Fedora the explorer

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HHazeldean

Native
Feb 17, 2011
1,529
0
Sussex
I personally have a very nice Stetson which I picked up at an auction in Truro for next to nothing, I lookd online and found that I had saved about £120 on this hat; picked it up for only £18!!
 

big_swede

Native
Sep 22, 2006
1,452
8
41
W Yorkshire
1. You will look like you're a jazz artist, or like you're on the dole
2. People will stare
3. Kids will laugh at you
4. Old people will laugh at you
5. Dog walkers will laugh at you
6. Teenage girls will snicker at you
7. Joggers will laugh at you
8. Emos will laugh at you
9. Chavs will laugh at you
10. Vegetarians will laugh at you
11. Dog walkers will laugh at you, even more
12. Serious archeologists will laugh at you
13. Not so serious archeologists will laugh at you (and be envious)
14. Indy-fans will laugh at you (and tell you which models and modifications are correct)
15. Fat fantasy/sci-fi-fans will laugh at you, because you're probably doing it wrong (being ridiculed by comic book guy isn't funny!)
16. Your family will laugh at you (from a distance)
17. Your missus won't laugh at you
18. It will catch the wind, blow away, and everybody seeing this will laugh at you
19. It will get soaked in rain, getting all sloppy and you will look like a caricature of a hobo (and everybody will laugh at you)
20. You'll have to get it blocked once in a while, and the hat maker will screw it up, and everybody will stare (probably laughing) at your weird, mushroom shaped hat
21. It'll screw up your hair
22. People will suspect your bald

Give me a few moments, and I can hand you the rest.
 

chris_r

Nomad
Dec 28, 2008
350
0
Newcastle upon Tyne
1. You will look like you're a jazz artist, or like you're on the dole
2. People will stare
3. Kids will laugh at you
4. Old people will laugh at you
5. Dog walkers will laugh at you
6. Teenage girls will snicker at you
7. Joggers will laugh at you
8. Emos will laugh at you
9. Chavs will laugh at you
10. Vegetarians will laugh at you
11. Dog walkers will laugh at you, even more
12. Serious archeologists will laugh at you
13. Not so serious archeologists will laugh at you (and be envious)
14. Indy-fans will laugh at you (and tell you which models and modifications are correct)
15. Fat fantasy/sci-fi-fans will laugh at you, because you're probably doing it wrong (being ridiculed by comic book guy isn't funny!)
16. Your family will laugh at you (from a distance)
17. Your missus won't laugh at you
18. It will catch the wind, blow away, and everybody seeing this will laugh at you
19. It will get soaked in rain, getting all sloppy and you will look like a caricature of a hobo (and everybody will laugh at you)
20. You'll have to get it blocked once in a while, and the hat maker will screw it up, and everybody will stare (probably laughing) at your weird, mushroom shaped hat
21. It'll screw up your hair
22. People will suspect your bald

Give me a few moments, and I can hand you the rest.

I'm not sure what it is you're trying to say, but what about a trilby?
 

Old Bones

Settler
Oct 14, 2009
745
72
East Anglia
If you are going to look like Indy, you might as well go for the real thing http://www.swaineadeney.co.uk/products/poet_hat/ - although at £215 you get something a little cheaper - http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk /cid/8WO3OFEFN44HOF14GRRNICFU276JXI8E/Indiana-Jones-Hats-Promotional-Fedora-P130472/ - which is £38!

I bought something a bit like them in the States years ago, and its great , although be prepared for the Indy comments. Have a look at Stetsons as well (which I think mine is): Fedoras and Stetsons can be pretty similar http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/Jaxon-Hats-Sedona-Cowboy-Hat--Black-P135011/
 

Inusuit

Member
Dec 30, 2009
27
0
Wyoming, USA
Akubra is excellent quality for the price, even with shipping to here in the States. Just my opinion, but modern Stetsons are poor quality for the price. I have a couple of 50-60's vintage Stetson Open Road models that are excellent quality and everyday wear. Not both at once. Of course, here in Wyoming all those people Big Swede listed will laugh at you if you aren't wearing a hat. If you get a good old Stetson, or a new Akubra, you won't have the problems with rain or rebuilding. I wear what I like. If people laugh, it's there problem. Man up and do it.

On an episode of the old American TV Western "Gunsmoke," Chester and Marshal Dillon are out riding on a hot summer day. Chester says, "Someone should invent a way to block out that darn hot sun." The Marshall says, "Someone did. His name is John B. Stetson." That's for free.
 

mwelch8404

Member
Sep 14, 2004
14
0
Cedar City, Utah, USA
Unlike most fedoras out there the Akubra was made for real use. I've had min since Feb '07 and worn it daily, rain, sun or snow.

Only two problems - I stained the front pinch, and now it's wearing through the front pinch... I know, I know, you're not supposed to hold it or put it on or take it off by the pinch. The Akubra's are tough.
 

789987

Settler
Aug 8, 2010
554
0
here
1. You will look like you're a jazz artist, or like you're on the dole
2. People will stare
3. Kids will laugh at you
4. Old people will laugh at you
5. Dog walkers will laugh at you
6. Teenage girls will snicker at you
7. Joggers will laugh at you
8. Emos will laugh at you
9. Chavs will laugh at you
10. Vegetarians will laugh at you
11. Dog walkers will laugh at you, even more
12. Serious archeologists will laugh at you
13. Not so serious archeologists will laugh at you (and be envious)
14. Indy-fans will laugh at you (and tell you which models and modifications are correct)
15. Fat fantasy/sci-fi-fans will laugh at you, because you're probably doing it wrong (being ridiculed by comic book guy isn't funny!)
16. Your family will laugh at you (from a distance)
17. Your missus won't laugh at you
18. It will catch the wind, blow away, and everybody seeing this will laugh at you
19. It will get soaked in rain, getting all sloppy and you will look like a caricature of a hobo (and everybody will laugh at you)
20. You'll have to get it blocked once in a while, and the hat maker will screw it up, and everybody will stare (probably laughing) at your weird, mushroom shaped hat
21. It'll screw up your hair
22. People will suspect your bald

Give me a few moments, and I can hand you the rest.

bwahahahahaha! that had me chuckling. and you'll have a series of pictures so you can reflect on your hat phase later. its a lot like a moustache or perm phase.

on a more serious note - they'll only laugh if you dont have the confidence to carry it off.
 

forestwalker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
If you are going to look like Indy, you might as well go for the real thing http://www.swaineadeney.co.uk/products/poet_hat/ - although at £215 you get something a little cheaper - http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk /cid/8WO3OFEFN44HOF14GRRNICFU276JXI8E/Indiana-Jones-Hats-Promotional-Fedora-P130472/ - which is £38!

I bought something a bit like them in the States years ago, and its great , although be prepared for the Indy comments. Have a look at Stetsons as well (which I think mine is): Fedoras and Stetsons can be pretty similar http://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/Jaxon-Hats-Sedona-Cowboy-Hat--Black-P135011/

If you want to go the "whole Indy way" there are places to buy the very hat used in the latest movie (genuine beaver felt), the jacket, the boots, the pants, the bag...

The real hat used in the latst movie: http://www.adventurebilthats.com/
 
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British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,751
1,999
Mercia
Can I add

Because you are English?

Tweed cap in the winter and a panama in the summer for tea on the lawn.

Really Indiana Jones was one of those colonial chappies. You are neither a convict nor a cattle rancher.

Red
 

Retired Member southey

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jun 4, 2006
11,098
13
your house!
Just to add to the positive points, I know you may have made up your mind, but while at my mothers yesterday, she gave me this pic,

DSCF3941.jpg


The guy on the right is my Grandfather, he worked as a cow poke in Canada up until the the start of the second world war, whereupon he returned to Britain, joined the REME, then volunteered for the first intake of Commando's later to be seconded to the LRDG, captured at Tobruk and held in Northern Italy in a camp from which he escaped and made it to Calais before being caught then sent to a camp in Germany where he escaped again and was sent back to Italy to see out the rest of the war, then being a cool fedora wearing chap he chatted up a QUARANC nurse in the hospital he was in after his release, they married, had three kids, one of those met an aeronautical engineer, they married had two girls and a boy, that boy is me! so thanks to a Fedora and Hitler, I'm now able to say that these hats are cool, you should defiantly get one!!
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,234
1,595
Cumbria
22. People will suspect your bald

Well I can't see from his forum picture the top of his head so... you jest but you never know!! ;-) :D

No offence mate but a lot of hat wearers get this not just fedora wearers.

Seriously though, I know nothing about fedoras and those felt type hats but a guy I know through work who is Texan born and bred told me that modern "ten gallon cowboy hats" have a major problem that film and tv westerns never really show. That is the rain really buggers them up. That is why you get plastic cowboy hat covers. You do see that with US cops like the sheriffs who wear them in films. They often have the plastic bag over the top in rain. Anyway I do wonder if that happens with other felt hats or hats made out of similar materials. That is why I somehow suspect the flexibly fedoras might not be good in less than clement weather. It could of course be the weight of the wider cowboy hat brim of course.

Now tilleys and the like have a slightly stiffened brim or at least the cotton is stiff and only gets stiffer in rain from what I heard. I still can't bring myself to get one though. I think I look a prat in one. Other people look ok but for some reason I don't think I can carry off the look. I do want one though but won't. I'm stuck with a baseball cap and plenty of sun tan lotion on the ears, face and neck instead. Did have a cap with the flap but it was pretty short. Still it was bought very cheaply on that hottest year back in about 2004 or so when in Wales and it was 36C!!
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Well I can't see from his forum picture the top of his head so... you jest but you never know!! ;-) :D

No offence mate but a lot of hat wearers get this not just fedora wearers.

Seriously though, I know nothing about fedoras and those felt type hats but a guy I know through work who is Texan born and bred told me that modern "ten gallon cowboy hats" have a major problem that film and tv westerns never really show. That is the rain really buggers them up. That is why you get plastic cowboy hat covers. You do see that with US cops like the sheriffs who wear them in films...

I was a Texan for 3 years and a Deputy Sheriff/Cop for 13 years (not at the same time) and a cowboy/farmer/redneck all my life. Those plastic hat cover you see are used on straw hats to keep the rain from soaking through and soaking your head and ruining the straw. They are also used over cloth military dress hats for the same reason (we were issued them with our hats in the Air Force) Good felt is virtually waterproof. Some people do worry about cosmetics such as water-spots but they dry quickly if they form at all.

The modern Stetsons are actually pretty poor quality at the moment; they were bought out by another cheaper company. My most recent Stetson is extremely stiff and difficult to reshape (that's a sign that poor wool or even cardboard fibers are used) Two good American brands are Bailey and Resistol for felt hats. IMO the best brand name right now is the Australian brand, Akubra; I currently have an Akubra Snowy River which has served well in rain, dust, cold and campfire smoke. It is a wonderful, soft rabbit felt and shapes easily although so far I've only needed to reshape it once. Akubra also makes one of the most practical fedoras.

Go to youtube and search for Akubra hats. They have some fantastic tutorials on sizing and care of your hats.

Back on point to the OPs request for reasons not to buy one though. I only have one complaint. brimmed hats are a pain to keep up with in public places. I.E when you go into a pub or cafe or a shop, etc. and are not physically wearing it. Almost no place has a hat check anymore and you constantly have to shift it from hand to hand or hand to crowded table I also tend to forget and leave my hat when I depart and this can get expensive. In a short summation, our societal infrastructure just isn't geared for hat etiquette any more.
 
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Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,441
637
Knowhere
Well I can't see from his forum picture the top of his head so... you jest but you never know!! ;-) :D

No offence mate but a lot of hat wearers get this not just fedora wearers.

Seriously though, I know nothing about fedoras and those felt type hats but a guy I know through work who is Texan born and bred told me that modern "ten gallon cowboy hats" have a major problem that film and tv westerns never really show. That is the rain really buggers them up. That is why you get plastic cowboy hat covers. You do see that with US cops like the sheriffs who wear them in films. They often have the plastic bag over the top in rain. Anyway I do wonder if that happens with other felt hats or hats made out of similar materials. That is why I somehow suspect the flexibly fedoras might not be good in less than clement weather. It could of course be the weight of the wider cowboy hat brim of course.

Now tilleys and the like have a slightly stiffened brim or at least the cotton is stiff and only gets stiffer in rain from what I heard. I still can't bring myself to get one though. I think I look a prat in one. Other people look ok but for some reason I don't think I can carry off the look. I do want one though but won't. I'm stuck with a baseball cap and plenty of sun tan lotion on the ears, face and neck instead. Did have a cap with the flap but it was pretty short. Still it was bought very cheaply on that hottest year back in about 2004 or so when in Wales and it was 36C!!

That's why I have a smart fedora for town wear and a leather bush hat for the country and when it is tipping it down with rain, bit of Granger's wax - sorted. Alas my original Akubra eventually fell apart through too much wear, better to have an assortment of hats than wear the same one all the time. As for wearing it down the shops it sorts me out from the Chav's, they are just jealous really.
 

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