Club Obi Wan

....besides Akubra? Is it really that hard to make a hat that will withstand rain and the weather? Akubra does it, why can't Stetson, Resistol, Baileys etc, that are affordable, @ $100 bucks?
I have my AB on the way, and I'd wear it through Armageddon, and I know the Akubras can take a beating as well. It would be nice to have more choices out there as far as styles and colors though.

HEAR HEAR

Keep in mind that Stetson, Resistol, Baileys, and many others are all owned by the same company anymore: Hatco. When you buy a modern Stetson, you are not buying the same hat you did a handful of decades ago. Now you are only buying the name. But there are still affordable hats out there that can take a beating.

The question to you is this: are you after another affordable Indy fedora, or a hat in general? Keep in mind many dress hats of yesteryear were just that, dress hats. Not to say that they couldn't take a certain amount of abuse, but even back then, I wouldn't have bought a Borsalino to use as an "Armageddon" hat, as you put it. I believe many Indy fans expect a hat to be able to survive a nuclear holocaust because of the abuse we see Indy's hat take. But keep in mind, they used many hats during filming, just like the jacket. They used numerous hats because a single hat couldn't handle the amount of abuse the entire film demanded of it. But then again, very few of us, if that, will ever have our hats truly go through that type of prolonged natural abuse.

There are other hats out there meant to take a beating, but they're not all dress-styled fedoras. In fact, some are not necessarily fedoras at all, whether Tilley's, cowboy hats, or otherwise. So there really are other hats built to withstand rain and the weather, and even at great prices, but it comes down to what style of hat you are after and what you plan to use it for. For instance, a tank of a porkpie hat would be great, but by design, the brim is not going to keep the rain off your face. On the other hand, I have a British colonial pith helmet which is fantastic for protection from sun, heat, and rain. It looks pretty funny with a suit, though.

My $40 Dorfman Pacific hat was able to survive a rain downpour - By downpour, I mean waterfall rain. Of course, that was when it was unblocked. But, it did manage to maintain the same pancake shape. After I walked home 18 blocks in the soaking rain, I saw this as an opportunity to block the hat. It's kept the same shape since.

I'm not going to get on my soapbox about this again but, let's remember that the word "affordable" means different things to different people.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I doubt there is a fur-felt fedora available for $100 that I would want to wear. I tend to subscribe to the idea that "you get what you pay for". So, I'd rather have one $400 hat than to have four $100 hats.

But that's just me.

BTW, I have a Tilley hat that I've enjoyed wearing all over the world and I think it only cost me around $85. It's canvas and a bit unshapely but I like it. So, it's not like I'm "above" wearing an $85 hat. I just don't think it's possible to get a great quality felt fedora for that price.

[ SOAPBOX MODE OFF ]
Tony

Tony, to be fair, have you ever owned an Akubra or seen one in person? I don't know how they do it, but they really DO offer a great, solid hat for the money. Keep in mind that Akubra hats have a history rooted in the Australian Outback, so they have a well-earned reputation for being hats that will stand up to the abuse.

True, "affordable" is a matter of personal opinion and budget, but in my own experience it's not always true that you "get what you pay for." I've paid way too much money for junk, and I've paid pennies for things which outclass the more expensive competition. I believe that quality is often worth the price, but I also believe that quality can be found for a good price if you are willing to look for it. What HatsDirect (Akubra) did for the hobby is to set the bar for quality fedoras at a very reasonable price. It seems to have become the benchmark for how others price their quality affordable hat offerings.

And whereas "affordable" means different things to different people, so does the notion of "quality." That is not to say that one person should be insulted or belittled because his or her view and take on what is and is not quality does not match with the views of someone else. It all boils down to subjectivity really. But if you would prefer to wear a $400 hat (and I do not intend this insultingly) then you should be confident in your views and proudly wear that $400 hat. But if someone other would rather wear a quality $100 hat, then his or her opinions are just as valid. My personal views are that you can get a quality $400 hat, and a quality $100 hat. Likewise, you can spend $400 on a junk hat as well as you can $100 on a junker.

Well said Bink!

Dave

Akubras ARE are tough hat my last cattleman lasted 20 years, until my father lost it overboard whilst fishing. By that time it had more character than you could poke a stick at. I think it would have lasted another 5 years without a problem. The rabbit fur is cheaper in Oz, and yes the outback is a place I think even beaver flet would have a hard time of coping with. The sun is very harsh, as most tourist find out the hardway with sunburn.
In Oz they are were about $100 for a cattleman, compare that with the exact same hat in the UK at £100. You might be able to pay more for something, but in the example of the stestson, are you really getting what you are paying for?

When I want a hat that will protect me from wind and weather, as well as the sun in the world's #2 spot for skin cancer, I reach for my Tilley T-2 natural cotton hat with green underbrim for glare control. The wide brim is like a personal face umbrella in the rain and provids the dermotologist's recommended brim width for sun protection. It had front and read straps to securely fasten it to your noggin in any kind of weather. With both cords deployed, that hat isn't flying off of my head in a summer thunderstorm or a breezy winter day.

Most fedoras that our favorite character wears are virtually only a decoration when it comes to sun and rain protection. The small, under 3-inch brim is mostly just for looks, but it is one I happen to like, along with the fine folk in this club. When the sun isn't so intense in our winters, the brown or gray fedora shades my eyes and ears just fine.

Tilley offers many different styles for a wide variety of tastes. One of my favorite before- dawn, winter morning dog walk hats is the Tilley Winter hat. Made of wool with both ear and forehead flaps, it helps keep me toasty warm when our pre-dawn winter mornings can bring frost, even in the desert.

I am doing my best on this issue folks. I really am !

Peace
Ken

Thats the age old question on many things.

As I have learned along the way, good things aren't cheap, cheap things aren't good. You get what you pay for. :idea:

I reach for my Tilley T-2 natural cotton hat with green underbrim for glare control.

Tilleys Rock!!! ....got 4 of them myself (2 summer, 2 winter) and I love all of them (in different ways..just like my kids)!

I like cheap. There I said it. So when I found Stetson Temples at their outlet store for $45, I got one even though so many here have had bad experiences. Well, I must have gotten an anomoly because I've had it in rain and snow and heat and desert camping with no adverse effects. No dye running down my face or major tapering. I admit when I first got it, I hated the bash and quickly re-did it. The only other negative is the sweatband that makes me sweat. I have an AB on the way any day now, can't wait to compare.

I too love my Tilley. I wore that thing last summer in 112 degree heat, the hardest wind off the pacific ocean I've ever experienced, and torrential rains, and it still looks the same. The double strap feature may seem nerdy, but it works perfectly. However, for a Fedora, I love my Fed.

-Corey

Had to chime in on this one folks.

I agree. Affordable is relative term. People have different expectations for both the amount of money they want to spend and what they want in the quality of any specific product.

Folks are also more or less swayed by dollar signs alone.

The best we can do is strike a balance between what we can afford and what we consider to be a worthwhile purchase.

With that said. I'm confident that I made the right choice in going with Ken's Fieldmaster.

From his last post, I think we're in the home stretch.

Yee ha.

C79

What Bink said!

The funny thing is Stetson, at one time, made beautiful hats. They had the correct crown height and shape. This is a fedora I purchased on Ebay but turned out to be the wrong size so I gave it away.



What bink says makes sense now looking back. I emailed Stetson back in 2005 asking them if they were planning to return to making true men's hats. They simply replied with a stock message telling me to check out their "exciting line of products at one of their fine retailers."

Oh well.

I share the frustrations of the original poster. And I understand that Akubra does meet the challenge, but too few of their dress hats are readily available here. It is interesting to see, though, that many other colors and models can be ordered through the Australian internet merchants -- navy, green, silverbelly, etc. I would like to get a two-inch ribbon and change the gray to black, but that sort of customization doesn't seem available anywhere, unless one modifies after delivery.

While Stetson seems incapable of making even a good $150.00 hat, Biltmore gets good reviews. JJ Hat Center in NYC has an open-crown "Nostalgia" for $150.00 and teardrop "Voyager" for $125.00 -- was told new shipments should arrive by early June. So there are possibilities, though seemingly few and far between. Surely when the dollar was stronger, prices were much more "reasonable".