Custom Hats - who's felt

[zetwal]

I'd like to restate a question which I've seen raised in connection with modern custom made hats but that I've never actually seen answered.

Are pure beaver felts used among various contemporary hatters substantively differant one from the other? Are the various makers using felts sourced from differant suppliers and/or made from differant parts of the beaver?

Once you're in the realm of pure beaver, are different grades in use among the hatters often mentioned in this forum and others?

Everyone seems to agree that beaver belly is the best part to use for hat felt. But how is pure beaver felt actually graded? How would a supplier of pure beaver felt communicate to the hatter just what he's getting for his money? And is it possible for the prospective buyer of a finished hat to know how and if one hatter's 'pure beaver' felt differs from another's?

 

[RobFedoraField]

stretch of an answer

in my limited opinion, each hatter will have multiple grades of felt, but generally speaking the raw materials are the same.

I equate it to cars. every one uses the same steel, but bmw makes a far better car than an hundai. it's better to check out the quality of the construction, how the felt is formed, pounced, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Pure beaver isn't always the best, it depends on the beaver and where the fur is taken from the beaver.

There are all beaver hats out there that won't hold up as well as rabbit fur hats. For production dress hats we have now the Stetson Pinnacle and the Borsalino beaver.

Bailey and Biltmore, Akubra, Bailey, Tonak and the rest don't make an all beaver dress hat.

As for quality, I've felt the Stetson and the Borsalino. The Stetson feels nice yet the finish doesn't mean it will wear well, and in the end it's all about how it wears. It could be a great beaver hat or a terrible one. Same goes for Borsalino. The finnish on their all beaver is finer than any of their other hats. The felt is denser and smoother. You can't tell by that how it will wear.

The custom hatters like Art and Graham at Optimo know their felts and we have people here that wear their beaver hats daily. So far I've heard nothing but good things about these beaver hats.

I myself like my beaver nutria blends.

 

[HATCO]

If I remember correctly there are about 4-5 grades of beaver fur. It not only has to do with where the fur is taken but also how the way the fur is taken from the pelt. The most expensive grade is plucked fur. It goes for about $500 a pound. Basically someone gets tweezers and plucks the belly fur from the pelt by hand.