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Hat protection

Jedwbpm

One Too Many
Messages
1,031
Location
West Coast Florida
All I know is that my grandfather who passed away in 1978 at age 93 wore a hat any time he left the house. So he was wearing one during the heyday of men's hats. It it was raining he wore a plastic cover over the hat. Now we are from Maine and tend to dress for the weather no matter how it makes us look. Now I have outdoor hats like my Slouches and Safari style that I will wear in rain and snow. My good Fedora's I don't it's like wearing a suite without a raincoat in the rain. I wear a canvas slouch in my swimming pool. I would not wear my felt slouch in the pool. Does this make my Akubra Slouch a bad hat?



Jeff
 

monbla256

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,239
Location
DFW Metroplex, Texas
The "Classic" model is also available, providing protection from both sun and rain.

1890ScientificAmerican.jpg

That's one way to get folks to wear Derby's :)
 

Chinaski

One Too Many
Messages
1,045
Location
Orange County, CA
All I know is that my grandfather who passed away in 1978 at age 93 wore a hat any time he left the house. So he was wearing one during the heyday of men's hats. It it was raining he wore a plastic cover over the hat. Now we are from Maine and tend to dress for the weather no matter how it makes us look. Now I have outdoor hats like my Slouches and Safari style that I will wear in rain and snow. My good Fedora's I don't it's like wearing a suite without a raincoat in the rain. I wear a canvas slouch in my swimming pool. I would not wear my felt slouch in the pool. Does this make my Akubra Slouch a bad hat?



Jeff

Jedwbpm (Jeff) - this makes a heap of sense to me. Well said, sir. My own personal take on it would be to forego the hat rather than put plastic on it when going out in the rain (or wear a beater/ball cap/etc.)
 

Blackthorn

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,513
Location
Oroville
If I were planning to do more of that, I would buy an Akubra--the Squatter for me--to fight off the rain, no umbrella needed thank you.
I bought a Squatter recently, and a few hours ago it got its first baptism of fire, a heavy rain during my night shift in the plant where I work. It did shrink a bit, but I bought it a size large with that in mind. We'll see how it fares over the winter. Even though it shrank a tad, it now bears no evidence of having been soaked a few hours ago.

If over the winter it fails, my fall back plan is to use a beaver felt hat and see how that does. The weak link in all these is the thread used to sew it all together. You can have the best felt in the world, but if the thread falls apart, so does the hat.

I'll have more info in the spring time.
 

Bebop

Practically Family
Messages
951
Location
Sausalito, California
I used to feel like the o.p. about rain and hats. Once I stopped worrying, I learned that there is no reason to worry. Unless you have a really bad hat, you don't need to worry about rain on your hat. We're not wearing dainty, paper flowers on our heads. I've never understood the hat raincoats. Why not get a parasol for your hat in the summer sun? I've worn vintage hats and new hats in the rain and never experienced a problem. Scout is a good product and I use it mostly because it repels stains as well as water. Some claim that the color will run on some of the newer black Stetsons but I have never had that happen and I have a few. Tapering? Maybe after quite a few times out in the rain but that's what hats are all about. Protection from the elements.
 

zetwal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,343
Location
Texas

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