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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: GingivitisKahn on August 30, 2010, 05:09:00 PM
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Ok - I've got a wool felt fedora so I can be just like Fred. Heck, it's even the Fred Bear model from Three Rivers. I am shooting a long bow rather than a recurve, but I'm sure Papa Fred would forgive that. Is it just me or are these hats supposed to shrink?
I wore mine most of the season last year (wore it every time it wasn't toooo cold) and it got wet a number of times. Apparently it also shrank a bit. Anyone else have this trouble (or know if Fred did)?
What do you do about it other than get a new hat (or smaller head) every season? Enquiring minds want to know how to keep an outdoor fedora long enough to get that cool, weather bitten woods bum look without the hat shrinking to sub-atomic levels.
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You can pick up a hat stretcher cheap on the auction site. I use it to stretch may hats back into shape. Works great and only costs a few bucks.
Gil
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Get a hair cut you Hippie! :biglaugh: Sorry I just could not resist.
Bill
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Well, I live in Louisiana, so every piece of gear I have gets wet eventually. Lacrosse 16" Burleys are my dry boots. Hippers if things are wet.
I have a Filson Tin Cloth packer hat, and that is one bad-a** hat. You can drink water out of it, or kill bullfrogs by throwing it like a frisbee. It's the toughest hat I've ever had and good for bowhunting.
Felt hats aren't the greatest thing ever for water, although top quality ones can handle it ok. Top quality felt hats are 20x beaver or better and ain't cheap.
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Originally posted by zipper bowss:
Get a hair cut you Hippie! :biglaugh: Sorry I just could not resist.
Bill
Lol - my son said the same thing. Unfortunately, I wear a short flattop and would need a bone saw to get my hair much shorter. :-p
I'll have to look into the hat stretcher idea - didn't know such a thing existed. Thanks. :D
I have a Filson packer hat as well. Think that's my favorite hat though you do have to watch out for the brim on that one - it can really interfere with the string.
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Here is a picture of a hat stretcher.
(http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/distantmeadows/Hatstretcher.jpg)
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Gil is right, I even store mine on the stretcher...works well .
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I do to Mark. In the old days when men wore hats they used a stretcher or form to store their hats when not being used.
I have a big noggin and that stretcher saved a lot of hats I really liked. Plus a tight hat gives me a headache. So does a crabby wife for that matter, but I haven't found a solution to that problem yet. Ha!
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I store my beaver felt fedora on a stretcher.
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I just shoot over or under that buck I've got more pic's of than my grandkids--- all my hats have plenty of room then!
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The main problem is that your hat is wool. Wool shrinks, not to mention is hot to wear in a lot of conditions. I have one of Fred's original hats that he gave me and it's a buttery smooth, high-end Borslino made in Italy. The closest thing to it that I've found currently available at a decent price is my Akubra Bushman made in Australia. I've never owned a hat that fits as snug as it does without shrinking. I wore the same hat on two elk trips and lots of other places where it was rained on, hailed on, and was blasted with blowing sand. It still fits like a glove. I store it upside down on the crown. When I reshape it I use a spray bottle of room temp water, soak it, and shape with my fingers.
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That's "Borsalino". Unfortunately, the last few Borsalino's I've owned didn't compare with the older ones in overall quality.
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Gary,I live some 40Miles from the Borsalino facilities,they still make high quality hats.The problem is the US importers buy the cheap ones to sell on the market.Today most people is more concerned on the price than in the quality.
Fine equipment has its costs.
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Excellent educational replies!
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I must have a moisture problem in my closet. Seems like most of my old pants have been shrinkin over the years.
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sstewa, you too? Man, we must both be buying the wrong kind of clothing! ;)
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Felt Hat U:
for those of you that like felt hats, here's a quickie education. I spent most of my younger years on the rodeo circuit, riding bulls. So, I have had a few felt hats, as have all my friends. I have seen them put to the test. Riding bulls can be tough on a hat. Rain, mud, stomped, you name it.
Most cowboys wear straw during the summer, and if a guy goes to a lot of rodeos, it may take 3-4 straw hats to get through a summer.
These same guys often keep a felt hat for many years, unless they are just into hats and have money to burn (i.e. they win a lot).
If they have a big rodeo or PBR event near where you live, go look at what the cowboys there are wearing. You will find that they wear only fur felt hats, and 20X beaver is the minimum quality. If you go to buy a hat at your average western wear store, you will find 4X to 6X fur felt quality generally. 20X and up hats are expensive. My cowboy hat is a Resistol 20X Black Gold I bought new in 1988 for $225, which was a steal. I still wear it, and in the time I have had it I sent it back to Resistol to have it re-blocked once.
By comparison, in my heyday of riding bulls, a common 4X quality hat would last me about one year before it would no longer hold shape. It's cheaper to buy better quality in the long run.
Fur felt hat quality is measured by the beaver fur content vs. rabbit fur content of the hat. 100X is generally pure beaver. 20X is generally 75% beaver. 4X is about 15% beaver.
More here: http://www.canadiancowboy.com/hats.html
Now, you notice I haven't mentioned wool felt, because the only cowboy hats made of wool felt are cheapos made for tourists and or the kids of tourists. In real cowboy service they could be expected to last a day or two, maybe. Maybe a week if you were inside all the time.
Go to a high end western store and handle a few hats. Their cheapest and lowest quality kids hats will be wool felt. Handle a 20X or better hat, and a 4X or so, and then the wool. The difference in quality is obvious.
If you want a fedora type hat, the same makers usually offer a model like that, or you can choose a basic hat, have the brim cut down and shape it as you wish. It will last a lifetime of hunting if it's high quality. Cowboy hats have a 4" brim, but hat makers do have models that have much shorter brims to start with. Any brim can be cut down to whatever length you wish. Expect to pay a lot more than you would for a wool felt.
Best places to find high quality felt hats on the shelf are Fort Worth, TX, and maybe Jackson Hole or Cheyenne, WY. There are a lot of custom makers all over the country though.
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Hey Slade,
Another old bull rider here and I agree, My hat is 100X and it was not cheap but I have had it for over 20 years and it still is in perfect shape, had it reblocked and cleaned once in Fort Worth.
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Originally posted by sstewa:
I must have a moisture problem in my closet. Seems like most of my old pants have been shrinkin over the years.
I get that too but it's not limited to wool. Weird!
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The Fedoras I currently wear are made of wild hare with open crowns, which allows a custom bash to the desired shape.
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Feliciano, concerning your post, I guess that explains why the hat Fred gave me is so much better than the Borsalinos I bought in recent years from online retailers. Fred bought his hats from a well-known hattery in Detroit. Those were top-notch Borsalinos.
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Is the hat shrinken or is the head swelling...LOL
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You have to steam the hat before you stretch it, or it will rip it up.