Beaver X Question

mthatter · Apr 10, 2006

erased by mt

Visigoth · Apr 18, 2006

Beaver Content in Borsalinos

Does anyone have information about beaver content in vintage Borsalinos? I was not aware that they used the "X" system, but a fedorite here recently purchased a vintage travel hat with XXXXXX on it.

I was under the impression that *all* pre-lapin Borsalinos were beaver. Is this not true?

SHARPETOYS · Apr 18, 2006

I was under the impression that *all* pre-lapin Borsalinos were beaver. Is this not true?

I thought they were rabbitt...

Visigoth · Apr 18, 2006

True, they were bouncing around as bunnies before they were turned into hats and pretentiously renamed...

BigSho · Jul 10, 2006

I don't know about the older hats and how they worked but from what I understand is the X's system as far as stetson and resistol go are just a bunch of garbage used to sell pricier hats. I have talked to quite a few higher ups at RHE (they own stetson, dobbs, and resistol) and not one of them can really give a straight answer on the quality of felt. You also never know latley because of the semi-recent acquistion of these companies by RHE. As far as I am concerend all of their hats have been on a steady decline in quality.

Jeremy
http://www.hat-plus.com

GentlemanFarmer · Jul 11, 2006

Discussions

May I put in a "Thank you" to our vendor friends here at the Lounge for the knowledge dispensed. Where else are any of us non-vendor peoples going to get this kind of insightful information.

I say we give them a hardy "Atta Boy"!!

Fedora · Jul 11, 2006

The test for a good felt hat is to wear it in the rain all day, if your head's dry at the end of the day it has served it's purpose and is of high quality. If it soaked up water and lost it's shape within an hour or two you got what you paid for. The rabbit fur hats do make an acceptable dress hat as long as you stay out of the weather.

This thread got bumped up and I just re-read it as it has been awhile. I caught this one this time around.

The test for a good felt hat is to wear it in the rain all day, if your head's dry at the end of the day it has served it's purpose and is of high quality. If it soaked up water and lost it's shape within an hour or two you got what you paid for. The rabbit fur hats do make an acceptable dress hat as long as you stay out of the weather.

I like that description. If the hat keeps your head dry, and has not lost it shape within an hour or two. That made me recall my last journey into a long lasting rain. My head stayed dry, although from the looks of the hat, it sure looked to be saturated to max, but it never leaked. I did get a little bit of taper, nothing drastic, once it dried, and certainly not enough to warrant a reblock. I like that description John. I shall store that in the long term memory bank. Thanks. Fedora

Marc Chevalier · Jul 11, 2006

Fedora said:
I like that description John. I shall store that in the long term memory bank. Thanks. Fedora

This would be a good one to store in the www.thegoldenera.net upcoming reference section.

.

Lefty · Sep 5, 2008

For all of the threads on Xs that clutter up the Lounge, this is the only one that I believe to have substance. (It's about a 90 substance/10 nonsense blend

). Thanks to JP for the info.

Crane's · Sep 6, 2008

Old Timer said:
Does anybody know the "X system" for modern Biltmores and Beaver Brand Fedoras?

I talked with Beaver about having a stingy bowler made in 10X, 10% beaver, a 20X, 20% beaver and 100X, 100% beaver (cost BTW is $449.00). It seems that beaver uses the 100X system which equates directly to percentage of beaver fur in their hats.

jonbuilder · Sep 8, 2008

Stetson 25 20

Does anyone have any information abour the beaver content of Stetson 25s or the early Steton 20s. do these 25 & 20 refer to the x system

Dinerman · Sep 8, 2008

20 and 25 refer to the original prices. A 20 cost $20 when new, a 25 cost $25 when new.

Justdog · Sep 8, 2008

20 25 Beaver

jonbuilder said:
Does anyone have any information abour the beaver content of Stetson 25s or the early Steton 20s. do these 25 & 20 refer to the x system

Just received an OR style. Very old hat early 40's most likely. It is a stetson 20 but is also marked 3x. The only hat like that in my OR stable. There are definately degrees of softness and quality between my 20 and 25. The 20 being the softer seemingly better quality feel. Have a deluxe that was smelly and dirty and blocked in cattleman crease. It was my most unfavorite hat.
Had it cleaned and blocked. Turned into the second softest after the 20 sovreign. Felt a couple of hats at a local horse outfitters, Resistol and Stetsons, new ones. They were like cardboard. My 2 25.s have no content but are far superior 2 the modern resistol and the stetson. Right now I am not sure if the 20 25 designations relate directly to felt quality as all mine are different. One thing seems consistent, older seems better.
Got this from a previous thread:
No.1 12.50
Nutria 15.00
3X 20.00
4X 35.00
7X 50.00
100 100.00

For Boss of the plains

HATCO · Sep 16, 2008

Fedora said:
I wonder if these exotic blends are just a way to charge more? If one is to believe what the hat industry traditionally has held to be the best fur to use, i.e. beaver, would not adding these other furs just be a marketing ploy? I am asking here, as I have never owned a beaver/chinchilla hat.

There is definitely a market that wants things that no one else or few people have. We charge more because it costs more.

trummy · Sep 19, 2008

Years ago I somewhere picked up the knowledge that the more x's the more beaver -- not sure if that was a reference to hats or to girly magazines.

fedoracentric · May 27, 2014

jpdesign said:
This is pretaining to major labels. ie Stetson, Resistol, Bailey.

2x = wool
3x = rabbit or buffalo
4-7x= a touch of beaver
8-15x = 10 - 25% beaver the rest is rabbit
20x = 50% beaver
30x = 60 - 75% beaver
100x = 100% beaver

Bailey - 200x = beaver and cashmere blend
Stetson - 200x = pure beaver, better jewelery
Stetson - 500x = Beaver and Mink blend
Stetson - 1000x = Beaver and chinchillla blend
Resistol - Touch Of Mink = beaver and mink blend
Resistol - Double Eagle = bits and pieces hat. Take a sheet of plywood. Cuts from the hide that are near the feet, head, and center of the belly(the absolute finest hairs) get stapled to the board. They are saved until there is enough to make a hat body.

This is for hats made with in the last couple of years and into this fall.

I dredged this thread up from some time ago. I am wondering how much Resistol sold their "Touch of Mink" hat for. Anyone know?

DJH · May 28, 2014

I'm not too sure I'd trust the accuracy of the X's list to be fair.

The Touch of Mink appeared to be sold for $350, at least at one point in time:

Rogera · May 28, 2014

trummy said:
Years ago I somewhere picked up the knowledge that the more x's the more beaver -- not sure if that was a reference to hats or to girly magazines.

fedoracentric · May 28, 2014

Thanks, and now I noticed that it has a "350" stamped onto the sweatband. I didn't catch that before and so it follows sensibly.

ChadHahn · Jul 12, 2014

I picked up a Stetson 4X Beaver hat today. It has a card in it saying it came from a Stetson Factory Outlet in either Danbury, CT or Saugus, MA so I'm guessing it is from before 1965. Does the 4X mean that it's 40% beaver or is it something a lot less?

Chad

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