harrison ford's lost ark hat

[stylin]

Nice Fed!!!

(But don't forget the smile)

 

[agent5]

Being a true Raiders fan I had to jump in on this one. I've seen all of the Indy offerings available (I'm pretty sure) in person and I've stuck with my Optimo, even after the AB craze, which still seems to be in effect. While the AB's are very well crafted hats with great felt I thought the ones I saw in person were a bit too thick for a Raiders felt. I'd like to see one in a lighterweight felt and judge it again, but until then I'll stick to my Pecan Optimo. I know many in the Indy community are more than pleased with their AB's, but I always think it best to have seen all the offerings available in person to be able to come up with a well informed and unbiased opinion.

 

[Fedora]

lol Optimo drove me to creating the AB line. Just kidding. I liked the handsewn elements of the Optimos, but face it, your Optimo and the 3 that I bought just like yours(1200 bucks worth of hats), were made from bodies that were the low end felt produced by the factory. If I priced the hats we bought, with my current profit margin, I could sell those hats for 60 dollars!!! As far as I am concerned those were 60 dollar hats. I guess that is why when I am compared with Optimo, at first I cringe, and then I laugh myself silly. Inside info is a bringer of great clarity Agent. Now, Optimo does sell a good qualty hat, but the last I heard it was 650 bucks. The AB is popular because 1) it is a decent looking Indy fedora made by an Indy fan, and 2) I only get 250 bucks for a pure beaver hat. And that is why they are popular!! Nothing else. With that going for it, you can surely understand why some folks rave about them. I know you are sick of the talk about the AB, but until someone else offers the bargain, you may just have to get used to it. wink.


Folks, I reckon I am one of many that have actually owned every offering out there in regards to the Indy fedora. I always bought my hats in sets of 3, which led to me sinking a couple of grand in Indy fedoras. That I had to make my own, should tell the story. I then offered them to others. That is my history on this. The comparisons will go on, but it would make me feel better if you compared apples to apples here. At least compare my hats to the 650 dollar hat!!! Fedora

 

[agent5]

Oh, I know you know your hats Steve and that you were one that has been around the block, trying out all the offerings. However, not everyone was as smart as you about it and had one sided opinions on many of the offerings. They simply didn't see all of the fedoras available, they just jumped on the bandwagon.

I've never touted the Optimo as an adventure hat, which is part of your mantra. I know it's a dress hat and that's primarily what they market. I too am a former Optimo owner as of last week, selling off my Tobacco. It wasn't because I didn't like it, it's just that I've gotten other hats since and I hardly wore it. Hopefully it went to someone who will appreciate it alot more. I still have two more so I'm good for now.

The way I see it, everybody has found their niche. You have firmly founded yours at COW and abroad, that is fact. The complaint list for your hats is pretty nonexistant. But I say if Graham can make a living out of selling overpriced hats to suckers who like them, then my Optimo is off to him. :eusa_clap The Indy crowd was a fad for his business but he also has his niche which seems to keep growing just as your business seems to do.

 

[Fedora]

But I say if Graham can make a living out of selling overpriced hats to suckers who like them, then my Optimo is off to him. The Indy crowd was a fad for his business but he also has his niche which seems to keep growing just as your business seems to do.

Here, here, I agree!! Nothing wrong with anyone getting what a hat is worth. And if everyone had the same philosophy as me in regards to hat pricing, we would not have any small hat shops making hats. That is a fact too. I am not putting anyone down, because to make a living making hats, the prices have to be what you see from the various walk in hat shops. That is a simple economic fact. I do not have a walk in shop. Just the internet. I should, in a business sense, be able to offer a comparable hat at a reduced price. I don't have the overhead. For me to ask the same price as a walk in hat shop would make me feel guilty. Like I was cheating someone. Blame it on being raised up in the country, on a farm and all the times we were forced to be in church. lol Blame it on the margins I was used to when I was involved in cabinet making. Of course, it will finally get to the point, in turnaround times on my hats to where the wait will be too long for a reasonable person to wait. Afterall, I am a one man operation here. But, there are ways to work that too. You just sell only to your existing customers. lol I am almost reaching that point now.

By the way, I like your avatar Agent!!! Fedora

 

[Wyoming Jade]

Will The Real "Indy" hat please stand up

I've done little bit of research into the original Fedora worn by Harrison Ford in Raiders. Try Herbert Johnson of London. I refer you to Indygear.com and Raiders.net as sources.
I own a Herbert Johnson Fedora it's fur not wool and I cherish it. Unfortunately on the rare occasions I wear it I usually get odd looks , idiotic grins and blank stares.
It's like I let my freak flag fly or something...:rage:

 

[geo]

Yes, the HJ is the hat worn in the movies. However, the current model they offer is the one worn in the last 2 movies, not in the first (Raiders of the Lost Ark). For the first movie, they were using a different felt supplier and a different block, hence the ongoing quest for the hat closest to the original Raiders hat. Also, the HJ felt can't and was not intended to be treated like a real adventurer's hat.

Look up http://www.indygear.com/cow/ for in-depth discussions about everything Indy.

 

[agent5]

I concur. Herbert Johnson's reputation has slipped over the years. People at Indygear were putting out better Herbert Johnsons than Herbert Johnson when a couple different sources purchased the HJ felt bodies and blocked them themselves. As of late I think there was a small push by HJ to bring back the Raiders fedora and they said they were going to pull the original Raiders block out of a vault and reintroduce the same felt as originally used for the Raiders fedora. When the final product was unveiled several months ago I believe the final word was that they did NOT use the original block as they said they would but the felt quality improved over their last offering of some years.
The bottom line is, why would you spend the same ammount of money on a sub-par HJ when you can get several other offerings around the same ammount or more but with far more quality attached to the name.
Of course, if Wyomings HJ is an older model it may well be a quality piece of work. There were always those who got lucky and received a nice hat out of the box, but that was few and far between. One thing you can say with certaintly about HJ was that they were NEVER consistant about anything. Service, attitude or product.

 

[Fedora]

Speaking of HJs. If you want a fine HJ buy vintage!!! I own several, and they are like the rest of the vintage hats-very high quality. And they were sold at American stores at that time, just like the other big brands. I have reblocked scores of HJs made in the 1990's, many from Mr Swales himself, who did the hand cut dimensional brims. I have seen several different hats, all sold as Indy fedoras. No consistency in felt, crown height, or block shape during that time period. I have seen crowns that ran from 5 inches open, to 6 inches open!! And at least 4 different kinds of felt, and that many shades of brown.

I bought one of the new HJs with the so called original felt. While the felt was closer to a true dress felt than the 1990 offerings, it is also a very unstable rabbit felt. Mine shrunk after the factory blocked it, and before I received it on the bow side of the hat. I received it tapered on one side. The first time the hat got damp(not wet, but just damp) it shrunk and tapered to resemble a dunce hat. The block shape was still the LC block, and not the Raiders. I think the Raiders hat came from the period when HJ made their own hats. After the Raiders hat was made, they stopped making their own hats and had them made by another company. And that has been the problem. They changed hatmakers several times in the following years. Fedora

 

[punkinhed]

Is this a model of the HJ used for Indys?

http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/email4kh/3c609qE6R0hs2EGWjnWS0M-81T76eQ*EmIjdv4xQp5Fd3Ig=/large/

Here's a Poet:
http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/email4kh/3c609qE6R0hs2EGWjnWS0M-81WDN4wDXo*6bv4xQp5Fd3Ig=/large/

 

[tonyb]

rsg knows nothing about hats — except the guys under them are usually cute!

Obviously a woman of taste and discernment.

 

[feltfan]

Dean,Perhaps it is because I am in a city that has so much to look at people don't consider a specific reference. Most of the complements I recieve are from older men and women.

The only "Indiana Jones" comment I ever got
(for a brown Cavanagh, I believe) was in Manhattan.
Not a tourist, either.

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

The new Herrington catalogue is advertising a wool fedora- the same style that Harrison Ford wore in Raiders Of The Lost Ark for $49.95 - in 'temple of doom' brown. Just thought one of you guys might be interested. Web site is www.HerringtonCatalog.com.

Lagunie, Harrison Ford wore nothing like this hat...these guys are full of you-know-what. Harrison Ford wore a Herbert Johnson, who is a hatmaker in London. Wool never touched Harrison Ford's noggin, it was a fur felt fedora. Herbert Johnson still make a good Indy fedora, but for the best Indy hat out there, check out Adventurebilt Hats by our own Fedora...

http://www.adventurebilthats.com/

and for everything related to the Indy fedora, check out Club Obi Wan...

http://www.indygear.com

and you will learn all there is to know about the Indy fedora and Indy gear...KC

 

[Marc]

We have a new site that works as a starting point for both of us. Just take away the "hats" in the link mentioned above

I'm about to order from HJ later this week as well to add these to our current choices.

I sure hope it's ok to post this. If not please feel free to remove what I wrote.

Regards,

Marc

 

[Dinerman]

wow, that's a nice website.

 

[ideaguy]

Douglas- that's one sweet hat! take away all the references to makers and wearers, put it up there by itself, and ta-da! a HAT. Works as a city guy's
hat just fine-exploring those nasty canyons of upper Park Ave...

 

[DOUGLAS]

Ideaguy

It works well for me. It goes with just about everything I own.

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

Oops, sorry Marc, I forgot about the new Adventurebilt website...KC

 

[Harry Pierpont]

MY first fedora was a "official" Indy hat made of fur felt, not the wool felt variety. Bonniejean got it for me off an Ebay hat store years ago. I can't find a makers name in it, it has the Indiana Jones logo on one side of the sweat band and 100% fur felt on the other.

 

[ITG]

Harry, it sounds like you have a Dorfman Pacific. It's the same line that is sold at the Disney parks. I have the same fedora in my collection.