Who said beaver fur is rare?

[Aaron Hats]

I found an ad for this beaver fur blanket in the latest issue of Shooting Sportsman magazine.

See all the other beaver products at http://www.adirondackblankets.com/abb/index.php

 

[besdor]

Beaver Fur

Aaron ,as a fellow hatter you know that beaver fur is more expensive . That blanket from the ad must have cost 20,000 dollars . It's simply supply and demand . At one time , beavers were as common here as rabbits but over hunting and trapping has nearly wiped most of them out . Even wild rabbit or hare has increased somewhat over the years .
Call Bailey Hats or Stetson and ask them for a 100x hat for 50.00 . They'll hang up the phone!:cool2:

 

[Andykev]

Is is Hat beaver or Blanket beaver?

$20,000 seems high, per their pricing.......

Pricing Information
Our blankets are available in stock in two sizes:

Medium (Approx. 62" x 35") - $1,595.00

Large (Approx. 72" x 35") - $1,795.00

 

[photobyalan]

You may (or may not) be interested to know that, according to this report from the Connecticut DEP, "there are more beavers (in Connecticut) presently than at any time in the last 300 years." From 1996-2000, an annual average of 926 beavers were harvested (trapped and used for pelts) in Connecticut. This annual beaver harvest was started in 1961 to control the overpopulation of beavers in the state. Many other states also allow beaver trapping for the same reason. In Canada, it was determined in the mid-1980's that the beaver population was stable and near carrying capacity for its available habitat. Contrary to what some people believe, beavers are not on the endangered species list in the United States.

 

[Sin Khan]

Actually beaver tail seems to be about everywhere these days. Wait a minuet, my bad, wrong species.

 

[besdor]

Very interesting . So why do the custom hatters charge 350.00-400.00 for a hat? .:cool2:

 

[Sin Khan]

Well, they say its because of all the quality that goes into making a hat these days. You know, the BMW to get you to work, the fancy dinners out that they eat all the time, that kind of quality.

 

[cpaige770]

They ar expensive because on (good quality hats) when they make it they only use the best part of the fur which comes from a small line along the belly. Have you ever heard of a "silver belly Hat"? That's why hats like Stetson mesure their quality with x's . A ten X hat took 10 beavers to make in roman numerals. And a XX hat took twenty beavers. It has become a generic term for quality now but thats where it comes from. Remmi

 

[Mycroft]

That is a waste of hat making material in my book. Plus it doesn't go with my drapes.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Very interesting . So why do the custom hatters charge 350.00-400.00 for a hat? .:cool2:

Because they're extortionists...

This is my pet argument....

 

[Matt Deckard]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=3501&highlight=felt+quality

 

[jamespowers]

Beavers breed like rats in the wild and they have to be controlled. Think big rat with strange tail. That being said, it depends on the body being made and what kind of sorting process they use. Filtering with a 12 instead of an 8 will get finer fur for the hat at the end. It just sorts it out better. I am not sure what they use now though. The felt hat produced depends on the body they start with. You can't make a good hat out of a garbage body.
I have no idea what the Xs mean and I doubt most people do. It can't mean how many beavers go into a hat because 10,000X hats would be big enough to cover my car with a high quality hat. Talk about a genocide or being on the endangered species list. A few hundred of those hats would just about do it.
Hat pricing depends on the body they start with and the materials they use to trim it out. If you use the best materials at every point of the production process and do a lot of it by hand then it is going to cost more. Remember the Stetson 100s were finished by hand and only allowed to be finished by the most experienced hat finishers in the factory. They didn't want to waste the bodies on novices. Check one out and see if you can tell the difference.

Regards to all,

J

 

[shamus]

You may (or may not) be interested to know that, according to this report from the Connecticut DEP, "there are more beavers (in Connecticut) presently than at any time in the last 300 years."

I'm not surprised, though I don't think of connecticut as the beaver capital of the US. It goes to reason, that Connecticut being one the original 13 was heavily populated by the europeans for about that long... and everybody loved their beaver hats all over the world so they'd use up all the beavers around them first. Then once they're all gone, they go west and north to canada.

Now that beaver hats have kind of died down, it only goes to reason that the population will grow back.

 

[besdor]

Beaver Fur

There is no way that manufacturers such as Stetson and Borsalino will ever use beaver for their regular line of hats anymore . It realy is a shame though. Beaver fur is so much better for hats than rabbit . :cool2: