Club Obi Wan

Hi COW,

I have been observing and reading here at COW for over a year now, a member since June and this is my first post. My first fedora was from Delmonico Hatters which turned out to be rather innacurate and not very durable. (I'm pretty sure it was a Dorfman Pacific) It has been distressed, re-shaped in a Raiders style, and regulated to display in my classroom.

In September of 08 I purchased an Akubra Fed 4 Deluxe Brown and shaped in LC/KOTCS style, and have been in awe of this hat's durability and character it has gained since I got it. Its been through several dunkings, and a hot North Carolina summer at a special needs camp.

Since the Fed 4 Brown I have purchased all of the Fed 4 colors some Deluxe, some standard, and a Henry, shaped in KOTCS style.

I'm also waiting for an AB Deluxe from Steve also Styled in KOTCS whish I ordered back in March.

Anyone else gone a little Fedora crazy like this once they purchase they're first??

Indy

Greetings and welcome to COW!

I went through the same problem! I now have several hats from Akubra, Penman, and Adventurebilt! I don't know how it happened....

Also, Steve doesn't sell AB Deluxes, that is from Marc (the European Adventurebilt guy). Steve creates the AB (American version).

My first hat was an AB that I got off Ebay. I needed it for my trip to Europe. Since then, I now own 4 Adventurebilts, 1 Penman, and several Fed IV's (one in Grey, 2 in Brown). My now wife ordered me a grey Penman shaped CS for a wedding gift. Can't wait to get it.
I rotate all my hat...just last night we went out for dinner and I wore my AB CS. I love it, and all of them. My only problem is just storing them. I have 2 hat boxes on order with Sarah's hat boxes (1 Penman and 1 AB), but I've been waiting almost 2 months for them to arrive.... but we fedora lovers know patience.

Cheers
Jonny

I started out years ago purchasing a thrift store fedora for canoeing trip. I paid a whole $2.00 for it. I have a post here with pictures of that hat under Orvis xxxxx fine fur felt if you want to see it. Then I purchased a wool felt from an online store that was more in line with the Indy look. It lasted one week long river trip and turned into a faded cone of a hat. Major disappointment! Since that time I bought a Baron's BEAVER Cliffhanger and my favorite by far is my AB CS that I recently received. I also have a LC on order from Penman Hat Co. I wanted a lifetime hat that would still be with me one day many years from now and I have that hat now from AB. So my Penman will be my hat when I need to rotate or just want a change. I am going to order one other hat in the near future from Penman. I want a grey fedora for when the occasion calls for it. Fedora's for men can become an addiction like shoes for women. I am in the same boat as you in that storage is an issue. I need to purchase a hatbox or two myself. My LC from Penman comes with his new hatbox and if I like it I will order more.

Beaverlid

Jonny Whip Crack wrote:My first hat was an AB that I got off Ebay. I needed it for my trip to Europe. Since then, I now own 4 Adventurebilts, 1 Penman, and several Fed IV's (one in Grey, 2 in Brown). My now wife ordered me a grey Penman shaped CS for a wedding gift. Can't wait to get it.
I rotate all my hat...just last night we went out for dinner and I wore my AB CS. I love it, and all of them. My only problem is just storing them. I have 2 hat boxes on order with Sarah's hat boxes (1 Penman and 1 AB), but I've been waiting almost 2 months for them to arrive.... but we fedora lovers know patience.

Cheers
Jonny

That's odd because Sarah hat boxes don't sell penman hat boxes. You can only get them from me.

Man, for me it started with a Dorfman that I bought on a whim at Disneyland. From then it was a Christy's, then a grey Fed IV, then an AB, ordered a Penman (non Indy hat though) and then a Stetson Temple just for the heck of it.

I agree with Beaverlid, fedoras to men are like shoes to women. Well, they are to me at least.

Mr. Penman. Good to hear from you. I ordered this hat box from you and an Adventurebilt one from Sarah's hat boxes. If you remember, I paid you for your box, but they were going to combine shipping and send both directly to me. I called them 3 weeks in a row when I got back from my wedding, and they were done, just haden't been dropped in the post due to them being busy.
I plan on calling them again on Monday to check the status. The lady there is well aware of my order, but I haven't even seen the charge on my credit card yet.
I'm not terribly concerned. I'll get them eventually.

Sorry to stray away from the subject everyone.

Jonny

Why are you guys investing so much time and money into fedoras? Didn't Indy wear a brown cowboy hat?

Dave

DR Ulloa wrote:Why are you guys investing so much time and money into fedoras? Didn't Indy wear a brown cowboy hat?

and it was made of leather, don't forget!

I spent right at 7500 bucks on Indy hats before I started my own line. I think that may be a record for Indy fedoras. So, I can relate in a big way. Out of those hats, today, I only still own some of the vintage ones, and the Akubra brand. The others all came up short, either in looks, or durability. But, I am a real picky guy, too picky probably. But then again, I am real picky about everything that I own. Being picky can be expensive.

Today, a guy doesn't have to spend those kind of bucks, even if he is picky like me. But we did not always have the vendors that we do today when it comes to the Indy fedora. We did not have vendors that specialize in the Indy fedora, like we do today. We had vendors that would make what they percieved that hat to be, but most came up way short, at least if you wanted a Raiders fedora. Times have changed for the better.

Thanks for the correction, yeah I did order a hat from Steve so it would be an AB instead of an AB Deluxe.

I think as a topper to my collection I'd love to have a Herbert Johnson. I love the fact that the hat has so much history behind it, not only with Raiders but the history behind the company.

My hats are strictly for wearing so each hat in my collection see's time out in public, with my original brown Fed 4 having logged the most miles with me and the most abuse!

I will let this photo of my hat boxes speak for itself;

Jonny Whip Crack wrote:Mr. Penman. Good to hear from you. I ordered this hat box from you and an Adventurebilt one from Sarah's hat boxes. If you remember, I paid you for your box, but they were going to combine shipping and send both directly to me. I called them 3 weeks in a row when I got back from my wedding, and they were done, just haden't been dropped in the post due to them being busy.
I plan on calling them again on Monday to check the status. The lady there is well aware of my order, but I haven't even seen the charge on my credit card yet.
I'm not terribly concerned. I'll get them eventually.

Sorry to stray away from the subject everyone.

Jonny

Now I got you. I will give Peter a call and see what's going on.

I'm a collector, but I go for variety. I don't need to have a stable of hats that all look basically the same (at least to the untrained eye).

I have about 11 cowboy hats of different quality felts, colors and styles.

I have about 20 pairs of cowboy boots of different skins, colors and manufacturers.

When it comes to fedoras, I used to have an original licensed Indy made of wool felt, which I trashed, first figuratively and then literally. I then purchased two Stetson Temples, one in tawny and the other in caribou. I beat up the tawny pretty good, and then gave it to my father. The caribou I wore as a dress hat, and eventually sold it on ebay. I then upgraded to a Fed Deluxe, which I wore for years and still have. I also bought a Fed IV in carbon gray, which I use as a dress hat. Earlier this year, I bought a Henry. I don't plan on buying another Indy hat until I've killed the Henry. Hopefully, that won't be for many years to come.

I started with $40 wool Stetson Outback a few years ago. It's a real addiction/disease: I'm up to 2 Delk-made ABs, 1 Fed III Deluxe, and 3 vintage ( Dobbs, Resistol version of a Stratoliner, and a Stetson Sovereign, all from the '50s as far as I can tell). Still hoping the wifey will oblige me with grey CS Penman for my birthday this year!

-AFI

I started with a DP and have since given it away. Then I got a second-hand Camptown SoC which is now in the hands of John Penman for an overhaul. And I also have a beaver Raiders Penman. I'd love to get another Penman Beavers but in gray but I'll have to wait till I get a job and money starts to roll in.

I guess you get one to get a taste of it; so you start small with a DP (or similar) since you don't want to spend too much right off the bat. Then you see what others have and you like the hobby more, so you keep on upgrading; getting different styles, colors, furs, etc. Then your closet looks like Chewie's (BTW very nice! ).

Hats...why'd it have to be hats?