Club Obi Wan

I've been wearing hats since my sophomore year of high school (roughly 8 years ago) but I've usually been careful to avoid getting a hat that looks exactly like Indy's. Now, I've come to face the fact that his hat is the best, and I've all but settled on the ABs.

As we all know, we've entered into an expensive interest, and the ABs are no exception. I know several people here have both the AB and the AB Deluxe. While the Deluxe sounds absolutely fantastic, I'm not sure if I'm willing to spend the extra money. Do you who have both find that the Deluxe is twice as good as the regular (to match its price tag)?

I don't mean to be filling up the forum with threads that already exist, but I couldn't find anything specifically comparing the two hats (though I found plenty of praise for both of them). If anyone knows of a long lost direct-comparison thread, I'd be happy to read it over thoroughly.

Here 'ya go Mark, did you see this recent one?

viewtopic.php?t=21797

I'm a bit of a newb myself, but from what i've hered its the quality of the hat's material's are diffrent but they are both great hat's when it comes to screen accuracy and quality.

I would like to know what is the diffrence in the hat's materials? I know on the ABD the sweat band comes in Roan goat skin or roo hide and the AB fel is beaver or pure rabbit. what else is there?

AB is made proudly in the U.S.A and ABD is made in Germany. Thats all I can think of right now. I'm tired. I'm going to sleep.

(Hi I'm new)

Let me pose a bizzare scenario here: Let's say oil runs out tomorrow and the world goes into anarchy, dictator-warlords arise and I run into the hills to hide. I want an Indiana Jones style hat. What is going to last outside the longest in that situation?

ABD

(Hi I'm new)

Let me pose a bizzare scenario here: Let's say oil runs out tomorrow and the world goes into anarchy, dictator-warlords arise and I run into the hills to hide. I want an Indiana Jones style hat. What is going to last outside the longest in that situation?

steve's "dog" AB....that's the one you want (do a search, and ye shall find).

let me pose you this question:

what's the difference between indy89 and indyfan89?

Or this thread

viewtopic.php?t=21331

Cheers,
G-MANN

Indiana G wrote:
let me pose you this question:

what's the difference between indy89 and indyfan89?

fan.

Fan and some capital letters.

Thanks for the help, everyone. Those other threads helped quite a bit. I've been in contact with Steve and Marc, but it's nice to hear what the customers have to say as well.

Regardless of which you choose, pure beaver felt is pure beaver felt, The bells and whistles will cost you more, and Marc likes to use what I deem as exotic sweats, as he has his kangaroo hides tanned and then has sweats made from them. His liner is more eyecatching and is usually a little thicker than the regular AB. These sweats are really expensive that he uses. They cost 8 times more than my own. He has the sweatband printing sunk into the leather, and mine are not. All costly things to add to a hat. Hence, the Deluxe AB.

For those who do not know the history, I offered Marc the chance to get into the hatmaking business, by making and selling my hats to take some load off of me. He opted out to source the really high dollar liners and sweats that few hatters use, in order to make it a true deluxe version of the AB. He also went with a pure beaver felt that is heavier than mine. I use a 120 gram body, and he uses a 160 gram body if I recall correctly.

Is his pure beaver better than my pure beaver? 20 or 30 years from now, we may know the answer. From my own personal experience, pure beaver is pure beaver-period. They don't make super beavers for any particular feltmaker. They all use beaver fur, mostly from Canada.

Both my ABs and Marc's ABs are great hats. Marc's Deluxe AB just uses some materials that cost him more, and he passes that on in the retail price. Its like buying a Chevy with most of the accessories or buying a Chevy fully loaded. Both are Chevies, and it just depends on if you want roan covered seats or kangaroo covered seats, or if your headliner is fancier and thicker material. To fully load your Chevy costs money. So, we offer both hats. A regular AB and a Deluxe AB. Both will serve the purpose of a hat, and Indy fedora. Some folks will be satisfied with a very high quality AB, while others want to spend more for the exotic leathers and liners and a heavier felt. It is a no brainer that since beaver fur is bought by the gram to make hats, the more a hat weighs, the more it costs. His bodies cost him more, due to more grams of beaver fur. We both had our own vision of the ultimate Indy fedora. I am making mine, and he is making his. He likes em thicker, and I like em thinner. Again, we have our own visions. And you get to choose which one suits you better. Whichever you choose, these hats will last and endure whatever you throw at them, as long as it isn't bullets. If you want a bullet proof fedora, get a PB. Fedora

Thanks for the insight Fedora. Some of us who are relatively new here are still learning the ropes.

As for those super beavers...yup we've got em up and they'll take your fxxxgxn' head off if you don't watch them!

Hi I'm new)

Let me pose a bizzare scenario here: Let's say oil runs out tomorrow and the world goes into anarchy, dictator-warlords arise and I run into the hills to hide. I want an Indiana Jones style hat. What is going to last outside the longest in that situation?

ABD

A truly uninformed opinion. I doubt either one would outlast the other one. Come on give me a break here. The Deluxe moniker has nothing to do with which will last longer. It refers to something else, as I have described. Again, it is a deluxe version, consisting of the parts used to make the hat. But, the most important part of the hat is the beaver felt itself. Since kangaroo is some of the toughest hide available, if you exposed it to abrasion, it would last longer than the roan leather that I use. But my head is smooth. And it doesn't punch holes in the sweat, so the toughness of the sweat is a moot point. Now, if it were on a jacket, I would say kangaroo would be the only way to go, if the other choice was roan sheepskin. Kangaroo is used in some other high end hats, I think, but the tradtional sweat material is roan. Perhaps it is because of the cost factor of kangaroo. I dunno. I know you can buy a 40 thousand dollar hat from Stetson, and the only difference between it and one of their pure beaver hats is the jewelry on the hatband. I mean, there is as limit as to what one can use to make a felt hat.

We need to keep the facts straight here. And you just got the facts from the original guy who first made the Adventurebilt Indy fedoras. Let's keep this stuff real here. I think I know more about both our hats than anyone here. Heck, I should!! I mean, I am the guy who started this AB hat. Fedora

Indiana G wrote:

let me pose you this question:

what's the difference between indy89 and indyfan89?

I'm indy89 w/out fan. But I'm an Indy fan. Make sense?

....still a little blurry to me

Maybe indyfan can help us out here.

I've heard if you own an ABD you can fly and shoot lasers out of your eyes. The AB just allows you to fly.

I gotta stop asking for extra shrooms on my pizza.

Seriously, you can't go wrong with either hat. Both will probably out last their owners. Put it this way. If you find yourself being drug behind a truck the hat will most likely survive. You on the other hand will probably have to be peeled off the road.

Pitfall Harry wrote: Put it this way. If you find yourself being drug behind a truck the hat will most likely survive. You on the other hand will probably have to be peeled off the road.

There's only one way to find out.

Thanks for the insight, Fedora.

I was afraid that the more information I had, the harder it would be to make the decision. This thread confirmed that fear.

Well, given the facts, the main point is how much are you willing to spend and what are you going to use it for most. I'm going to eventually go with an AB (as soon as I recoup from my latest airdoft accuisition and another prop I'll be purchasing soon, but I digress) because I don't have the cash to spend for all of the little things on the ABD, nor do I really need them for what I'll use it for. For my purposes, the bells and whistles aren't needed, for others they may like the little things. Hope this helped a bit.

indy89 wrote:Maybe indyfan can help us out here.

I'm 18 and you're 18. i'm a fan and you're a fan. This only reminds me of one thing.

For my purposes, the bells and whistles aren't needed, for others they may like the little things.

To me the Deluxe is the ultimate Indy fedora for hat afficionadas. And, I am an afficionada!!! And people like me love those upgrades. Just ask me which hat has become my favorite!! Since Marc sent me the ABD, I don't even take it off when I go to bed. I just pull it over my eyes to keep the security light from keeping me awake. And Marc wanted to appeal to the guys who claim all vintage hats are superiour. I have never seen a vintage hat as good as the ABD. Marc has to have the best sweat ever made, then and now. And, I have never seen a vintage felt that looked and felt better than Marc's. He accomplished exactly what he set out to do. And as far as I am concerned, the ABD has no competition in the market that it attracts. No one else sells a better hat. But, the longevity is not the issue in the equation. Both hats should outlast the wearer. Fedora

IndyFan89 wrote:

indy89 wrote:Maybe indyfan can help us out here.

I'm 18 and you're 18. i'm a fan and you're a fan. This only reminds me of one thing.

This reminds you of Bizzaro? Cool! I'm more of a Marvel comics fan than an DC fan. I'm surprised I know who Bizzaro is.

Please, Gentlemen, let's not turn this into an AB vs. AB-Dlx. thread, as such a thing doesn't exist. Plain and simple. Steve and I are friends. In fact I consider him one of my best friends in life and we've personally NEVER had a feeling of competeting each other. We have our own vision of what the "ultimate Indy Fedora" should be like and we've BOTH accomplished our personal mission in the AB and AB-Dlx.

That the AB-Dlx. is so much more expensive has various reasons and I'll fill you in on some of them: a) more expensive raw materials - it could as well has been the other way, but that's just how it turned out. b) taxes. We've got a LOT of taxes over here and Germany REALLY "milks the cow", as soon as you make a dime profit (which I haven't to date, but that's a different story). c) the weak dollar. There were times, when a Dollar cost 1.2 Euro. These times are gone and now a Euro costs as much as 1.35 bucks. Had it stayed at the old value, would an AB-Dlx. cost 290 bucks, shipped to the U.S. (incl. a roo hide sweatband). This is unfortunately something I have absolutely no influence on and neither does Steve.

Both hats should CERTAINLY outlast the wearer as they're BOTH fully handmade from carefully chosen materials. It's as Steve wrote: for some people, a fully loaded chevy incl. leather seats etc. just ain't enough. They want the interior to be made of a costly wood. While both cars will get you from A to B with style, some insist on the wooden dashboard.

To tell which one is better, can ONLY be personal preference and nothing else and should only be taken from people who actually own both or have worn both for a while.

Regards,

Marc

Marc wrote:Please, Gentlemen, let's not turn this into an AB vs. AB-Dlx. thread

Umm the whole point of the thread from the start has been AB vs. AB-Dlx..

Marc,

I don't think the intent of this thread was to pit the AB vs. the ABD. It was to help a consumer that already decided that he wanted to purchase an AB, but was just unsure which model he wanted to buy. The only way to make an informed decision, is to know exactly what the differences are.

I have always said, that there is not a whole lot of difference in the AB and the AB Deluxe. But, once you get to that level of a fedora, each small increase in quality of the raw materials, is a big jump in price of those raw materials. That price difference is then passed on to the consumer.

Everyone must understand, that each of these is an incredible buy, as you are getting a world class fedora at almost the hat maker's cost. By the time the hats are shipped and everything, these guys are lucky to break even.

Having said all of this, the intent of this thread should be to help potential customers decide if it is feasible within their budget, and if it is their desire to spend the extra money for the AB Deluxe. The only way to make an informed decision on this question, is to fully understand what the differences are. One thing is clear, whatever the consumer decides, this is a win-win situation. Either way, you are getting a great fedora at an unbelievable price.

I understand Marc's sentiment, but we both must realize that comparisons are what we do here!! I know he hates to have the hats compared due to our friendship, but I gotta feeling Bufflehead this will be a moot point in the not so distant future. I can see a day coming that both Marc and I will be selling the same identical hat. You will be able to pick one up, and not know which one of us made it. The choice one makes will just depend upon which one of us it is more convenient to order from, depending upon your location. Since this was my original reason for bringing Marc under the AB label, to help out so the turnaround times are decent, I think this will finally reach fruititon. Then, there will be no competing between me and Marc. Marc may offer an upgrade as an option, but I think you will see identical hats coming from us. In fact, I know that you will. This will be a new phase for the AB line of hats. And one that I welcome as it stops Marc and I from competing with one another. I never intended for us to ever compete, but the Deluxe version actually allowed for this to happen. I never wanted that. Now, soon that will be history. Just a hint at what is in both me and Marc's future. Fedora

Bufflehead was right, I'm just trying to make an informed decision about what hat I want to get. I've narrowed it down pretty well, but now I'm just interested in the subtle differences. You've all helped tremendously.

Mark Brody wrote:Bufflehead was right

Ain't that the way it always is?

Bufflehead Jones wrote:

Mark Brody wrote:Bufflehead was right

Ain't that the way it always is?

No.

I couldn't decide either, so I decided to just ORDER BOTH!!!! I really can't afford them, but I've wanted an Indy hat ever since I was knee high to a grasshopper. My only problem will be "WHICH ONE TO WEAR!!!". LOL