Club Obi Wan

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new fed on the block....ha ha ha ha ha ......mock mock mock....ha ha ha ha..........

but seriously fatwoul, i'm looking forward to the pics of your new hat.....the beauty about akubra feds is that they have to be bashed and therefore have the owner's personallity in them....each one is different and i never get tired of looking at new akubra fed posts.

cheers

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That would be pretty awesome.

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Where are you located, if I may ask?

Bear in mind, if you're in the U. S. it's about a 15 hour time difference between us and Australia.

Drop Ron another email and ask what's the status of your order. They're quick, but they need time to react, and they're a half a world away.

Regards! Michaelson

typically whenever i get the confirmation that a payment has been made after clicking the little "pay now" icon.....things magically appear within a couple of weeks

i wouldn't sweat it too much. getting confirmations that the other party has accepted your payment is rare in my case so i usually don't bother. things still show up at my doorstep. i do not recall hatsdirect sending me a confirmation either. what i did do was correspond with the pleasant lady over there to ensure that the hat's inside circumferrence was matching to my head measurement prior to sending it out. i did this after i paid so i knew that they had my order and was in the process of filling it.

hope this helps. you won't regret going with an akubra. a very fine choice.

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Glad to hear they've got you covered. I've ordered several times from Hats Direct and I've always been knocked out by their professionalism and courtesy. It's that kind of service that earns them such loyal customers (like me), but it's also a shame that good service comes as such a surprise, instead of being able to just expect it anymore.

HatsDirect is Akubra's main seller of their hats.

Akubra also makes their supply of hats in lots. Ron puts in his order for the projected sales, they they make the lot. It's about the same thing that Steve and Marc have to do when they order felt cones from their felter. They have to purchase a certain number, projecting sales as to what they will be able to 'move'.

If Ron sells out of hats, he has to put in another 'lot order', and wait for Akubra to make the hats, as Akubra is one of the few remaining hat companies that makes their entire hat from scratch, INCLUDING the creation of the original felt for their own cones. I believe Akubra is a 5th generation family run business, and have it down to a science.

So, it's not just a matter of Ron and Jenny picking up a phone and calling the warehouse for a load....they call the FACTORY and put in the order. As you can see, it's quite a thing to get those Feds and Fed Deluxes on your heads, and we at Indygear are proud to have been associated with HatsDirect for all these years.

Capital company and folks to deal with.....and a top notch product to boot!

Ok, time for another cup of coffee......

Regards! Michaelson

Actually, no. The Federation line was created to cover a 'multitude' of 'sins' for the HatsDirect folks.

They were wanting to offer a hat that (at the time) would appeal to the 'swing' craze that was going on in the world at that time. It was slowing here, but had just hit Australia, and they wanted to hit as many possible buyers as they could. That's why the Fed's come with open crowns.

First iteration came with the standard non-dimensional cut brim and red liner. The bow wasn't quite right either.

Second iteration came with the white liner, dimensional cut, and the bow correction (per Steve Delk involvement at the time)

So, it was NEVER made to be Indy specific. It WAS created to be the perfect BASE hat for someone to MAKE into what ever style Indy/1930's hat you want.

That's the compromise they were able to offer to keep it more acceptable to all involved in possible sales. I believe we have been the biggest purchasers, though, and Ron told me a few years ago that due to OUR purchases, the Fed line that particular year surpassed their biggest all time seller, the Aussie Crock Hunter style hat. That was a little 'feather in our cap' so to speak.

Regards! Michaelson

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My pleasure, my friend.

You'll definitely have something this community had a hand in creating.

Regards! Michaelson

The Federation really has become a staple for anyone interested in vintage hat styles, Indy or otherwise. I really think it has proven to be the best way to break into wearing hats of the style because of price, quality, and availability. No matter what, nobody can deny the important place that the Federation holds in our hobbies. So... Cheers to the Fed!

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congrats! have fun bashing it and have fun wearing it ofcourse!

Congrats! Can't wait to see the picks. HURRY UP!

Ron

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Wow, that's really nice. I like that liner badge, too. Looking forward to seeing the bashed hat.

Ron

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I'd say a LC bash would be a good start. But I'd take the dents a bit farther back than Indy's.
Perhaps something like this...


I may be way off base. But that's what I might go for with those specs.

Ron

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We gotta seee it on your head, pal!!

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I like it.. and to tell you the truth, I don't see any "lop-sidedness"

My head is very weird...It looks about normal in the mirror, but in pics I look like I have an extremely long neck. Weird

Anyway, the lid looks fantastic!

-Robby

it looks large on you but i can't really tell as you are facing downwards......my advice would be to flatten out the center crease on the top crown of the hat so that it looks more like a center "dent" instead of a center "slice". typically the humps are formed from a gradual transition to the height of the bumps whereas your bash looks like you are cutting into a cake perse......hope i'm making sense. its the same thing i did with my first federation until i learned to control the center dent with a nice gradual transition into the humps.

but in the end, if thats your style and you like it....then indy g is eating crow for supper

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It's about time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Congrats Man, I know its a good day in your house.

The hat looks great, I like the bash.

Make sure you post the pics after you set the hat. Expect to be messing with it for quite sometime. I know I did....errrr still am?



... it feels good doesn't it? I mean, that felt is soooo soft.


nice avatar

well that doesn't look too big at all now. i see you have'nt touch the brim yet. it's quite flat at the moment like an rcmp's hat. nothing wrong with that look but imo a flat brim should have a 4 dent crown just like the mounties

you'll find that when you start playing with the side curls and maybe put in the front swoop, that hat will come alive with character

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it seem as if wearing it is more comfortable than not wearing it, if get what I mean.

That I do, that I do. I'm sure a lot of us here know what your talking about.

The spike scene hat, interesting choice. Would that be the Harrison Ford version or his stuntman's?

Kudos

Thanks for all the advice, guys.

thanks for sharing your first bash with us my friend. its always exciting to see how people instill their very own characteristics into their hat...i never get tired of seeing posts on that

fatwoul, that doesn't look like an Indy hat, it looks like a fatwoul hat! It looks great on you, especially with the suit and specs.

My Fed Dlx looks a little darker than yours.

No pictures yet: I've bashed the crown, but the brim is quite curly --- what is the best way to get it flat? (water, steam or just work it dry?)

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fatwoul, what I meant was that you wear the hat so well that even if it is an "Indy" hat, you wear it as if it belongs on your head.

As for brims, if you're after the Ciaro brim, that usually requires the hat to be turned, since the crooked angle of the hat on your head physically distorts the brim when you wear it. Other than that, the best thing to do is tweak the brim in your hands and fiddle with it. Scientific explaination, I know, but it's always worked for me.

binkmeisterRick wrote:fatwoul, what I meant was that you wear the hat so well that even if it is an "Indy" hat, you wear it as if it belongs on your head.

As for brims, if you're after the Ciaro brim, that usually requires the hat to be turned, since the crooked angle of the hat on your head physically distorts the brim when you wear it. Other than that, the best thing to do is tweak the brim in your hands and fiddle with it. Scientific explaination, I know, but it's always worked for me.

My problem is not the flip but just the flat it is so darned curly - compared to the photo above.

I don't quite follow. Are you trying to achieve the curl on the side of the brim, or are you trying to flatten the brim? As far as curling the sides, I'm frequently rolling the sides of the brim in my hands, so this helps get the curl.

binkmeisterRick wrote:I don't quite follow. Are you trying to achieve the curl on the side of the brim, or are you trying to flatten the brim? As far as curling the sides, I'm frequently rolling the sides of the brim in my hands, so this helps get the curl.

The entire brim is curled/rolled up like a sombrero/bowler. To get the Cairo (or Nepal) look, the brim (it seems to me) needs to be completely flat, then flipped down at the front and the entire side swoop built in. Pretty hard to get any flip or swoop when it is curled up like it was on a hair curler.

I noticed the open crown HJ's at the shop in London had this brim curl too.

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I think the first step is to work the brim in your hands enough so it softens up. The sharp angle on the flat side and the dip over the right eye are caused by the turn, so once the brim is pretty soft, just turn the hat until you like the amount of brim distortion. Then I'd do the curled side by just rolling that side of the brim over and over until it reaches the desired amount of curl you like.

I put the foam under the headband in four sections (front back and each side). I've taken the first piece of foam out of the headband. I can't believe that its because the band has already shrunk a little - I think it's just because the overall shape of the hat has taken on my head shape more efficiently.

As for the shape, despite the fact that I'm not specifically looking for an Indy hat (not down to the sort of tiny details a lot of you guys are after), I do want an overall shape that reflects that sort of era, and the more I hang around you obsessive types, the more your style is rubbing off on me. I wasn't happy with the crown humps, as Indiana G advised, the transition wasn't right. Harrison_Davies was a real sweetheart today and showed me some additional pics of his AB from different angles, because I really like his hat's front view. In particular, a couple of pictures of the crown really helped me to get that centre dent more gentle. I'm much happier with the look now, and the shadow looks much better. It's nowhere near as "right" as a lot of your hats, but give me a break I'm learning!

I'll post some pictures next time someone takes them.

This hat is so comfortable. Best purchase of the year, I reckon.

So I've emailed Mr Delk about getting my first AB. I wanted to make sure this one at least suited me a bit before taking the plunge, and I wanted a hat for while I wait.

I reckon hatsdirect might owe Steve and Marc a lot of credit for their fed sales. Since I've been here, I've seen lots of people talking about how they ordered an AB and then got a fed to tide them over. HANSOLOJONES got TWO feds while he waits for his.

I was amazed how fast my head band shrunk. I spent some time in my backyard and sweated for quite a while throwing the baseball with my son, it was 90 degrees outside. I only have 1 sponge left in and I think I'll be taking it out tonight after I tinker with the bash a little more.

I'm also having some issues with the sombrero look on the back of my hat. I want it flat and folded down, I think I might give it a little spray with some water and place it between a couple books. I'll let you know if it works.

I don't know whether this counts as necro-posting (since this thread is getting a little old now - I know some forums hate that), but I got my first compliments about my hat today. The staff in my local fish shop were all impressed and asking me about it. Said it suited me.