How do you keep the crease?

[IndianaJustin]

In my quest to find the perfect hat, for me, I've always been drawn to the razor sharp crease in scenes such the idol grab. However I've not been able to keep a good crease, at least, not like in the film. I know it's not the best for the hat perhaps, but how do some achieve this with their hats? I can get it.... until I put it on. Perhaps I've got a head shaped like a martian from Mars Attacks and my forehead pushes out the crease. It's almost made me give up on screen accuracy, which I know for me would be hard to achieve anyway as I'm not built like HF. Almost. Give up.
Has this been covered before? I'm sorry I couldn't find it.

[indy89]

I believe it all depends on how pliable the felt is, as well as the quality. I own two beaver felt hats; Adventurebilt, and a Leifur from Hufvud. Both are high-end felts and hold a tight pinch very well. However, my Akubra Fed IV can't hold a tight pinch at all. The Fed IV is hare felt, thicker, and less refined than the beaver felts, so that's my guess as to why some hats can hold a tight pinch and why some other hats can't. You could always spray hat stiffener inside the crown and tighten the pinch immediately after applying the stiffener. That may do the trick.

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[jlee562]

What kind of hat are we talking about here? If you have an akubra, I would get it nice and damp and give it a pinch and let it dry. The felt should more or less stay how it dries.

[IndianaJustin]

Should have mentioned the hats I have. One's a Penman, one's an Advintage. Both beaver.
I keep thinking it's my forehead pushing it out...

[AttyOzzy]

I may be mistaken, but I believe that HF had to keep messing with his hat to keep a pinch? Is it possible that he pinched the hat just right - moments before filming the idol grab scene? I bring this up because I notice that the pinch is somewhat looser in other scenes, especially in the Cairo scenes - which I think many vendors have well replicated with a looser pinch at the bottom of the front.

I feel that we sometimes overlook the fact that these scenes had plenty of downtime in-between takes to get just the right look. For instance, the whip. I know I sure can't walk around without my whip eventually slipping out of the double wrap holster/strap eventually. But, I can keep it in place just long enough for a 5-10 minute action scene.

I am always going for screen accuracy too. I must confess though, after wearing my full gear for Halloween, I kept thinking how onerous it was to move around going door to door with a young tricker or treater - let alone wear all this gear and be riding horses and jumping on trucks.

A little off topic - but I was just thinking aloud. I continue to do my best to keep the tight front pinch also.

[Illinois_Jones]

Well don't go crazy pinching it, you'll eventually work a hole in it.

But it's possible it's your head shape. One of the things about the Raiders hat that can't be replicated is Ford's head shape. Ford was pretty much a long oval, which also helped a lot with the swoop of the turn because the pressure points are front and back. If your head is more round and the main pressure points are on the sides it can pop the pinch out some. I've seen it happen.

If that's the case and your head is rounder, my advice would be either go with a TOD or LC pinch or get a jack or a block or something and gently alter the shape over time to be rounder and to work the pinch while it's in that position on the jack or whatever you're using. Train the shape of the sweat/reed along with the crease, so to speak.