AB vs. AB Deluxe

[Mr. B]

OK Guys whats the difference between Mr. Delk's Adventurebilt and Marc's Deluxe? i can't find any differences on their websites. Also who actually made the hats for Indy 4?

 

[Delthayre]

The worms eat away, but don't worry, watch the wind

OK Guys whats the difference between Mr. Delk's Adventurebilt and Marc's Deluxe? i can't find any differences on their websites. Also who actually made the hats for Indy 4?

I think that the deluxe hats might have a kangaroo hide leather sweatband rather than cowshide leather, but I am not sure and I certainly doubt that that is the sold difference.

Mister Delk and Mister Kitter both made hats for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; as I understand it, whilst the acquisition of the hats was being negotiated, the two entered into a gentleman's agreement, which the man who was considering hiring them was aware of, that no matter who was commissioned to make the hats, each would make half of the hats ordered.

 

[GoneSolo]

Club Obi Wan

IMO, this would be a better place to look. There is ENDLESS information and topics of discussion in this forum.

For example:

http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?t=33466&highlight=ab+vs+ab+deluxe

Because of the strong value of the Euro, price is also a big difference.

 

[analogist]

Difference

Delk's Adventurebilt; very good hat, Winchester 100% Beaver felt

Kitter's Adventurebilt Deluxe; great hat, FEPSA (Portugal) 100% Beaver felt, 125% the density of the Winchester.


analogist

 

[Mulceber]

OK Guys whats the difference between Mr. Delk's Adventurebilt and Marc's Deluxe? i can't find any differences on their websites. Also who actually made the hats for Indy 4?

Marc's AB generally has a higher quality felt (absolutely top of the line felt, nothing-better-in-the-world-quality), it's pounced for a longer amount of time, leading to an even softer finish and it has kangaroo hide sweatbands. Basically, Steve designed his AB to be the best bang for your buck - a great hat at a great price. Marc designed his AB to be the best hat money could buy, bar none.

As for who made them for the movies, Delthayre pretty much nailed it with his explanation. -M

 

[Lefty]

fftopic:
Who else, if anyone, uses the Portugal felt?
I'm under the impression that Optimo uses it.

edit: I see that there's a another thread in which there's a discussion of Bailey using the felt from Portugal for Indy hats, and another using it for westerns. I guess I'll narrow my question to non-Indy fedoras.

 

[Unlucky Berman]

OK Guys whats the difference between Mr. Delk's Adventurebilt and Marc's Deluxe? i can't find any differences on their websites. Also who actually made the hats for Indy 4?

Both of them. They changed their felts made several steps of the process, exchanged them, so that steve made some with the felt of Marc, Marc some with the felt of Steve, and so on. In the end no one could tell wich hat was made by whom.
The full and more detailed story to it:
http://www.indygear.com/igABstory.html


That's what Marc said about the difference between his an Steve's hat in a german forum

The goal with the AB was to make a highend screen accurate Indy Fedora that would be available for anyone who really wanted one, while the goal on the AB-Dlx was to make the best hat money can buy. So, while both are handmade hats made from pure beaver felt, the materials used a quite different. Every little thing on the AB-Dlx. is custom made (except for the ribbon, which is used on both hats) and asside from the min. requirement to have such things made, the price is QUITE a bit more on the materials as well. Lemme give you an example: the sweatbands I use come from traditionally tanned roo hides, tanned at a small family owned tannery in Australia to match my specs. Then they're shipped to me, forwarded to my sweatband maker and cut before the reading tape is added to my specs. etc. etc. etc. While a standard sweatband is round about 5 bucks, mine cost round about 45 bucks a piece. With 100 sweatbands min. per order, that puts me back with 4.5 grand each time. Just for sweatbands. You can imagine, what 50 rawbodies made to my specs. puts me back with. Is it worth it? To some people it is, while other think differently and you'd be in good hands either way. Question is, if a high end Cadilac suits your needs, or if it has to be the Rolls Royce. Either one of them fine cars with leather interior etc. etc. and both will get you from A to B. Both in style. However the Rolls is STILL WAY more expensive the the Cadilac ;-) Now if it's worth the extra money to you or not, only you can tell.

That's his long version answer:

Ok, let's see... What is the same on the AB and the AB-Dlx. is the brand, the fanatism of the maker Lachender Smiley, the ribbon and on the CS Fedoras the block.

What's different... well pretty much the rest :wink:

Ok, lazy answer. Perhaps I should sum it up and then I can refer to this thread next time I'm asked (tomorrow probably).

Let's start with the rawbodies. Steve purchases pure beaver dress rawbodies in the color of his choice from his felter and if he desires, he can buy as little as a single rawbody - which is a great advantage! When I started looking into the few felt suppliers left, I picked the one I'm still using, as he was able to deal with the list of specs. I threw at him ("worst customer ever" were his exact words). I wanted a particular colored pure beaver felt with a particular crown hight, brim width, weight, thickness, stiffness in the crown, stiffness in the brim, water repellent cooked into the felt, extra dense (30% denser than standard - which is the max. they can do) etc. etc. etc. - you get the idea. Though willing to do as requested, I was asked to buy a min. of 50 rawbodies a time if I wanted them to be made THAT specific and of course the price went up, up, up with every new idea that crossed my crazy mind on my way to THE rawbody Lachender Smiley So, have to shell out several grands whenever I need new rawbodies. While the price has gone up a bit over the years, the Dollar has become weaker and weaker making the rawbodies even more expensive for those of you earning Dollars.

Ok, what's next... the pouncing. I spent LONG hours pouncing, going up to a 2000 grit to get a SUPER smooth surface, that is almost like silk or velvet. This doesn't make the hat more or less durable, however it adds a very luxus' appearence and feel to it (hence AB-Dlx.).

Cutting the brim is done equally not matter if Steve does so or me.

Sweatbands: the sweatbands I use come from traditionally tanned roo hides, tanned at a small family owned tannery in Australia to match my specs. (color, thinkness, surface) Then they're shipped to me, forwarded to my sweatband maker and cut before the reading tape (made to my specs.) is added as requested (curve, stitches, "lip length") etc. etc. etc. While a standard sweatband is round about 5 bucks, mine cost round about 45 bucks a piece. With 100 sweatbands min. per order, that puts me back with 4.5 grand each time. Just for sweatbands. The advantage of the roo hide is that it is a very dense and tough hide (which is why bullwhips are made from it :wink: ) and it hardly shrinks - which Steve found quite amazing after soaking his AB-Dlx. completely in sweat two days in a row without any ill effects. The disadvantage: you could get a decent blend rawbody for less. Every little thing on the AB-Dlx. is custom made and the price reflects that.

Liners: Both of us are using white satin liners. So the difference here is only the two color logo that I have put on mine and the smoother and denser bridal satin that I use (which again means 240 pieces min. requirement). Both are sewn in by hand in opposite to using hot glue or similar.

Blocks: using an English block maker for my Raiders blocks and the blocks used for the CS hats and having them made of heavy mahagony, I had to spend 300 Euro (450$) per block! This is plain said outrageous, which is why I had the last blocks made in the US from poplar.

All this summed together and added the German rip off taxes (I think anyone over here can attest to that) plus more than 70$ for the shipping, makes the AB-Dlx cost what it does. The weak Dollar does the rest. When I purchased my Optimos back then, I had to spend 1.2 Euro for one Dollar. Now it's 1.48 Dollar for a single Euro :shock: Or in other words: if the Dollar would still be 1.2 Euro, my hats would cost 330$ incl. shipping to the US. This would be less than a reg. AB WITHOUT shipping :shock: But alas, this is something I have no influence on.

I hope this helps, otherwise feel free to ask.

Regards,

Marc

Ps.: Sales Taxes (or whatever it is the name of it in the USA) in germany are 19% for everything you buy.

 

[Indiana Greg]

Here's another interesting link about who made the Indy IV fedora:

http://www.indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?t=34876

 

[PADDY]

AB DELUXE by Marc in Germany.

Without question, this is TOP of the range when it comes to a fedora. Out of interest I 'test run' one of his hats in the USA last year, going from subjecting it to the hot desert sun of Californian to the rain soaked and smokey streets of NYC to minus temps and snow blizzards on the Canadian border in December. This baby took it ALL in its' stride and begged for more!!

I have the AVIATOR version inspired by the great Howard Hughes. more to come.

 

[indycop]

I have the AVIATOR version inspired by the great Howard Hughes. more to come.

Must see this!!!

 

[Not-Bogart13]

OK Guys whats the difference between Mr. Delk's Adventurebilt and Marc's Deluxe? i can't find any differences on their websites. Also who actually made the hats for Indy 4?

analogist covers the facts best and most succinctly. I would like expand just slighty, though.

1. Having seen and handled both side-by-side, I always recommend to people that if they live in the States, get Steve's, if you live in in Europe, get Marc's. I say that because, while the Deluxe is clearly a "better" hat, I don't think the price (after shipping, import fees, and currency conversion) is equal to the bump in quality. IMHO.

2. The truth about who made the Indy 4 hats is simple, and comes from the AB boys directly (Steve even confirmed this to me personally); Both Steve and Marc made them, and both of their lids make it onto the sceen.

 

[GoneSolo]

Must see this!!!

I believe it looks something like this.





This belongs to "rcinlv"

 

[indycop]

Sweet!!:eusa_clap I love the aviator hats.

 

[carter]

THat Aviator is "sweet" indeed! A Beautiful Hat! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[RBH]

I have the AVIATOR version inspired by the great Howard Hughes. more to come.

Must see this!!!

I have seen photos!
It is a hat worth waiting on.
So all I can say is... WAIT!

 

[PADDY]

AVIATOR HAT - Photos.

Sorry - was called away on work in the middle of the last writing [huh] I prepared a full report but a powercut has just shut the computer down and lost everything, so for now hopefully the photos below will exemplify just 'how' versatile this hat is. It's a beauty gentleman and hasn't a hint of Indiana Jones about it. This is a pure homage to the great American Entrepreneur, movie maker and Aviator - Howard Hughes. Beaver is soft, bombproof and looks GREAT!! As at home in a Manhattan cocktail lounge wearing a suit as it is out in the Californian desert.
If you order this hat, you will wait for it. But some things in life are worth waiting for


CLICK PICS TO ENLARGE

 

[PADDY]

And a 'few' more (Aviator Pics)

 

[indycop]

Simply awesome, these are great!!:eusa_clap

 

[Mr. B]

OK, Thanks for the opinions and info. Now for the big question....what's the prices on these two, i see 399 euro for deluxe, but no listing on steve's?

 

[Mr. B]

nevermind found it.