Club Obi Wan

I've had my Adventurebilt now for about three years. I use this fedora almost exclusively as far as my fur felts are concerned, although I have several other lids. I've taken it all over with me, on adventures far and wide; the Inca Trail in Peru, to the Mayan ruins of Chiapas, Mexico and across the state to long treks in Yosemite National Park. I'll be taking it to Bhutan in the Himalayas later this year. It's been through all sorts of weather from heavy downpours to jungle heat. Through all of this, my AB has held up just as you would expect. But it doesn't look new out of the box, it looks a bit beat up and bent up, although I regularly steam it and shape it.

My point is, I love that my AB is an adventure hat and not a dress hat. I have others for dressier occasions.

How do you use your Indy fedora?

right now I'm down to only my Fed Dlx, so it pulls double duty -as an umbrella and a sun shade as well as my Sunday-go-to-meetin' hat.

btw KC, what 'bash' did you ask for on your AB? Yours was the first one I saw over at the Lounge, the looks of it is what prompted me to get one.

citRon wrote:btw KC, what 'bash' did you ask for on your AB? Yours was the first one I saw over at the Lounge, the looks of it is what prompted me to get one.

I ordered a Last Crusade bash from Steve, particularly the Venice Pier scene. But with all the bashes I"ve done since then, who knows what it is now?

It's the Kaleponi Craig bash.

I have brought my Adventurebilt to the summit of 29 of the tallest mountains in NH - and I plan on bringing it to the remaining 19. Like Kaleponi Craig's hat, it has seen ridiculous weather conditions and lived to tell it's story. Rain, dust, wind, hail, snow - you name it. I do not steam it, shape it or otherwise mess with it. Don't need to. It is an Adventurebilt.

Why do you steam it?

Right now I have two dedicated 'Indy' hats in addition to my other fedoras--two Fed Deluxe IV's. One is my 'cultured' hat, in KOTCS bash, and the other is my 'rough n' tumble' hat in Raiders bash. If I think I might run into a 'real' adventure, I'll go for the 'Raiders' one...It can only make it more SA, after all....

Then again, I might also choose my Akubra Bushman with its 3-1/4" bound brim...But i got married in that one, so I'm not inclined to be TOO rough on it...

They're quite useful on any adventure or even camping, keeps the sun of your head or the rain, looks flashy, you can turn it upside down to eat your breakfast in, makes for an interesting frisby......


To be serious, I just wear it pretty much everywhere.

BendingOak wrote:Why do you steam it?

Perhaps for cleaning purposes?

My fieldmaster, raiders bashed, is my casual wear hat. Because my Fed IV is darker and seems a tad smaller and is 100% rabbit felt, I wear it with suits or dress shoes, a little more formal, hence the LC bash.

mufflowne wrote:

BendingOak wrote:Why do you steam it?

Perhaps for cleaning purposes?

no, no, no! Steaming vegetables in it.

Currently, I have a Fed. Regular III in Carbon Gray (the one in my avatar). I've worn it practically everyday since I received it in January, whether with jacket and tie on the days that I lecture or go to conferences, or with everyday clothing for a hike or a night out with my wife or hanging out at a pub.

I'm also awaiting my first AB, which I hope to receive before heading over to Israel for an archaeological dig this July. Since a dig can get really dirty and hot, I'm bringing along a crushable, ventilated, wider-brim hat for the dirty work, and will wear the AB for the evening and weekend excursions into Jerusalem and across the country.

I imagine that since the brown AB will match more of the clothing colors I wear, I'll wear it for everyday, future digs, traveling, lectures, trips back home to the ranch, etc. I'm sure I'll still get plenty of use out of the Federation for the dressier occasions (such as conferences, etc.) when I wear jackets and ties more in the gray-black-navy scale of colors. Or maybe the rule of thumb is this: when would Prof. Jones wear his gray travel fedora vs. his trusty brown one?

BendingOak wrote:Why do you steam it?

I needed to straighten up the crease a couple of times. I tend to pick it up the wrong way and that occasionally causes the center crease to be a bit crooked.