Club Obi Wan

Just to show how well the Adventurebilt beaver holds up, I was in an absolute downpour yesterday. The hat got wet, but it also shed a lot of water (just like a beaver). This morning, it was all dried and in perfect shape, no problems with taper or anything else.

By comparison, last year I got my Beaver Brand 6X hat just as wet and by the next morning it was quite tapered.

Just another example of how this fine lid holds up in very wet weather.

Mine held up beautifully during our 27 straight days of rain. Come to think of it, it's about the only thing that's held up well during the recent deluge.

Kaleponi Craig wrote:Just to show how well the Adventurebilt beaver holds up, I was in an absolute downpour yesterday. The hat got wet, but it also shed a lot of water (just like a beaver). This morning, it was all dried and in perfect shape, no problems with taper or anything else.

By comparison, last year I got my Beaver Brand 6X hat just as wet and by the next morning it was quite tapered.

Just another example of how this fine lid holds up in very wet weather.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, it is not a single rain event that distinguishes how a well-made hat holds up. I have had hats that lasted months of rain, wind and sun start to taper.

I am not trying to knock Adventurebilt hats by any means. Steve puts these hats together in hopes of creating the best hat out there. If he has not done it already, he will be the one to do it. But to accomplish that, he will need to know what the hat can withstand and where the shortcomings are so they can be addressed.

Many members are excited because their hats got wet a few times and did not taper. Often it is not that they were wet, but how hey wer dried that will cause taper. Get them wet, allow them to dry in the sun while you are outside working in the yard or hiking or horseback riding. Do what they were made to do.

Then check back in a year or two. Sounds like Indiana Jess has a good start - at least at the wetting the hat part. Now he needs some sunlight to balance it out.

rick5150 wrote:Now he needs some sunlight to balance it out.

That's why he's safe. He lives in the place where the sun doesn't shine.

Get them wet, allow them to dry in the sun while you are outside working in the yard or hiking or horseback riding. Do what they were made to do.

Yep, and I can bet you if my hats are done this way........they will taper. So, if you want my hat, or any other hat(vintage excluded), to keep the straight sides, do not wet and then dry in the sun, or a hot car. Do as advised by many hat sites and dry with a cool temp if possible. I think if you follow these rules, my hats will hold up quite well but will need a reblock one day. And my beaver felt can be reblocked for years to come. Good stuff.

I have owned several brands of hats that would taper, with one rain and dried at cool temps. In fact, one brand got just a little damp, not wet, and tapered before I got home from the grocery store. Mine should not do that.

I have worked with my felt for over a year now, and have seen several of my hats that have been worn outside, in the elements and subjected to rain, sun, high humidity, low humidity...........the same way an old cowhand would have worn his hat. To me, using this one fellow as a gauge, it appears that constant wear will cause one of my hats to be reblocked in 6 to 7 months. And, even then, while the hats were slightly tapered in the open crown state, I could have steamed and recreased these hats to where I personally could have worn them as a Raiders fedora and felt comfortable in doing so. I have yet to get one back in that was tapered anything like the hats that I have spent alot of money on over the years.


What I think is gonna happen with these beaver ABs is that after a few reblocks, you will notice more time between reblocks as the felt ages and mellows. It will become more taper resistant with time, reblocks and wear. I fully expect this to happen. With that said, I have made over 500 hats, not all Indy fedoras, and not all out of Winchester felt. Of those hats, I have only reblocked hats for around 15 customers.(due to taper or perceived taper) 6 of those folks are the ones that use my hats as work hats.

I know that we all want a taper proof hat, but seriously, I do not think we will ever get one, as long as a cone is used to make a stove pipe. And it does not help matters when most of us like straight sides, with no taper. That is where the problem lies. If we all liked a slightly tapered hat, I doubt if we would ever need a reblock. And, most other dress hats have some taper to them. We are the odd bunch. To make an Indy fedora out of a cone requires the top part of the crown to be stretched. New, green felt loves to be stretched, but it also loves to shrink back down as well. What is the best way to shrink stretched felt? You guessed it. Wet it down, and dry in in heat. Works every time.

Felt hats are a great way to protect oneself from the elements. They can be worn in the sun and the rain. The cowboys did it. And, they will still do their job even after they taper. But, unlike Indy, we live in the real world, and in the real world, hats taper. Every dry cleaner used to clean and reblock hats. So, the taper issue is not new. But, with that said, some modern felt tapers even when not exposed to harsh conditions. Stay away from that sort of hat because more than likely is was intended to be a disposable hat, to be thrown away as it is not strong enough to stand a reblock. This is the reason that I will only reblock certain brand of hats. Fedora

Fedora wrote:But, unlike Indy, we live in the real world, [...]

Hang on, that's starting to sink in a bit finally...Indy wasn't real?

(Cheers, Steve!)
J

If Indiana Jones had worn a hat like this then nobody would have to worry about their hats tapering.



fedoralover

Thanks, Fedora. After I got my AB wet (it actually repelled A LOT of rain and wasn't totally soaked), I just put it in the house to dry. I would have never left it in the sun to dry.

It didn't have any kind of water repellent on it, ie Scotchguard, it just repelled a lot of the rain naturally, kind of like a beaver would.

KC