Stiff hat or soft hat?

Chuck Bobuck said:

Seems like Noggintops or someone offered some felt stiffener in a spray can. Maybe someone knows. I think the Sydney is indeed a unique hat in Akubras lineup. No open crown Akubra I have is so soft the bash won't hold.

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I don't mean to describe it as a hat that won't hold it's shape. I haven't had it lose it's crown shape because of the wind or anything like that. The brim seems to stay where you put it. It's just quite delicate and very different compared to any other hat I own (I'm surprised that Akubra doesn't mention just how soft it is in their descriptions). It does keep me from using the crown to take it off or put it on. I've seen hat stiffener at hat stores and I suppose that is an option but the Sydney (Fedora) is a nice hat that serves it's purpose and is fine just the way it is.

Chuck Bobuck said:

Seems like Noggintops or someone offered some felt stiffener in a spray can. Maybe someone knows. I think the Sydney is indeed a unique hat in Akubras lineup. No open crown Akubra I have is so soft the bash won't hold.

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I don't think the Sydney is soft - the brim made an audible 'pop' when it was snapped, and the pinches in the crown would spring right out. It was definitely too springy. I guess you could say it was soft in that you could make the dent easily, but the dents wouldn't stay. Adding spray stiffener would surely make the problem worse, not better.

Thanks Bebop and carledo for clarification. When I posted, I was thinking of Eggheads response about not wanting to try another open crown thinking they would all be like the Sydney. I didn't want him to be put off open crowns in general. Good to know about the stiffener, I appreciate the replies.

When I think or soft or stiff, I think about the modern low grade Stetsons I tried on as well as the modern rabbit Borsolino's and the hats from Worth and Worth. The Stetson were so stiff they were uncomfortable, but it wasn't the stiffness of the felt, if was of the sweatband, ribbon and the hat body. The Stetsons, almost hurt when I put them on because there was no give what so ever. The others felt great, and started to fit to my head when I put them on and there was no uncomfortable feelings at all. Now in comparison to my beaver felt hat from Art, if has the stiffness to hold its shape but its very soft and strong feeling when touched. The sweatband and the ribbon are also incredibly comfortable and fit to my head similar to other quality hats. I've never seen an Akubra, unfortunately, but I'm sure they fall in to the second category, and there really is a big difference between a quality product and a nonquality product.

Neophyte said:

I may be a city boy, but I admire the outback/outdoors lifestyle. One of my favorite clothing brands is Eddie Bauer, simply because much of their clothing serves other purposes, like odor resistance, quick-drying, moisture repellant/wicking...They look good and wear tough, which is exactly what I want out of my lid. Because of this I may be personally predisposed toward the stiffer, tougher hats [huh]...it would at the very least explain my fixation on Akubras and Stetsons .

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My sentiments exactly. For years I have been telling people I am a country boy trapped in the city. Hence my propensity toward thin ribbon/OR styles. I have a custom made 100% beaver old west style cowboy hat that is very stiff of course. If the weather is bad - really bad - it is wonderful. When I am doing any tough work I usually reach for a stiffer OR clone or now my new Campdraft due to their toughness. The Campdraft is tough and soft at the same time! Otherwise I love a nice soft feel of a Borso or Stratoliner.

As most of you know, I am fairly new to the FL, but not new to hats. I have 2 very nice straw Stetsons, and 2 fairly nice Felt Stetson western hats, and one high end Stetson Felt hat. I am also the proud owner of two new Biltmore Fedora's, one and Ark in Black, and one is a Giorgia Cellini Creation from Henry the Hatter in Detroit. I love the feel of both Biltmores, they hold up good in the wind, the crown of both is firm, yet soft and supple. They feel as if they could be distorted, but I hit my head in cars alot, and so far, no damage. I am working on figuring out where my head is so not to put that tothe test.

I have been talking about converting my Stetson El Patron which is a very smooth Felt Western hat (30X) to a fedora by having it rebashed to a 'c crown or teardrop' and having the brim trimmed and shaped to a drop brim. I hope the stiffness of it it works, but since it just sits in a box right now, I figure I'mnot loosing anything.

I prefer something just about in the middle. My Stetson Temple was my first "fine" hat, and I'd say it's too stiff. I have a cheap hat I bought from a discount bin that's too soft and won't hold the bash. (are there really hat "stiffeners"?) So a little flex is good, but's it's got to hold the pinch just fine.

Wildblue said:

(are there really hat "stiffeners"?)

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http://www.noggintops.com/page.cfm?p=88

Here are some photos of a cheaper western hat that I had the 'Hatter' bash and rearrange the brim for me. I had the bbrimtrimmed to 2 5/8..it was 3 1/2. I thought I was going to have to hurt the hatter. this was at a western shop in OKC. I added a nice hat band, and overall I'm pleased with it. As I said, this is a very cheap ($65) felt hat, and is stiff as all get out. I'm going to try to wear it in inclement weather hear, and hopefully, wearing it will soften it up a might.

A question to Fed 4 and CD owners (with open crown) - what do you guys do to keep the crown from deforming under some pressure, after a bash?
As an example of stiffness that I am looking for - On my LT, I can poke the crown with a finger and it does not lose shape, only if I steam it a lot, I can reshape it, I pushed the center out a bit this way. Of course, I can punch out the shape with my fist, but then I can easily shape it back to original, it sort of snaps back.
How stiff is your open crown and how often do you need to take care of it? Does it snap back to shape you gave it?
Doesn't easy shaping imply that it easily looses shape, say if you press with your hand accidentally?

Egghead, once I bash my Fed or CD to my liking, I spray a little water on and tweak. When dry, that is the shape of that hat. I could push it back into an open crown and it would easily push back into the bash I've put in it. The felt seems to have a memory and retains its shape. If a dent wants to pop back out at first, I hit it with a spray bottle of water. You push the felt into the shape you want almost like clay. The crown does not come unbashed under normal pressure. With normal wear, it wouldn't lose its shape. After wearing in the rain, you would want to hang it carefully in a way that it wouldn't change the shape of the brim or crown. Other than brushing off the dust occasionally, I don't find they require a lot of care. Maybe initially finding the shape you like the best is when you would spend time tweaking.

The shape on this CD hasn't changed since first bashed....

I prefer my hats stiffer rather than softer. I have a newly-acquired Stetson cowboy hat that I love wearing. Only trouble with it is that the brim is too wide to wear comfortably in the car. It keeps hitting the head rest. So when I'm in the car, as opposed to my truck, I wear my Akubra and Stetson fedoras. Once I get a hat in the shape I like I don't do a lot of changing. So if I could get my fedoras as stiff as my Stetson cowboy hat, I'd say that would be a good thing.

rrog

Since I have worn western style hats, either Stetson or custom made, for most of my life I prefer the thicker and stiffer feel to the felt. That, plus the style, is why I enjoy the homburg as well. I must say, however, that even my vintage fedoras (Stetsons, Champs, Portis, Adam) are mostly stiffer than the often described soft, pliable felt when it comes to their "hand". It is interesting to hear the thoughts that the modern Stetsons are stiffer; I own 6-8 modern Stetson fedoras and find that several have become, with just a little wear, softer than my vintage hats and two-a Chatham and a Hampton- tend to be almost floppy in the brim. All hold a crease well however.

I would be careful with hat stiffener if you choose to use it. I have found that the stiffener changes the feel of the felt, I believe because it coats like a hairspray instead of being worked into the felt as they do at the point of manufacture of the blanks, such as at Winchester in TN.

The Akubra Sydney/Fedora is the most comfortable out-of-the-box hat I've ever owned. The trade-off is that when handling it, it's almost impossible to keep from deforming the crown--no matter how it's bashed. It's so easy to put my preferred center crease with side dents back in that it's not a problem for me. The brim, however, even after many rain soakings, remains as snappy as the day it arrived.

While I wear the charcoal Sydney primarily with my most dressy clothes, I pair my other Akubras with less dressy on down to casual and downright rugged attire. The acorn fawn Stylemaster, which is Imperial grade felt, came stiff, but has loosened up somewhat over time. Even so, it's still pretty stiff, and I'd like it to be softer.

Interestingly, two Heritage grade felt Akubras are a study in contrasts.

The moostone Federation IV Deluxe came extremely stiff, and despite that I have worn it in all kinds of weather and have bashed it many, many times in every style known to mankind, it's still not exactly soft. Because of that, I dont wear it too often, though I have it on today.

On the other hand, the dark brown Lawson, my most recent fur felt acquisition in March, arrived just as stiff, but before long loosened up to become very soft and pliable. Because of that, it's my current favorite hat, though it's generally too outdoorsy to wear with biz casual clothes.

I'm dithering over a beautiful caramel Borsalino in a beaver/rabbit blend available locally. It has the most luxurious, soft, and pliable "hand" of any modern hat I've ever felt. The one in my size just happens to be particularly nice. It's the $400 price tag that has me dithering. For that, I could get an all-beaver bespoke from Art or the like, but then again, I'd have to wait for months, and the Borsa is available right now.

In sum, I prefer a softer, more pliable fedora, provided it retains its body, has some heft, with the brim keeping sufficient snap.

I too prefer stiffer top crown, but soft bottom crown (where it touches the head) and a relatively hard brim. My current likes are the outback style brim - Leisure Time for commute and walk around in the city and parks. The curved-up back brim of Sydney is a bit too formal for normal wear (for me anyway), so I wear it occasionally with black coats.

I like the outback brims as well. Having the brim down all around seems to relieve some of the tension in the sweatband, making for a very comfortable fit.

Neo, hmm, I didn't think of it that way, just feel that strong curved up brim on back makes me look like I wear a sled, backwards.
For some reason I started thinking of TR-7's just now, a friend once mentioned that they look like a piece of pie. (TR-7 was a quasi-sports car in the 80')