Club Obi Wan

Anyone have photos of their Deluxe Federations? I am told the color is much more "Indy-like" than the standard. Do they make a good Raiders hat?

Check out these albums...plenty of pics of my Fed Deluxe...

it's three years old and has seen daily wear. There is some shrinkage that is visible only when I'm not wearing the hat. When I put it on, the taper (slight as it is) disappears.

A collage of my Fed Deluxe from my gear album:

http://public.fotki.com/GCR2/gcrs_gear/ ... llage.html

Another album of mostly Fed Deluxe pics

http://public.fotki.com/gcr51581/gcrs_hats/

The Deluxe always seemed to be a bit better color wise than the regular Fed to me, and supposedly the felt is better quality, although the felt finish in places looks like it needs a shave worse than Indy. I've done a little shaving and pouncing on mine to get the longer hairs shorter and make the whole thing blend better. The felt is fairly thick but has become very soft over the last couple of years. The hat has a slight turn, and a re-worked center of the bow (Dakota Ellison's method, do a search for this if it interests you, I'm no good with ribbons and sewing, but this was easy as anything an didn't require a stich)...

-GCR

Very nice! Taper? there ain't no taper in that hat, slight or otherwise!

I'm finally up for a soft felt hat. I'm so used to stiff felt. Anything else seems quite strange to me. I even want to do a hat with "the turn"...

Man, I have spent SO much money on hats lately. Bought two regular Federations (a gray and a brown), and am having two other hats reblocked and reworked...

Fatdutchman wrote:Very nice! Taper? there ain't no taper in that hat, slight or otherwise!

Thanks...trust me, the taper is there, but it's very hard to see, and again, once I put the hat on, it vaishes anyway, so it doesn't really bother me.

I'm finally up for a soft felt hat. I'm so used to stiff felt. Anything else seems quite strange to me. I even want to do a hat with "the turn"...

I've never held or even seen in person a regular Fed, so I can't compare the Fed's color, felt quality or softness with my Deluxe. I can say that the Deluxe was soft enough to bash dry when I got it 3 years ago, and while I have since made changes to the overall bash, I've never had to use anything more than a little cold water (just to make the front pinch a bit tighter).

The "turn" is for real, as far as I'm concened. I barely had to even turn my hat (I've heard that turning snugs the hat up, and mine fit pretty well unturned, and well, I'm no fan of headaches, so...) to get the brim to look right.

Man, I have spent SO much money on hats lately. Bought two regular Federations (a gray and a brown), and am having two other hats reblocked and reworked...

Be careful, be very very careful...extra money can become an endangered species with this hobby!

-GCR

I'm looking at the Akubra Deluxe Federation, and Jersey Jones' Camptown "1936 Fieldmaster". Like most everyone else, I'll probably eventually break down and get the Adventurebilt, but for now...

You wanna spend money on a hobby? Get into the 18th century!

At least it's cheaper than foolin' around with old cars, though!!!

That fed. deluxe is STUNNING!

Strider wrote:That fed. deluxe is STUNNING!

Thanks!

It was sort of a work in progress for a while. It looks a lot different than it did when I first got it and gave it the initial bash right out of the box (that was back in 2003).

It has served me well, although it'll probably see limited duty once I get my ABs. However, I would definitely recommend the Deluxe to anyone looking for a good hat under $140 or so. I've owned many of the other hats in this price range that have come along (Stetsons, Millers, etc.) and the Deluxe has them beat. The only negative for me was the center of the bow, but with the tutorial by Dakota Ellison I found here at COW, fixing that was a cinch (well, not actually, no sewing, stitching or cinching required!).

Here's MY question, to those of you who have/had both the regular fed and the deluxe, how do the two compare color-wise? As I stated above, the color seems different on the deluxe, is this true or my imagination?

-GCR

Nope, it's not your imagination. The regular Federation has a cooler green/gray undertone to the brown color, wheras the Federation deluxe has a warmer reddish undertone to the brown.

The deluxe is also a lot softer and easier to bash than the regular Federation, though I think both are great hats and I doubt you'll find a nicer Indy fedora under $100 than the regular Fed.

That fed. deluxe is STUNNING!

I agree!!! I have seen several really great Federations here lately. If you have a knack for creasing, these hats are making killer Raiders fedora these days!! And like Ron said, the Federation uses a really old Akubra blockshape that has been around for eons. This is the main reason I discontinued my rabbit hats. If you want a rabbit hat, go with he Federation. With some good crease work, it looks great. The price is right too. It remains one of the huge bargains in Indy fedoras. Fedora

Fedora wrote:

That fed. deluxe is STUNNING!

I agree!!! I have seen several really great Federations here lately. If you have a knack for creasing, these hats are making killer Raiders fedora these days!! And like Ron said, the Federation uses a really old Akubra blockshape that has been around for eons. This is the main reason I discontinued my rabbit hats. If you want a rabbit hat, go with he Federation. With some good crease work, it looks great. The price is right too. It remains one of the huge bargains in Indy fedoras. Fedora

Thanks! If my old Akubra meets with the approval of the master-hatter himself, then I must be doing somethin' right (for a change)!!!

One of these days I'm gonna have to get me a regular Fed and really go all out SoC on it...I'm talking full bore, with turns and pleats and buckets of sand, but that'll have to wait...3 new hats (ABs!) ordered in the span of a month is enough for now...yeah, that's it...for now

My girlfriend tells me I'm gonna have to tap into my IRA if I keep buying all this gear. I said, of course I would, that's what it stands for, Indygear Reserve Account

Sometimes, that woman just can't take a joke...

-GCR

i love my akurba Fed Deluxe. Here is a picture of me. My hat works perfectly for me and has molded excellent since i bought it at the beginning of the year. Here are a few shots of me. My wested is a authentic goat. Coloring for the Deluxe is definitely nicer than the Fed.

Who won between you and Boba Fett?

Indakin, what size is your hat? I have learned that different sizes will have different block shapes... Yours looks like one of the better ones.

Indakin...

Well, I just ordered one....I figured, what the heck, go ahead...

nice FDM! doesn't it feel good to unleash that credit card and have it do your bidding??? life is too short to be left wanting. get everything that you want now and pay for it later. we're all COW memebers here, we spend OODLES of dough on our gear and it makes us happy!

all you lurkers out there, leave while you can....RUN AWAY BEFORE YOU GET INFECTED!!!!

now that i've got that off my chest...where did i put mr. howard's contact info and price list........

See, now this Indy stuff has gotten me into the whole retro '30's and '40's thing (which I always thought was cool anyway)....I'm buying hats, and jackets and stuff. I've even looked for patterns that I could modify to make myself a '40's two tone Hollywood jacket!!! (I'm a fair tailor, by the way...well, fair at best!) I even bought a couple of '40's lookin' ties at Wally World a couple of weeks ago! TIES! I haven't worn a tie in at least a decade!!!! I gotta nip this in the bud!!!....well, maybe after I get a wide collar 40's shirt....Hey, you gotta have the wide collar shirt to go with the Hollywood jacket!!! oooh, rayon!

There are some great Akubra Federation Deluxe models here...