Club Obi Wan

hey ya'll

i hope i'm not treading an oft trodden path with this post, but i was wondering what felt in your knowledgeable opinion was the lightest to wear (i'm back from a trip in rome, weather was really nice and i was wearing my trusty fed IV deluxe, and i think i reached that very point where you know you won't be able to wear your hat under that kind of sun without discomfort).
the lightest and the more pliable, as i reckon both virtues are closely related.

i can't bring myself to resort to straw hats, so any piece of advice will be much appreciated.

thanx !

I have a couple of lightweight felt hats made for me by Art Fawcett of Vintage Silhouettes. The felt is really light and thin (rather like some of the old vintage felts used by Borsalino and by Stetson in their Zephyr Weight hats) and the hats also have no liner and have small ventilation holes.

These ArtLites are the best felt hats I've owed for warm weather. Unfortunately, the felting company no longer makes the lightweight hat bodies so the supply is getting low. I think Art might have a few left and Mike Moore at Buckaroo Hatters in Tennessee might have some as well.

Look out on eBay for some vintage lightweights as well. I recently bought an old Dobbs Cross Country that is a good warm weather hat - $35 I think.

Other than vintage, I would wager Akubra. I don't yet have an AB to compare it to, but my Fed seems slightly thinner (very slightly) than my Penman rabbit hat.

jlee562 wrote:Other than vintage, I would wager Akubra. I don't yet have an AB to compare it to, but my Fed seems slightly thinner (very slightly) than my Penman rabbit hat.

most interesting, jlee... i always thought the Akubras were a bit heavier than the penmans (judging by what i could see, not touch : i never had a Penman in hand...) Are rabbit Penmans as pliable as beaver are ?

out of all the different hats I have ever had or handled, the Borsalino Allessandria was the lightest (and still looking like a Raiders felt) hat felt. Dont even know its there on your head. they are in the $300, usually come with bound brim and thin ribbon but long ago, I bought five from Peterbros and they trimmed the edge off and put a better ribbon on them.

Gorak wrote:out of all the different hats I have ever had or handled, the Borsalino Allessandria was the lightest (and still looking like a Raiders felt) hat felt. Dont even know its there on your head. they are in the $300, usually come with bound brim and thin ribbon but long ago, I bought five from Peterbros and they trimmed the edge off and put a better ribbon on them.

hey gorak!
thanx for the tip
300 plus trimming and new ribbon might be a bit pricey, but hey, you goota know what you want...

indyhan wrote:

jlee562 wrote:Other than vintage, I would wager Akubra. I don't yet have an AB to compare it to, but my Fed seems slightly thinner (very slightly) than my Penman rabbit hat.

most interesting, jlee... i always thought the Akubras were a bit heavier than the penmans (judging by what i could see, not touch : i never had a Penman in hand...) Are rabbit Penmans as pliable as beaver are ?

Don't have a beaver Penman to compare it to.

FYI, Bencraft has the best price on the Alessandria: http://www.bencrafthats.com/product.php ... =Felt+Hats" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jlee562 wrote:

indyhan wrote:

jlee562 wrote:Other than vintage, I would wager Akubra. I don't yet have an AB to compare it to, but my Fed seems slightly thinner (very slightly) than my Penman rabbit hat.

most interesting, jlee... i always thought the Akubras were a bit heavier than the penmans (judging by what i could see, not touch : i never had a Penman in hand...) Are rabbit Penmans as pliable as beaver are ?

Don't have a beaver Penman to compare it to.

FYI, Bencraft has the best price on the Alessandria: http://www.bencrafthats.com/product.php ... =Felt+Hats" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

thanx for the tip

In addition to Art Fawcett having lightweight felt, another alternative might be Falcon Park Hattery: http://falconparkhattery.com/Pricing.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Parker offers a "vintage weight" felt made with rabbit/wild hare from Fepsa in Portugal (the same factory which produces Optimo's felts [although Optimo is now all 100% beaver]) starting at $295.

I have a Christy's Fur Felt Foldaway and it is so light that you forget it is on. http://www.amazon.com/Christys-London-F ... B0006NV8U2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

hmm, i think there might be something for me out there, then

i'll try the vintage way first (fortune and bargain, kid)

a few years back, i had snatched a real nice lid made out of the most pliable and the lightest felt i seen so far, right colour, and almost right crown, the brim was a little too short tho, and it's a 56 cm (i'm a 58) so it didn't really fit the bill. No liner, so the ideal warm weather hat, but too small. Still have it, tho, cause it's a real neat vintage piece...

I concur with the Christy's comment. I've never seen a lighter felt. They don't hold up to abuse, but you also don't notice them on your head either. I'm just still bummed that topsecrethats.com stopped selling their Adventurers in beige. It was a perfect summer hat. I believe they don't have beige in any style anymore.

I've owned a Christy's. My current hat is an Exploradora, but I just recently bought a Fed Iv in moonstone. For all the talk I've heard over the years about how durable the Fed is, i was surprised how light and thin the felt is. Lighter and thinner than my Christy's for sure

Yeah, the FedIV looks thinner than a Christy's... My PB looks thinner than my FedIV though.

My FedIV has shrunk a tad already, but it's been my everyday hat for a year I think. It's been through pouring rain and extreme heat (I live in a place where we only have 2 seasons, rainy and hot).

The Christy's didn't last that long despite not ever being worn in heavy rain (the most was a slight drizzle). This hat will not last in a tropical country. The heat and humidity did it in.

Adirondack Jones wrote:I've owned a Christy's. My current hat is an Exploradora, but I just recently bought a Fed Iv in moonstone. For all the talk I've heard over the years about how durable the Fed is, i was surprised how light and thin the felt is.

I noticed a HUGE difference in my moonstone FedIV compared to my brown one. The moonstone was unbelievably more floppier. As if they were not even from the same maker. And that's not a complaint. I've heard the tawny fawn felt is like this too.

Here's a sample I posted a while back in the FedIV thread:

Arch Stanton wrote:

Arch Stanton wrote:

Adirondack Jones wrote:I've owned a Christy's. My current hat is an Exploradora, but I just recently bought a Fed Iv in moonstone. For all the talk I've heard over the years about how durable the Fed is, i was surprised how light and thin the felt is.

I noticed a HUGE difference in my moonstone FedIV compared to my brown one. The moonstone was unbelievably more floppier. As if they were not even from the same maker. And that's not a complaint. I've heard the tawny fawn felt is like this too.

Here's a sample I posted a while back in the FedIV thread:

Arch Stanton wrote:

hello there

i was quite surprised you should say Akubra Feds could be thinner than the Christys? I've had three akubras so far and one christys and the felt on the Christys was noticeably thinner. And more pliable too. That said, i only had brown Feds so far : one Fed Standard that was soft but with a thicker felt than the Christys, one Fed III standard that was pretty much the same and a recently bought Fed IV Deluxe that is thick and quite stiff (although i managed to soften the felt a bit by wetting the hat slightly and kneading the brim a bit, for lack of a better word.

well I don't have the Christy's anymore, so it could be my memory is playing tricks on me. Still i was struck by the thinness of the Fed...

Keep in mind, you also have to consider what the felt is MADE of if you're looking for some kind of relief from summer heat.

The thinnest, most lightweight felt hat I own is a 78 gr. beaver AB prototype. Thin as vintage felt, if not thinner, but hotter than a firecracker until I drilled vent holes in the side of the crown. The felt is soft and lightweight, but the fibers are tightly weaved together so no air could move through the felt. Soft and pliable do not mean 'cool' by any means.

That said, look at domestic rabbit fur felt hats for more air movement around the inside of the crown through the felt.

Heck, even some of the old vintage summer fedoras had vent holes with grommets in the side of the crown and no liners for summer wear, but in the really warm and humid times of the year, they switched completely away from any kind of felt and went straight to a straw for summer wear.

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson does indeed know things!

I have these nifty little vents in my lightweight felt hats. Not yet tested in extreme heat - heck, I live in New Hampshire!

Yep, you had either straight through punched holes, punched holes with grommets, or the fancier models offered the special designs as seen in the photo above.

Maybe not extreme yet, my friend....but I saw where it was in the 90's up in your neck of the woods a few weeks ago, so maybe you'll get to give it a 'road test' this summer.

Thanks for posting an example!

Regards! Michaelson

Yes, it will get warmer (and you're right, we had a couple of very hot days a while ago), but the evenings and early morning are usually good for lightweight felt hats even on hot days.

I do prefer felt to straw, that's why I asked Art Fawcett to make me the lightweight hats over the winter. Got a couple of straw hats ready in reserve though!!

Cheers!
David