Club Obi Wan

I am looking into maybe getting an adVintage Fedora. I like the Raiders model the best. It is €300 + shipping which is quite a lot for my budget, so if I do end up getting it, I want to make the right choice.

My question is regarding the felt firmness. You can choose soft, medium, hard.

Does anyone have any experience with adVintage? How hard is hard, how soft is soft?

Cheers,
Bear

Medium is the way I go with them. I own one of their hats, a ToD model, and have just placed an order for another one. Medium is floppy enough that it's not like a rock, and soft won't hold it's shape well from what he told me.

I have a harrison (factory one) and its a stiff felt which you need to form with help of steam, and I have LC with soft felt and its great, easy to form, keeps the shape, so I would advise going with softest.

bearbeast wrote:I am looking into maybe getting an adVintage Fedora. I like the Raiders model the best. It is €300 + shipping which is quite a lot for my budget, so if I do end up getting it, I want to make the right choice.

My question is regarding the felt firmness. You can choose soft, medium, hard.

Does anyone have any experience with adVintage? How hard is hard, how soft is soft?

Cheers,
Bear

Although it's a great price for a custom beaver hat, if the top-of-the-line AdVintage is too steep for your budget (it was for mine), their Harrison 80 rabbit/20 beaver is an excellent alternative. I have one and it's become my favorite hat (my others include a Garrison and Akubra Fed IVs).

It's not stiff at all and easily conforms to your head, but it's not floppy and feels tough enough to hold its shape well and long. The felt is smooth and supple, the hat is light, and the shape is spot-on (mine is a Crystal Skull). I think it's the most affordable rabbit/beaver mix on the market.

Yes and don't forget that the Harrison also comes in 100% beaver too. I got that one and it's now my favorite hat.

Hi again, guys! Thanks for all the great feedback!

I know the 'Harrison adVintage' is a nice budget option. I only thought of going with the 'RoLA adVintage Fedora' because of the nice swoop the brim has in the back. I likehow it sweeps down, instead of going up.

bearbeast wrote: I know the 'Harrison adVintage' is a nice budget option. I only thought of going with the 'RoLA adVintage Fedora' because of the nice swoop the brim has in the back. I likehow it sweeps down, instead of going up.

I ordered a raiders streets of cairo fedora around end of November and it arrived before New year's. I ordered soft, and it arrived extremely soft. I don't know how to describe that unless you've had a hat before but it's not flimsy. If I crushed it, it would easily come back to the same shape. If the felt was stiff, I would be worried about the dents from being crushed not coming out. Probably softest hat I have.
On another note, The felt is very thin too, which is awesome. Anyway, it's pounced super smooth too. It feels high quality compared to my Penman in Beaver. I would recommend. You can have him laser etch a name or symbol on the sweatband. I requested "Indiana Jones" in adventurers font. He also glued in the liner, I would suggest you ask him to sew it in instead. Hope that helps! Good luck.

Hey, Daniel!

Thanks a lot for the input! Soft sounds very good now. I am prone to crushing my current non-Indy hat (crushable leather one), even though I do take care of it.

I imagined hard was cardboard stiffness, but never having owned a felt hat I really didn't know.

I have a handful of the AdVintage ones and ordered them all with the hard finish. To be honest, I do not find them to be that "stiff" and enjoy them. The crowns are pretty much set where you would need to steam them to change the shape but the brims are fairly easy to change up if wanted. Not a fan of the floppy felts myself.

LOL obviously we all have different preferences. So, I would change my answer to: Whatever it is you like and want.

Ha! Thanks for the input guys!

I think I will need a couple of goes before finding what I like. But soft/medium seems ok for me just in case I sit on the hat I can just pop it back and shape it by hand.

I believe the Harrison is not available in 100% beaver anymore.

Nope, only the 'Fedora' models are available in 100% Beaver Felt. The Harrison is either 100% rabbit or 80% rabbit/20%beaver.

How warm are the beaver hats usually? Can you wear them in summer? Or is it just the limited spring/autumn weather that allows them to be worn?

It may just be me, but the fedora styles I own in rabbit are more heavy/thick than my beaver ones for the most part. Some people can tolerate wearing felt in the heat. I can building hop wearing them in the heat (house-car-work-reverse) where you are going into AC. If I am going to be outside for awhile or moving about, they sweat me pretty bad.

Some people drive on which is cool. I have a couple I have removed the liners from to help them breathe more. It just depends on the individual and how much you sweat in the really hot days.

Hmmm, thanks Glenville, I understand. I am quite a sweater in hot weather. But I guess I'll have to try it out and see.

In general, all felt is going to be a challenge in particularly hot, humid weather. That's why I switch over to straw hats when the temperatures really climb.

Rabbit vs. beaver for hot weather is all over the map. Beaver tends to be felted tighter than rabbit, which is why beaver felt is a better wet weather hat, but the tighter felting does not necessarily mean the hat will feel hotter to wear. The weight of the felt plays into equation too. A light weight beaver hat may feel cooler than a heavy weight rabbit hat.

And to further muddy the waters, the individual hat wearer is the ultimate factor. I'm perfectly comfortable at 72 degrees, my Bride is reaching for a sweatshirt.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Hey, Jeff! I will definitely be having trouble in warmer weather... 72 degrees is my comfort temperature...

But I kind of expected this, can't wear all Indy's gear all year round.

Well, at least the whip doesn't keep me too warm, I guess.

Cheers,
Bear

I'll say this about the weather....I wear mine no matter what the weather. Hence the salt sweat stains on my Penman beaver. If I was going to be outside all day in the Florida heat, where I live, perhaps I'd reconsider however. Dang state is HOT

Hmmm, that is also a good point. I guess I could sport it more often, as I'm not out and about braving the weather all day long.

As an example, it got up to 90 degrees today in VA and I was fine wearing the Harrison rabbit/beaver blend just doing the normal moving to and from work and running an errand at lunch. If I was working up a sweat today walking around outside much, it would have been too hot for me.

I have seen all those old pictures of the working men wearing them in the Summer though.....

Hmmm, if I can wear it up to 90 degrees it is great!

And as you said men used to wear such hats in all kinds of harsh weather and braved it just fine.

In the end I will end up just seeing for myself how much I can bear to wear it. Ooor should I say how much I can bear to be without it.

Cheers,
Bear

I have and frequently worn my 100% Beaver fedora in the sweltering Florida sunshine in 95 and greater temps. I never passed out nor found myself to be uncomfortable. My head sweated no more than it would with a ball cap on. In fact, maybe less.

Jeremiah wrote:I have and frequently worn my 100% Beaver fedora in the sweltering Florida sunshine in 95 and greater temps. I never passed out nor found myself to be uncomfortable. My head sweated no more than it would with a ball cap on. In fact, maybe less.

Jeremiah, that is really great news for me! I appreciate the input. I definitely want to be able to wear my hat as much as possible. Not only because, well, I am a gear-head, but it helps against the blinding sun, together with my sunglasses.

Cheers,
Bear

Well, I went ahead and ordered two hats:


- adVintage Raiders Fedora, soft felt
- adVintage Harrison, with LC bash (for a beater hat)

Now the waiting begins. Short wait compared to a whip, so that's nice!

Thanks everyone for advice!

Cheers,
Bear

Congrats! You will enjoy the hats...

Thank you!

I will post pics when I get them!

bearbeast wrote:Well, I went ahead and ordered two hats:


- adVintage Raiders Fedora, soft felt
- adVintage Harrison, with LC bash (for a beater hat)

Now the waiting begins. Short wait compared to a whip, so that's nice!

Thanks everyone for advice!

Cheers,
Bear

We can't wait to see 'em! I'd love to see them side by side, so we can see how the colors of the custom AdVintage and factory Harrison compare. Enjoy 'em

Hi, Howard! I will definitely put a comparison pic!

I have 2 SoC hats made by Thomas. With another Smoke Soc on the way.

The solution for me was to only stiffen the bash and leave
the rest of the hat relatively alone. The brim warps perfectly and is nice and floppy in a wind.

link to the first 2

http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68465

cybertrek wrote:I have 2 SoC hats made by Thomas. With another Smoke Soc on the way.

The solution for me was to only stiffen the bash and leave
the rest of the hat relatively alone. The brim warps perfectly and is nice and floppy in a wind.

link to the first 2

http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68465

Wow, those hats look amazing! I am even more excited about getting mine, now.

I choose the Raiders in soft felt in the hopes that it will be somewhat 'crushable'... Maybe it won't be, but at least I will have a starting point for any other hats I will order.

Cheers,
Bear