I love the Fed IV!!

[wsmontana]

Hello again! My Fed IV Deluxe arrived just in time, two days before Christmas.
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It was incredibly stiff, I was surprised. Some members here have talked about this but certainly I didn't expect it to have so much stiffener. I'm not complaining, just surprised. It fits really good, just a little bit loose so it can shrink, but already fits great and I'm in no need of foam straps on this one.

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Yesterday I could finally work on the bash, using steam. This is how it went.

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I would like to thank all of you, gentlemen, because your comments in this thread made me finally go for this hat. It feels great, looks great and it's sturdy and durable, yet comfortable to wear even in the Chilean summer. A great hat for people like me, who are on a budget, yet looking to spend wisely.

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I hope you've had a very good Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Nice job on the crease — it looks great!

I had a Heritage Banjo Patterson and I removed the liner to make it a bit more breathable. The fur felt on mine seemed indestructible and it was my go to hat on bad weather days.

 

[Art Hat1]

Thank you for your kind words! I’ll consider removing the plastic cap. Any advice on doing it without damaging the liner?

I’m really happy with my new hat, my first rabbit. One can really feel the difference against wool felt.

Yeah, just use the very tip of the scissors to snip a small hole, then simply slide one arm of the scissors through and slowly cut it out. Pretty simple and makes a noticeable difference during summer months. Honestly I don’t find the Fed to wear all that hot except around the sweatband.

 

[scottyrocks]

You dig an excellent job creasing it.

 

[Cuvier]

Yeah, just use the very tip of the scissors to snip a small hole, then simply slide one arm of the scissors through and slowly cut it out. Pretty simple and makes a noticeable difference during summer months. Honestly I don’t find the Fed to wear all that hot except around the sweatband.

I hadn't thought about doing that. Mine is a bit warm on a Texas summer day but my Stetson is still comfortable. It didn't dawn on me to remove that plastic liner.
Thank you!

 

[Art Hat1]

I hadn't thought about doing that. Mine is a bit warm on a Texas summer day but my Stetson is still comfortable. It didn't dawn on me to remove that plastic liner.
Thank you!

Absolutely! Now, it’ll still be noticeably warmer than a ventilated straw hat of course, but whenever I wear it in the muggy Florida summer it’s really just around the leather sweatband that I feel the heat building up…and going, based on a linen cap I have that also has a leather sweatband…that’s just leather for you. Easier to keep clean and lasts longer but wears hotter.

 

[Cuvier]

Absolutely! Now, it’ll still be noticeably warmer than a ventilated straw hat of course, but whenever I wear it in the muggy Florida summer it’s really just around the leather sweatband that I feel the heat building up…and going, based on a linen cap I have that also has a leather sweatband…that’s just leather for you. Easier to keep clean and lasts longer but wears hotter.

Agreed. I wear my felt Stetson all summer here in Texas and only feel the heat around the sweat.
Makes me wonder if a perforated leather sweat would assist with that.

 

[scottyrocks]

I pushed a diamond into this tawny fawn Fed yesterday. The center dent wasn't working for me anymore.

Today I'm gonna work on softening up the brim break. I'll post if there's a difference I like.

 

[Vintage Gent]

You dig an excellent job creasing it.

Your are very kind, thank you! I enjoyed every second of working in this hat. Can't explain enough how exciting it is to watch the results that slowly begin to change the hat in the way you like it. Even the best hat stores here do not offer the kind of vintage untapered shape the Fed IV has. Like a dream come true.

I pushed a diamond into this tawny fawn Fed yesterday. The center dent wasn't working for me anymore.

Today I'm gonna work on softening up the brim break. I'll post if there's a difference I like.

That diamond bash looks really good in the Tawny Fawn. Congratulations!

 

[Art Hat1]

I pushed a diamond into this tawny fawn Fed yesterday. The center dent wasn't working for me anymore.

Today I'm gonna work on softening up the brim break. I'll post if there's a difference I like.

I pushed a diamond into this tawny fawn Fed yesterday. The center dent wasn't working for me anymore.

Today I'm gonna work on softening up the brim break. I'll post if there's a difference I like.

That looks awesome!

 

[Art Hat1]

Wore my brown Fed 4 into work this morning.

 

[scottyrocks]

I pushed a diamond into this tawny fawn Fed yesterday. The center dent wasn't working for me anymore.

Today I'm gonna work on softening up the brim break. I'll post if there's a difference I like.

So, my softening of the brim break was successful, afaic. Pictures of it don't show anything so there are none here.

For those of you who may not know what this means, the brim break is the angle where the brim begins in relation to the crown.

Think of it as a 90* angle, although it isn't. When you soften the break, you are creating a more downward angle where the brim meets the crown. Then as the brim continues further from the crown it swoops back up somewhat as it did before.

The effect of this is to make the hat appear further down on the head without actually being so.

For an extreme picture of this, and what I go for in many of my hats, but not to this extreme, is this:

My changes are more subtle. The hat HF is wearing here was beaten half to death in a short time to get it to look very lived in.

 

[Michiganiac]

Part of my tax return this year is gonna be sent to Australia, if'n ya know whut I mean...

 

[Vintage Gent]

That’s good. I’m already waiting for my Fed in carbon gray. They just wrote telling me it should be restocked by mid March.

My dark brown deluxe hardly leaves my head now, I’m so happy with it.

 

[Edward]

My first Akubra was a Fed DLX in the dark brown, bought new in 2008. Still got it. Softened beautifully. Couple of moth nibbles, but still loads of life left in it. Picked up a second db dlx 'for best' recently. Also have a fawn and a carbon grey, both standards iirc. biggest difference I notice between the two is that the standard (all rabbit) is softer from the get-go than the dlx (rabbit / hare). Love both. I do still want a moonstone.... maybe later in the year when HD restock. It seems there's been a bit of a shortage of Akubras this last few months, not sure exactly the reason.

 

[Zombie_61]

...It seems there's been a bit of a shortage of Akubras this last few months, not sure exactly the reason.

Probably because they're still having to import their rabbit fur from Europe (or wherever they were getting it from) and shipping delays all over the planet are running rampant as everyone tries to recover from the Covid pandemic. Maybe.

 

[Edward]

Probably because they're still having to import their rabbit fur from Europe (or wherever they were getting it from) and shipping delays all over the planet are running rampant as everyone tries to recover from the Covid pandemic. Maybe.

That I hadn't thought of -admittedly, I was under the impression they sourced felt more locally than that, but could well be imported.

 

[jlee562]

That I hadn't thought of -admittedly, I was under the impression they sourced felt more locally than that, but could well be imported.

Imported from Europe since 2015
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-07-08/akubra-to-import-rabbit-fur/6603106

 

[Vintage Gent]

Imported from Europe since 2015
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-07-08/akubra-to-import-rabbit-fur/6603106

Thank you. I guess this settles the issue.

 

[Edward]

Imported from Europe since 2015
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-07-08/akubra-to-import-rabbit-fur/6603106

Thanks. Interesting how the economics work out. You'd think it wouldn't be cheaper, but it must be. I remember hearing at one point in recent years the Northern Ireland Police force were buying the components of their uniform hats from one place, receiving them, then sending them back out to another point in Eastern Europe for assembly because it was cheaper than having them manufactured more locally. Globalisation is a funny old thing.