Club Obi Wan

I'm thinking about buying an Indy hat again for the first time in a few years! My question is.. which hat comes closest to the colour of my old vintage HJ (that's me on the left with Erri in Florence)???



Hats I've been considering are..
AB Henry
Explorador
Garrison (doesn't reply to my emails though...)
Todds new Raider

Not interested in an Akubra
Any opinions most welcome

Among the hats you listed I would hands down recommend the Garrison.

Interesting you say he hasn't replied to e-mails though. I've had not problems with communication with David, though I've always used PMs through COW and not direct e-mail.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

My first post so take it for what it's worth. According to most of the guys here, Christy's Adventurer in Sable is probably the closest color match to Raiders. It's block, material, and shape are almost identical to a modern Herbert Johnson Poet (ie. Last Crusade), but with a good eye and the right finessing you can get a get a great looking Raiders bash in it. Hatsdirect.com is the place to get it. The main worry is that it will taper pretty quickly if used a lot. It's also cheaper than your other options listed, but any of them are a great hat!

Good Luck!
So-Cal Reporter

Nick,

What hat is Erie wearing in that pic? This way I have a better idea of what color of the hat you are wearing.

SoCal, I've had lots of modern HJs and even a couple of Christies over the years and sable isn't the colour I'm after. The colour I'm after is slightly reddish brown like my old vintage HJ in the pics.

As far as I remember, Erri was wearing an AB - possibly even the one I sold to him!

Here is another pic of my old HJ - it had a more reddish hue than any other hat I ever owned.


In some pics I've seen the AB Henry looks like it might come closest. But I've not seen one in person.

If I may say so, your Indy outfit suits you very well. Especially against the backdrop of such a gorgeous city!!!!!

Nick,

I now know which hat you are speaking of. The Henry has a slight green under tone to it ( and before anyone goes nuts Henry doesn't look green). The AB would be closer than the henry to that color you are looking for. Im not sure there is any going to be just like that but special runs can be had.

I don't know who's using a similarly colored felt to the one in you photo... I got to ask, though, what happened to that gorgeous HJ you're trying to replace?

I see what you mean! Wow that new pic really makes the red pop in ALL the pics! It's a beautiful rust-like color. That'll be a tough hat to replace, I'm sure its seen a lot of love. I love the bash too! I hope you find a close hat.

Good Luck!
So-Cal Reporter

BendingOak wrote:Nick,

I now know which hat you are speaking of. The Henry has a slight green under tone to it ( and before anyone goes nuts Henry doesn't look green). The AB would be closer than the henry to that color you are looking for. Im not sure there is any going to be just like that but special runs can be had.

Trouble is though John, I don't want to go the AB route again - or any route that involves more than 4 or 5 weeks waiting. I also don't want to spend too much (when I think of the heaps of cash I put into hats over the years!!!)

Ah, well if you aren't interested in a wait then I think that limits your choices to either the Henry (assuming your size is in stock) or Todd's (assuming size again).

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

At the moment, the current Explorador waiting list keeps it in the running too - just.
Really I'm hoping on seeing some more pics of Todd's hat, as it could be quite promising and fits the bill for me quite well. MY days of wearing an Indy hat all the time and obsessing about SA details are well and trully over. I would sometimes like to wear one though when the mood takes me.

For what little it's worth Whiskey,

The Todds I managed to see last weekend was a rather decent colour... A fair bit more accurate in regards to hat colour and band colour than my Fed IV..
Like John mentioned, there was a slight green tinge to the Todds as well, when outside it showed slightly, but indoors it comes across as a far better brown colour... It was "close" to my AB (Which I was wearing when I met Yuji last weekend, and saw the hat), and the colours are different, but it's a touch up on the Fed IV'S darker brown.. Closer to Indy..

Given what you've said about what you're looking for, I would say that it would work for you fairly well.. Although of course, it would never equal an AB or a Penman.... But for the price it is, it's a pretty fine hat, and I wouldn't be sorry if I had one.

Regards.

This might help work it out some...

This is me, in my AB...



And this is Yuji, wearing the Todds. (Sorry Yuji! But I hope you forgive me! 勝手に写真アップして御免なさい、見せるためだけで？お許し下さいね！ )



Not so bad, I'm sure you'll agree.. But slightly less "true brown" perhaps? More green in sunlight? Indoors it was a fair jump closer to the AB colours..

Thanks for those pics - very helpful indeed. Unfortunately for me, that Ab looks great! Much better than the last one I had!

The one problem I've found in owning a Penman and an Adventurebilt, is that nearly everything else does tend to pale beside them....

Which means I've only really got two choices for hat buying now...(Although, on the plus side, it DOES help narrow the choices...)...

It's not easy...

But, for the price, the Todd's was a decent hat! (If my family or friends bought one for me, I'd be very happy...Essentially......)

Sorry to not have helped with the choice though...My bad..

To The Gearhead Formally Known as Pagey,

I have the Todd's and HAD the Garrison. The Garrison is the color you're looking for. It's a nice reddish, brown.

The Todd's is a very nice hat for the money though (especially with the discount)!

Dr. J

Nick,

I was trying to help with the color only. That color you are looking for with the reddish under tone. I'm not sure you are going to find it with what is out there. I remember that hat you are posting very well, or at least I think I do. Is that the one that came to you that was once owned by Steve?

That's the one. Obviously I won't match the colour - but I do prefer a Raiders hat which leans to the reddish brown. From all the behind scenes footage of Raiders it's clear to me that the Raiders hat wasn't sable.

That's what I thought. You beat me to that hat. I agree that statement about the color. I won't speak about that but if you wiskyman want to talk about it plase pm me.

whiskyman wrote: I also don't want to spend too much (when I think of the heaps of cash I put into hats over the years!!!)

Does that mean you're going to hold onto the hat this time?

Perhaps I'll just leave it.

From what I see, only vintage HJ hats are reddish brown. Look here:

MOD EDIT: Link removed to site as discussion of banned members is against the posted rules.

http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=13312" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Beautiful color, it's even more red than yours, the body is from mid 50's.
Try to find similiar one, I know it will be hard job, but it will make you happy