Recent content by PRW94

Quick photo

UPDATE, just opened the box and donned the Premiere Stratoliner ... absolutely perfect fit, color is just what I wanted, loving the cattleman crease with front brim pulled down a la Truman ... and this thing is SO SOFT unlike the stiff Temple. Well pleased. Pix to follow by end of day.

I know it's kind of out of kilter with other folks here, but I don't wear my current Stetson in the rain, I wear my beater flat caps. I know a felt hat is supposed to protect you from the elements, not vice versa, and I figure that if I do all the right things to maintain it, it will be fine...

I look at eBay all the time, probably will look more closely now, but rarely see anything that just screams out at me. There was a 7 5/8 vintage Open Road on there the other day, but it was trashed, needed a lot of work.

I'm working on it! Like I said, I've got my eye seriously on a Moonstone Akubra Federation IV. That's probably next. Where I'd maybe deal with an independent maker is for a good brown or olive. I've got gray covered with my Caribou Temple. I really don't look good in black hats for some reason.

OK ... and I'll probably get some "well why did you ask us for advice if you weren't going to follow it" guff ;) ... I have a silverbelly Stetson Premiere Stratoliner, which will initially have the cattleman's crease, want to try that for a while then will try teardrop for a while ... en route...

Appreciate the responses and input, got one more question that I need an answer for quickly ... best hat as far as quality first and for the money secondarily, Akubra Campdraft Deluxe or Stetson Premiere Stratoliner (the higher end models on both, the Stetson with the open crown)?

How true to size do Akubras run? As noted, I ordered a 7 3/4 with the Stetson Temple but had to use sizing tape, could've easily done a 7 5/8, just didn't want to go through the trouble of returning the hat. In my other sized hats ... mainly high-end baseball caps ... whether I wear a 7 5/8 or a...

Thanks, will take these ideas to heart, and maybe will take an IOU from "Santa" and keep scouring the vintage listings at eBay and here. My deal with the modern Open Road isn't that it's stiff and has the cattleman's crease ... I actually WANT the LBJ look, I would want it to be a semi-cowboy...

Thanks, looking at them. Would prefer vintage, but I never find ones to fit my noggin anywhere. (Although the Mrs. scored a 3x Stetson cowboy hat for $20 at an antique store once, but she has a "pinhead," LOL!) Thinking as noted about an Open Road ... I actually want the LBJ cowboy look with...

Have posted a few times here ... my hat collection currently consists of a dark gray Stetson Temple and a custom made Tom Gomez Panama. "She who must be obeyed" has said I can have another hat for Christmas, and time is running out and I'm having trouble deciding on something. And this is going...

Went with Tom Gomez to make my first Panama, and it's gorgeous, posted the pix he sent me on the Gomez Grotto thread.

Hooked up with Tom to make my first Panama, it's my Father's Day present, I should have it this weekend and I cannot wait. It was an absolute pleasure to work with him ... and that was what it was like, working with him, not buying something from him ... and here are the photos he sent me:

Adding onto this, I wonder if given the humidity of the environment I live in, I ought to even be thinking about a high-end straw hat, unless Montecristi hats are more durable along those lines than Cuenca.

Thanks, and I'm not too far away from where you used to live so I'd be dealing with the same humidity issues (air outside right now is like syrup, LOL!). I emailed Bob, FYI, because on his site it said "email is better," I'm sure he probably is busy and will get back to me whenever he has a...