Bidding Farewell to Old Hats

[scotrace]

Mons stop it, or we'll have to refund your dues.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Mons stop it, or we'll have to refund your dues.

Okay. I thought the proper terminology would have been appropriate but what are "dues" I don't believe I ever paid any...?
BTW, Thx for letting me post the fund raiser for Cindy. DO YOU KNOW WHY I HAVE NO STATUS UNDER MY NAME? Thx for the info as I've been trying to find out.

 

[Nathaniel Finley]

My III allows my head to remain cooler than under any of my other felt fedoras.

Here are a couple of shots from a few years ago, but the hat looks basically the same.

View attachment 82754 View attachment 82755

Wow, what an amazing looking hat. I wonder if there are any available still out there somewhere.

Thanks for he photos, Scotty! It really does look much bigger than the FED IV in these.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Wow, what an amazing looking hat. I wonder if there are any available still out there somewhere.

Thanks for he photos, Scotty! It really does look much bigger than the FED IV in these.

It is.

 

[scottyrocks]

Wow, what an amazing looking hat. I wonder if there are any available still out there somewhere.

Thanks for he photos, Scotty! It really does look much bigger than the FED IV in these.

Thanks, Nathaniel. I got it here quite a few years ago. It was fairly well-worn then. A few years ago, I took it apart and reversed it due to a hole beginning to form at the top front of the pinch. When I reversed it I put the pinch in with a turn, as well, which distorts the brim somewhat. The Fed III is lighter in weight than the IV. I've never been able to achieve satisfactory brim results turning any of my IVs.

I have never seen another Fed III for sale anywhere since I bought this one. I consider myself very lucky to have found this one, in my size and preferred color. It is my go-to hat.

 

[RJR]

The III is a great hat.

+1 they don't seem to turn up for sale.

 

[Bob Roberts]

+1 they don't seem to turn up for sale.

Never seen one

 

[Nathaniel Finley]

I just discovered a video of an artistic production we did back in 2015 in New Delhi. There are some nice shots of O'Feral in India here! We had some good times, indeed!

 

[Zombie_61]

I just discovered a video of an artistic production we did back in 2015 in New Delhi. There are some nice shots of O'Feral in India here! We had some good times, indeed!

This is way off topic, but when I reach the final days of my life I think one of my biggest regrets/disappointments will be that I didn't have the opportunities to travel and see more of our planet, and more specifically didn't meet people in other countries and learn more about them and their cultures first-hand.

 

[Nathaniel Finley]

This is way off topic, but when I reach the final days of my life I think one of my biggest regrets/disappointments will be that I didn't have the opportunities to travel and see more of our planet, and more specifically didn't meet people in other countries and learn more about them and their cultures first-hand.

I've been doing exactly that for 8 years straight and have a hard, hard time imagining doing anything else with my life. It is an amazing, rewarding experience like nothing else. People are truly fascinating!

If you get a chance, pop across the pond to the Philippines, Thailand or Malaysia for two weeks. Such a trip would be an excellent introduction to Asia and I could give you tips on doing it cheeply. I live on 100 USD/week over here ( I don't drink alcohol, though). And don't forget your favorite hat when you come, naturally!! (I don't recommend straw for traveling as weather patterns here are a bit uncertain at the moment and vary anyway from area to area.)

 

[Zombie_61]

I've been doing exactly that for 8 years straight and have a hard, hard time imagining doing anything else with my life. It is an amazing, rewarding experience like nothing else. People are truly fascinating!

In that regard, I envy you. My wife and I have done a little traveling and have seen some truly wonderful sights, but no matter where we've gone it was the people who made the experiences so rewarding and memorable.

...If you get a chance, pop across the pond to the Philippines, Thailand or Malaysia for two weeks. Such a trip would be an excellent introduction to Asia and I could give you tips on doing it cheeply. I live on 100 USD/week over here ( I don't drink alcohol, though). And don't forget your favorite hat when you come, naturally!! (I don't recommend straw for traveling as weather patterns here are a bit uncertain at the moment and vary anyway from area to area.)

That sounds great to me, but convincing the wife would be nearly impossible (she has a mental list of places she'd rather visit) and there's not a snowball's chance in hell that she'd let me go without her. Alcohol isn't a problem for us--we rarely drink, and when we do we're the "one and done" types; we're far more likely to run up a tab on coffee and Diet Coke. Hats aren't a problem for me either. I do have one Sunbody straw, but I think any of my Akubras are better suited for travel.

That being said, if my wife ever expresses a desire to travel to Asia I'll be sure to solicit your advice!

 

[Nathaniel Finley]

I am no longer a believer in fur felt as an insulator against heat. Since I've been wearing the FED IV, I've noticed a marked increase in heat-induced fatigue and nausea. I removed the liner the other day but the damage is done: every time I go out in the sun with it I get a bit dizzy and nauseous, as soon as I take it off the effect noticeably subsides.

Luckily I'm off to the Himalayas in two weeks, but until then I'm resting up and staying out of the heat. The last two days I've carried the FED IV in my hand when in direct sunlight (kinda defeats the purpose, I know) I wore the Banjo for over 3 years in the tropical heat with the liner in, I wonder if the heritage felt on the Banjo is that much better than the felt of my imperial quality FED IV?

Dissapointed to have to put the FED on the hat rack for now, but I'm still playing with the brim and wearing it around the house (my mother would not approve!).

Hard lesson to learn, but experience just taught me the limits of insulation.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I wonder if the heritage felt on the Banjo is that much better than the felt of my imperial quality FED IV?

Could be the color, the lighter tone of the Banjo probably reflected more heat than it absorbed.

 

[Nathaniel Finley]

Could be the color, the lighter tone of the Banjo probably reflected more heat than it absorbed.

I hadn't thought of that, good point!

 

[RJR]

Could be the color, the lighter tone of the Banjo probably reflected more heat than it absorbed.

Agree.

 

[Zombie_61]

Could be the color, the lighter tone of the Banjo probably reflected more heat than it absorbed.

You could be right, but is there really that much of a difference between the Heritage Fawn and the Tawny Fawn?

 

[Bob Roberts]

There is a noticable difference. One color is def lighter. Can't remember which...

 

[Zombie_61]

The reason I ask is because I've worn my Silverbelly and Taupe Fawn Campdrafts and my Tawny Fawn Fed IV on hot, sunny days--three similar but different colors--and I honestly couldn't say that any one of them was warmer or cooler than the others. So I'm wondering if the shapes of Nathaniel's crowns might have more to do with his reaction than the colors. The Banjo Patterson has a lower and more tapered crown than the Fed IV (depending on how the Fed is creased), and I'm thinking the "roomier" crown on the Fed IV might be leaving a gap between his head and the felt and effectively trapping hot air between the two, where the more form-fitting crown on the Banjo Paterson didn't.

That's pure speculation on my part, but I've never before read or heard anyone mention the symptoms he experienced being caused by wearing a hat, so I'm trying to brainstorm the possible causes by examining the differences between the two hats. Neither is vented, so that's not a factor. The Banjo Paterson does have a slightly wider brim on the sides, but I can't imagine 1/4" making that much of a difference. So unless the felt on his Fed IV is considerably thicker than on his Banjo Paterson, colors and shapes are the only differences I can think of that could be factors. Maybe they both contributed to his experience?

 

[Nathaniel Finley]

The reason I ask is because I've worn my Silverbelly and Taupe Fawn Campdrafts and my Tawny Fawn Fed IV on hot, sunny days--three similar but different colors--and I honestly couldn't say that any one of them was warmer or cooler than the others. So I'm wondering if the shapes of Nathaniel's crowns might have more to do with his reaction than the colors. The Banjo Patterson has a lower and more tapered crown than the Fed IV (depending on how the Fed is creased), and I'm thinking the "roomier" crown on the Fed IV might be leaving a gap between his head and the felt and effectively trapping hot air between the two, where the more form-fitting crown on the Banjo Paterson didn't.

That's pure speculation on my part, but I've never before read or heard anyone mention the symptoms he experienced being caused by wearing a hat, so I'm trying to brainstorm the possible causes by examining the differences between the two hats. Neither is vented, so that's not a factor. The Banjo Paterson does have a slightly wider brim on the sides, but I can't imagine 1/4" making that much of a difference. So unless the felt on his Fed IV is considerably thicker than on his Banjo Paterson, colors and shapes are the only differences I can think of that could be factors. Maybe they both contributed to his experience?

I also wondered about the bigger crown, but some folks claim that the higher crown helps keep the cool air in. I might drop the crown considerably when I get back from India, but my trip is less than two weeks away so I'll wait.

The heat factors could be a combination of crown height + color + felt density + plus other non-hat factors like moving into a third floor apartment (third floors are HOT in SE Asia) so my body doesn't cool down during the night as much as it's used to.

Whatever it is, the FED is off the head for the time being, at least when I'm out and about under the sun.

 

[Zombie_61]

I also wondered about the bigger crown, but some folks claim that the higher crown helps keep the cool air in...

I've heard that too, but it never made sense to me. Direct sunlight, and it's heat, beating down on an unventilated fur felt hat would act more like an oven than a refrigerator, heating any air trapped within. Park your car in direct sunlight on a hot day with all of the windows closed, and even if it's only 70°F outside the temperature inside the car can reach over 100°F within an hour. Why would it be the opposite with air trapped under a fur felt hat under the same conditions?

Regardless, I hope you get it sorted out.