How do you know if your hat is100% beaver

[SHARPETOYS]

I have read about pushing a needle thru the felt etc. This one site says back in its day a hat only had to have 20% beaver to be called a beaver hat. With the world of fast buck artist and companys how do you know the hat you are buying is 100% beaver?

I guess you could send it off to the lab and have it tested, but then you ruin your hat. I guess it boils down to trusting your hat seller doesn't it. On the vintage hats it could say all beaver but contain only 20%???
Here is the site on beaver.

http://www.yurtboutique.com/beaver.htm:

 

[Fedora]

I have read about pushing a needle thru the felt etc. This one site says back in its day a hat only had to have 20% beaver to be called a beaver hat. With the world of fast buck artist and companys how do you know the hat you are buying is 100% beaver?

The needle test only refers to determining the density of the felt. The denser the felt, the better in my book, but this does not indicate pure beaver. And a cheap stiff fur felt hat with loads of stiffener would mimic dense felt. I guess you would have to compare apples to apples on the test. Pure, or almost pure beaver felt has a look and feel to it that is hard to replicate. That is the best test. Other than that, you just have to trust your hatter.(I trusted and got burned, but that is old hat) With that said, I think I could tell just by looking and feeling the felt on the hat. If someone handed you a very finely pounced rabbit felt, and a like pounced beaver felt, you could see and feel the difference as well. 2 years ago, I would not have had a clue, but having had the honor of handling so many different hats in the reblocks, and having seen many of the vintage hats, it jumps out at me now. If we all got together and we placed a pure beaver next to a blended felt, I would wager each and everyone here could pick out the beaver hat. It is that obvious. regards, Fedora

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Fedora wrote

If we all got together and we placed a pure beaver next to a blended felt, I would wager each and everyone here could pick out the beaver hat. It is that obvious. regards, Fedora

Thanks Fedora i think i get it. Its a matter of experience. The new folks like me appreciate your help. But i'm learning

 

[Panamabob]

I can guarantee 100% that our hats are 100% BEAVERless.

 

[PrettyBigGuy]

Whenever you aren't wearing it, your lid has annoyiong habit of gnawing on your wooden furniture!

 

[Zane]

Sharptoyes, You have ask how to determine if a hat is 100 % beaver.

I Think Fedora is correct here some what and I am not sure that he is not 100% correct. I am also not sure if he may be incorrect and I will tell you why.

I think he is referring to belly beaver hats and its true they sure do have a distinct fell about them and are no questions ask the finest hat making material available but even then teh felt has to be made properly.

To give you a little more insight in to this I will refer you to a company in Portugal that makes fur bodies for most of the hat companies in existence with few exceptions. They make from a 10% beaver mix and then in 10% intervals on up to a 100% beaver body. They then also make 100% belly beaver and any novelty blends that may give the buying hatter an edge in the market like a combination of beaver, nutria, rabbit and hare.

Folks tend to use creative selling tools like "wild hare" when truth is all hare is wild. They also use tools like beaver to try to indicate it is 100% beaver when it is actually only has some beaver content or maybe none at all.

So my next point is this, I am not sure if you could tell a 90% beaver from a 100% beaver.

When I was doing hats we only purchased ( for regular hats) 4 types of fur. 100% beaver, 100% belly beaver, 50% beaver and a fur blend that had no specifics on the types of fur as our body maker would always blend them to perfection and this was far more important to cost conscience buyers that wanted a great hat that would last a life time and still be affordable. The blends and 100% beaver in-between were all just for Western hats that some folks wanted a certain amount of beaver in. I am positive, that I cannot tell a 60% beaver hat from a 50% beaver hat so I do not know if you can tell a 90% beaver from a 100% beaver but in the end I think maybe you could and Fedora is probably correct.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Zane wrote

To give you a little more insight in to this I will refer you to a company in Portugal that makes fur bodies for most of the hat companies in existence with few exceptions. They make from a 10% beaver mix and then in 10% intervals on up to a 100% beaver body. They then also make 100% belly beaver and any novelty blends that may give the buying hatter an edge in the market like a combination of beaver, nutria, rabbit and hare.

Is that company called Curry? Is that where you get your beaver bodies? I appreciate the info. Thanks.

 

[Zane]

Sharptoyes, I do not get any beaver or other bodies at all except hopefully for Christmas I will get the 2 that I have on Lay-A-Way paid for by then.

I have how ever seen the bodies that Cury sells and reports to make many times. I have not seen any that I would consider a beaver body nor any that I could consider a body worth making a hat from except of course a stiff Western or Akubra type hat. Please note I really do not mean specifically an Akubra but that type of hat.

I understand the Akubra company has a good following here and on other forums and seem to have many satisfied customers. I personally am not a fan of such hats for reasons I prefer not to engage in for fear of offending their fans.

The only bodies that we used extensively in my tenure as a hatter was made in the USA and by a privately owned Body company that I understand my bosses are more than affiliated with. We did also use some special hand made bodies from time to time and I never was aware of their source nor was I allowed to work on them.

 

[Fedora]

So my next point is this, I am not sure if you could tell a 90% beaver from a 100% beaver.

Me either. I over generalized in my post. I probably could not tell the difference in a high ratio beaver blend and a pure beaver either, if the finish was identical. I can tell the difference between my belly beaver fedora and every other hat that I have owned, or reblocked for folks though. It really stands out. Or perhaps, sits on a pedastal (sp?) above the rest is more accurate. Fedora

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by PrettyBigGuy
Whenever you aren't wearing it, your lid has annoyiong habit of gnawing on your wooden furniture!

Nah. If you wake up in the morning and there is a dam in the living room then your hat is 100% beaver.
If your furniture is gnawed on then you have a 90% beaver hat.
I hope that helps. LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[Panamabob]

I've got a very interesting person I may be dealing with in Idaho...I'd bet he could help....we shall see.

 

[Fedora]

Is that company called Curry?

Hey Sharpetoys, Cury is in South America, and to my knowledge uses no beaver in their hats. They do offer a wool/rabbit blend though.

Nah. If you wake up in the morning and there is a dam in the living room then your hat is 100% beaver.

Now, everyone knows beavers don't eat wood. Just the bark off of the wood. I do know that the rabbit hats have a habit of leaving these little brown pellets lying around, if you don't take them outside often.LOL You could pick em' up and sell em' as "smart pills" The way it works is you guarantee if eaten, the pills will make the person smarter. Money back guarantee. Once the person tastes them, he will say, :this is nothing but rabbit $#%$!!!!! I want my money back. In return, you say, I told ya so. See. You are smarter already. Fedora

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by Fedora
Hey Sharpetoys, Cury is in South America, and to my knowledge uses no beaver in their hats. They do offer a wool/rabbit blend though.





Now, everyone knows beavers don't eat wood. Just the bark off of the wood. I do know that the rabbit hats have a habit of leaving these little brown pellets lying around, if you don't take them outside often.LOL You could pick em' up and sell em' as "smart pills" The way it works is you guarantee if eaten, the pills will make the person smarter. Money back guarantee. Once the person tastes them, he will say, :this is nothing but rabbit $#%$!!!!! I want my money back. In return, you say, I told ya so. See. You are smarter already. Fedora

I think I will stay away from rabbit hats then. I am as smart as I can stand. LOL LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[SHARPETOYS]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by PrettyBigGuy
Whenever you aren't wearing it, your lid has annoyiong habit of gnawing on your wooden furniture!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Nah. If you wake up in the morning and there is a dam in the living room then your hat is 100% beaver.
If your furniture is gnawed on then you have a 90% beaver hat.
I hope that helps.

Regards to all,

J

I'm having a stainless steel hat box built as we speak. I didn't want to take a chance. The cowboy "sterling beavers" are the worst. They still want to brand the furnitureLOL LOL

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by SHARPETOYS
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by PrettyBigGuy
Whenever you aren't wearing it, your lid has annoyiong habit of gnawing on your wooden furniture!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Nah. If you wake up in the morning and there is a dam in the living room then your hat is 100% beaver.
If your furniture is gnawed on then you have a 90% beaver hat.
I hope that helps.

Regards to all,

J

I'm having a stainless steel hat box built as we speak. I didn't want to take a chance. The cowboy "sterling beavers" are the worst. They still want to brand the furnitureLOL LOL

Actually, that isn't so bad. It is when they start trying to brand you while you are sleeping that you really have to worry about. LOL LOL LOL

Regards to all,

J

P.S. This has really degenerated into a biting beaver fest. LOL

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Its nice to laugh again after all this ............ it . Ive been reading.:cool2: