Club Obi Wan

I live in Japan and it rains alot. Do you guys scotchguard your hats or just avoid the rain?
I ordered the FED DEL and I have no idea how it will take being rained on ocassionally...

I have a fed regular and it gets rained a quite a bit, even completely soaked throughout once, without any waterproofing on it and I haven't had any problems with it.
Allen

You can grab some scotch guard if you like, just give it a light coat. When the hat gets rained on to the point where it's soaked, take the hatbox you got the hat in and put it in there upside down, like it was when you got it. Let it dry for about a day or two, and you should be fine. No need to do this if you get caught in a light sprinkle, tho.

I would suggest if you live in an area that receives a bit of rain to invest in some water repellant treatment. You really don't want your hat to get soaked all the way through. John at Montana Hatter's did a water test last year using the felt that I use, and it took around 3 hours to leak.(he filled the crown with water and timed it) This was an untreated body. A treated one would last longer, of course before leaking.

If you live in an area that gets alot of rain, you want to re-treat after each wetting of the hat, but wait until the hat is dry to do so.

I treat all of my hats with B and L prior to shipping out. Remember, no felt is waterproof, but some like beaver is more water repellant than others. Beaver should be the most water resistant available today, as far as felt goes. Felt is porous, it breathes. I would imagine if they made a gore-tex liner, this would be the ultimate wet weather hat. Hmmm, now that's an idea!!! Fedora

I live in Scotland

Short answer: YES

What's this B and L stuff? (Just thinking ahead, for when my AB arrives—hopefully before the end of the year!)

You can find it in western wear stores.

By the way, what are you doing rooting around in the old stuff and posting? Start a new thread!

Regards! Michaelson

I heard from Mr. Keppler that Scouts was a good brand too. I'm still waiting for the fedora, but he told me if I use Scouts and let the hat dry naturally after a soaking there shouldn't be a problem.

It's also a factor in terms of what kind of felt the hat is made from. The higher resistant felt is beaver, and the 50-50 is next.

Rabbit tends to leak, but once again, that depends on WHAT kind of rabbit fur was used. As an example, Akubra uses Australian jackrabbit felt, which is coarser, but still finishes down to a nice surface. That rabbit felt is quite a bit denser than what Miller uses, and DOES tend to resist rain better. It just depends on HOW much rain it gets over a period of time.

A water resistant treatment definitely helps, but nothing totally water proofs a hat from a frog strangling rain. That's when the quality and type of felt becomes the deciding factor how long your old noggin stays dry. You go 'on the cheap', you're going to get wet.

Regards! Michaelson

I just ordered my Scout hat and stain repellent from Sheplers online, it was $9.00. There was another place I found for $7.00, but they were out of stock. The Scout is recommended by Lee Keppler and you can use it on all fur felt hats safely.

I use Scout on my lids.