Club Obi Wan

Thought I would update you guys on what I am planning to do with the rabbit felt that I have been using. In the near future, I will discontinue my rabbit line, and place a link for Hatsdirect if one is seeking a rabbit hat. I have talked to Ron and suggested that he talk to Akubra about using just a little better block. I do not know if he will do so, but I am trying for us fans. The reason I am gonna do this is mainly due to the load of hats that I have to make. I make only one hat a day now, and I really need to just make one hat a day. Any more than that makes the old man work way too many hours. Once I start stocking this new thin, Portugal felt, I will only offer beaver, as my original intention was to provided a top of the line hat for a bargain price. Really, the rabbit does not fit into this equation, from my point of view. Nothing wrong with rabbit felt,but it is not in my grand scheme of things. I want only to make top of the line hats. So, the rabbit will be discontinued. If you want one, order within the next month because after that I will not make anymore. Just a heads up. Thanks, and I appreciate the support very much!!!!!!!Regards, Fedora

Very good. I've appreciated that AB's are made from the best ingredients and that you spend so much time on each hat.

My next hat from you was going to be beaver anyway, so that's cool. Also, any news yet on when you may have blocks available for sale to us obsessive types?

Ooooh my hats going to be vintage limited edition soon!

I'll be able to say I OWN ONE OF THE FEW RARE ADVENTUREBILT HATS MADE OF RABBIT FELT WHICH WERE IN PRODUCTION TILL October 2005!

Well Fedora i perfectly see your point and i hope all the best for your business. Your beavers are great and you're right, that was your original purpose and you have to follow it.

What did I say? The rabbits are gonna be prime collectors editions.

All in all it sounds really exciting. Must be hard to keep the production at a hat 'a day with this increasing popularity. But thats the price You have to pay for making Your product too good... (Any such thing?)

Hope to hear from You soon.

Cheers

Yep, erri You got a rare one!

I hope you'll keep on reblocking them anyway we might still need it

Anyway i realize that your beaver line perfectly fit your purpose to offer a high quality hat at a cheap price. Your new decision is very appreciable.

Recently i walked in front of Borsalino shop in Florence (one of the two we have here) and i saw a beaver for more than 400 euro. I guess these are the most common prices for beavers and surely a great effort for anyone. Your 275dollars beaver is really a great hat for a great price and i bet it's even better quality than borsalino's beavers sold for 400 euro

I picked a good time to buy all my most recent gear. I bought a web belt and strap from TAG then I placed an order with Fedora for a rabbit hat maybe a week later! Now both are no longer around! I'm very lucky!

How many rabbits around COW? We could estimate a future value of those hats soon they will be precious rarities like 70's Poets

Steve, I'm really looking forward to that new felt! Great, I finally get a new job and I'll be poor again for all the hats I want!

bink

Wow, I did not know we had a section for vendor announcements!! I must really check out COW a bit better. I only go to the fedora section. I just do not have time to read all of the great non fedora posts.

I just hope folks who read this post do not think the rabbit felted hats are bad. They are not. But, there is better felt to be had, and that is what I am about. There is a reason beaver felt is expensive. Fedora

I think that makes sense from a marketing point of view and once again shows your commitment to the fans in providing them best hat for the lowest buck that you can.
We all appreciate everything you do! I, for one, am going to need a creative storage sollution, not just for the hats I have, but for those that I want!
That gray LC hat just blew me away. I think it is so great that I am, almost, without words!

You running out of room too, HJ?

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:You running out of room too, HJ?

Regards! Michaelson

I am embarassed to admit that I have put two hats together in the same box! 8-[ I know. I know. But they are far from my favorites. I have an AB on top of a bookcase. Another AB on top of my Cathedral radio, and a third AB on top of a hat box, which houses a Panama (put away for a long winter's nap). I can't imagine what some of you do!

Colby wrote:I picked a good time to buy all my most recent gear. I bought a web belt and strap from TAG then I placed an order with Fedora for a rabbit hat maybe a week later! Now both are no longer around! I'm very lucky!

I blame you for killing the Indy Walmart shirt, too, don't forget that one. Hmm...Colby no good for vendors...

Steve, thanks for giving us a heads-up. I can certainly respect someone who tries to keep a true course over many years!

(Bink, Jess, insert Michaelson joke here.)

J

Hemingway Jones wrote:

Michaelson wrote:You running out of room too, HJ?

Regards! Michaelson

I am embarassed to admit that I have put two hats together in the same box! 8-[ I know. I know. But they are far from my favorites.

Two hat in the same box???? IT'S A SIN!!!!

erri_wan wrote:I'll be able to say I OWN ONE OF THE FEW RARE ADVENTUREBILT HATS MADE OF RABBIT FELT WHICH WERE IN PRODUCTION TILL October 2005!

I now own a collectors item, not only is my rabbit AB one of the last but it is also a "Katrina" AB. Steve, Will the beaver ABs remain at the same price or will you lower the price.and I hope you still will be able to reblock my rabbit when the time comes.
Best Regards,
Joe

Hemingway Jones wrote:I, for one, am going to need a creative storage sollution, not just for the hats I have, but for those that I want!

I've had that problem for years, Hemingway! My wife used to threaten me if one more hat came through the door. Now she's just kind of resigned to it all... Mine find their way out of their boxes and onto shelves, tables, radios, computer monitors, and even on my head! Hey, maybe Zaphod had the right idea! We should get more heads so we can wear more hats!

bink

now own a collectors item, not only is my rabbit AB one of the last but it is also a "Katrina" AB. Steve, Will the beaver ABs remain at the same price or will you lower the price.and I hope you still will be able to reblock my rabbit when the time comes.

I will have to keep the beaver ABs at the same price. The new thinner felt for the lightweight hats will be priced the same as the current med. weight hats. With shipping from Portugal, my cost will be around the same as the winchester felt that I use and like very much.(the med. weight from Portugal costs more than my current med weight from winchester)

On reblocking rabbit hats, sure, I will do them. It is good enough felt to stand a few reblocks so not to worry. As far as rabbit felt goes, it is good stuff, comparable to the Akubra regular Federations. Fedora

Steve, will you continue making medium weight beaver?

Indiana Jerry wrote: I blame you for killing the Indy Walmart shirt, too, don't forget that one. Hmm...Colby no good for vendors...

I blame myself for killing the Indy Walmart shirt too! Rest in Peace walmart shirt!

I must be a bad omen for businesses. Maybe I should stay away from the Wested for everyones sake. 8-[

binkmeisterRick wrote: Hey, maybe Zaphod had the right idea! We should get more heads so we can wear more hats!

bink

Absolutely brilliant Bink


Be sure you wont end up like Marvin!

Here I sit... brain the size of a planet.... hmmm... maybe I can get an AdventureBilt in that size?

binkmeisterRick wrote:Here I sit... brain the size of a planet.... hmmm... maybe I can get an AdventureBilt in that size?

i've heard there is a shop at the end of the universe that sell those ones

Steve, will you continue making medium weight beaver

Yes sir. That is my regular Indy fedora felt. I like it alot. I am gonna add a 75 gram body from Portugal, mainly for Bogey fedoras, but it will also be an option for those who want a really thin pure beaver hat in their Indy fedora. Might be better for summer wear, and it is really excellent felt too, that stuff from Portugal. For me, I like the medium weight felt. Like blue jeans, the thicker felt will last much longer, a no brainer really. So, the Winchester medium weight 4 ounce body will always be my staple beaver felt. You know, I know it sounds stupid, but if Indy really existed, I think he would have worn a beaver fedora. Why? Well, because of his time spent out west as a kid. Cowboys back in those days demanded beaver felt. They spent much of their salary on a hat, boots, etc. It seems image was important to these guys, or so I have read in the Time Life Western Series. So, being around this would have steered Indy right to the beaver fedora, or he would have had a hatter make him one.

From that same Time Life book, was an interesting true story. It seems the Carnation Milk Co. came out with canned milk, and needed an advertising jingle to use. To promote the new milk in a can they held a contest, carried by all newspapers. A rancher's wife who was quite good at composing poetry decided to have a go at it and wrote "Carnation Milk. The best in the land. Comes to the table in a little red can." She wrote this on the required post card and asked the ranch foreman to drop it off at the post office when he rode to town later that day. Well, a couple of months later the rancher's wife received a chastising letter from the Carnation folks. They were insulted by her vulgar jingle, and wanted her to know it!! She immediately called the foreman and asked him what was going on. He was shamefaced and admitted to her that he just felt her poem would not cut it. So, he added a bit of cowboy poetry, to help her out. She asked what was added. He says, well, you had written, "Carnation Milk, the best in the land. Comes to the table in a little red can." And I added, "No #### to pull, no hay to pitch. Just poke a hole in the #####." Ok, ok, off topic, but related..........in an oblique way. Fedora

So Fedora, is the main difference between the felt you use now and the Portugese felt the weight? Can you tell us the difference in the hat itself?

The hat either speaks with an American SOuthern accent or a Portuguese accent.

Sometimes I see a sheen on Indy's hats that makes me think they are beaver. If Hatsdirect starts using your block, man Fedora, that's another BIG feather in your cap!

Fedora, is the Portugal felt super floppy? Will it hold a Raiders bash or Last Crusade bash? Which would it be better for?



have a nice day.

Fedora, is the Portugal felt super floppy? Will it hold a Raiders bash or Last Crusade bash? Which would it be better for?

You can get this felt with no stiffener(the way I will order) or any degree that you want. I have a 75 gram body on its way to me as we speak, and while Marc has given me some info on it, I will wait until it is in hand before I make my comments. Since it is pure beaver, it is denser than rabbit, or the blends, so it will have some natural stiffness. Stay tuned. I also have a 120 gram body coming in the same felt. I will give you guys my impressions of this felt once I get both worked up.

If I am impressed by the 120 gram bodies, that is, if they will yield a great looking Raiders fedora, then I will add this weight to my Indy stable. I want to get to the point where I can offer different weights as time goes by. Marc says that I will really love the 120 gram body. He is impressed and it takes alot to impress Marc! Fedora

Sounds like a great summer weight hat, Steve!!

Regards! Michaelson

MORE good news in the hat realm! Man, so much for getting out of debt. I'm anxious to hear about these bodies, Steve. Just for reference, how many grams is the current AB body?

bink

Just for reference, how many grams is the current AB body?

They are running around 140 grams now, raw, before pouncing, but much to my chargin, they sometimes vary. The last run that I got from them was around 120 grams, and they were perfect!! But, this is the exception, rather than the rule. I like the 120 gram weight, substantial enough to last, but thin enough to style great for the Raiders look. Fedora

Got it. Thanks!

bink

Here's a pic of Michaelson asked for me to post. His rotary phone doesn't share pictures all too well

I'm sure everyone is pounding on their keyboard looking to see something new from Steve Delk about AB.

Sorry. This is an OLD thread from 2005......

Today a discussion about an AB from 2005 was posted, and I got to thinking about THIS particular hat I've had since 2005-6.

This is THE 75gr Portuguese felt cone Steve was waiting for that he talks about in his posts above.

Once he received it, he completely changed course, kept the rabbit Winchester felt, and did not go with the Portuguese felt after all.

He then contacted me a few weeks later and asked me if I'd like a 'yard hat', as otherwise he was just going to throw this cone away.

The felt was too soft for his taste, though he was impressed with the quality of the density of the beaver...he just didn't believe it would hold up as an Indy hat. It was also WAY too dark a brown for him.

Well, he blocked it and sent it to me in time for Christmas, 2005. It was even back when he was still using the antique initial punch on the sweatband and put in my initials. Pretty fancy for a yard hat.

I wore it for several years, then gifted it to binkmeisterRick as he was drooling over a new 'dress' felt as well, and I thought he'd enjoy it as I wasn't wearing it as often as I should have.

bink had it for about a year, then he sent it to Steve to reblock and sent back to ME as I had spoken quite highly of it as a travel hat.

I removed the lining, punched vent holes in the side of the crown for ventilation, and I've worn it in warm weather ever since when not wearing my PB straw.

Steve was right about one thing....it takes absolutely NOTHING to dent the hat, but it pops right back out into the blocked shape with no problem.

This reblock has lasted for about quite a few years, and the hat continues to be one of my travel hats. My other is my 'Ford felt' beaver AB from 2006.

This photo was taken this past February down at Disneyworld.

So, though not a Winchester felt AB, it shows how an AB, even a 'throw away' AB, can still last for over 11 years and STILL look great.

Anyway, like I said, I thought I'd share a 'blast from the past'.

Regard! Michaelson

Am I wrong when I say that's a "Donavan's Apt" bash? Steve contacted me this morning to tell me my pure beaver LC will ship Saturday, with a DA bash btw.

Actually, it's sort of a cross between the Donavan bash and my usual 'Michaelson' block (the CS train hat).

Regards! M

Your hat is looking great on you, once again a proove these hats are made to last

That hat looks AWESOME!! Very Indy indeed!

It's been through a few adventures so far. Thanks.

Regard! M

John has been receiving tools from Steve, old posts and old AB hats are coming to the light again, is the end of AB coming soon, or the beggining of a new era.

Good question.

Thing is, this one was never actually IN the 'AB' stable, but was one that was left behind in the quest.

I think it would have worked out.

I've always loved the dense Portuguese felt, and it's proven it's longevity after 11 years of wear, as well as proven the longevity of the original Steve Delk made AB's.

Regard! M