool at all of the things they get going month to month. Seriously considering re-locating once I'm done with college (not JUST for the war stuff though, heh).

Welcome Ohsee,

A little word of warning....This hobby is extremely ........addictive but also....enjoyable. I have only been a member since 6/16 (I think) and have already purchased the following: Wested Goat Jacket, Akubra Fed Reg., Web belt, WPG Indy shirt, WPG original bag 1942, TAG strap and are seriously looking at Aldens. I have been through baseball cards, golf, knife collecting (still do) and this one is the most wicked. But I am loving it. You will be amazed at the kindness and helpfulness of the people here!

Good Luck

ohsee wrote:That said, in my area, there's not much in the means of it. I know there are some activities that happen down in West Virginia every year, and many to the southeast in Virginia. Problem with Pennsylvania, everyone is into civil war re-enacting, so they do that moreso. Not really a problem, as that interests me more than it used to, but not enough that I'd start collecting a uniform and hoping to be a part of it. Then I see sites dedicated to wwii re-enacting in the northwest US, and I just drool at all of the things they get going month to month. Seriously considering re-locating once I'm done with college (not JUST for the war stuff though, heh).

I just noticed that you are in Pittsburgh! Are yinz dahntahn? You go to Pitt, n'at? Sorry, first chance to use any Pittsburghese in a while! My wife graduated from Pitt, and until two years ago we were living in Oakmont, right on Allegheny River Blvd. I grew up outside of Butler, near Saxonburg. One of my friends is still working on his MA in archaeology at Pitt, and I've been wanting to come back and visit.

I wish I knew some re-enactors there that I could introduce you to. I do know a bunch of archaeologists there, though! I used to work at Baker Engineering, in Moon Township, doing field archaeology and GIS. I was trying to get to a confernece being held in Pittsburgh in September, but my boss turned down my request. She didn't feel that working with the archaeological collection from Meadowcroft had enough relevance to desert archaeology! Dang it! Now I'll miss a great conference, and the chance to meet yet another gearhead!

Dang, I don't suppose I could talk you into packing a Primanti Bros. sandwich in dry ice and shipping it this way?! I've been dying for a kolbassi and cheese for two years!

Welcome to the COW family ohsee! That be a nice hat you got there. But I agree with Hemingway, if there is a way to remove the teardrop and do a center bash, make it so. It might, I repeat, might remove some of that taper. Then you can work on the pinch. All in all a very nice hat. Wear it in good health. Again, welcome!

Cheers!

Dan