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[VansonRider]

I have a question!

What brand or style of fur felt hats have larger volume crowns? I have, I’m not sure, either low set ears? Maybe a tall crowned skull shape? But the top of my head seems slightly further from my ears than the average head shape

Most baseball caps sit too high over my ears, and same with many felt hats. I've reshaped the crowns on my stetson, Akubra, and Laredo palm hats, which has helped, but I'd love to find a make or model that has a taller, higher volume crown before even getting the bash set in.

I also have a big dome, 60/61 cm around, so vintage would be great but the bigger sizes can take a while to track down.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I have a question!

What brand or style of fur felt hats have larger volume crowns? I have, I’m not sure, either low set ears? Maybe a tall crowned skull shape? But the top of my head seems slightly further from my ears than the average head shape

Most baseball caps sit too high over my ears, and same with many felt hats. I've reshaped the crowns on my stetson, Akubra, and Laredo palm hats, which has helped, but I'd love to find a make or model that has a taller, higher volume crown before even getting the bash set in.

I also have a big dome, 60/61 cm around, so vintage would be great but the bigger sizes can take a while to track down.

Lots of custom options where you can specify the crown height. Some customs aren’t even as expensive as the off the shelf big name brands.

 

[belfastboy]

I have a question!

What brand or style of fur felt hats have larger volume crowns? I have, I’m not sure, either low set ears? Maybe a tall crowned skull shape? But the top of my head seems slightly further from my ears than the average head shape

Most baseball caps sit too high over my ears, and same with many felt hats. I've reshaped the crowns on my stetson, Akubra, and Laredo palm hats, which has helped, but I'd love to find a make or model that has a taller, higher volume crown before even getting the bash set in.

I also have a big dome, 60/61 cm around, so vintage would be great but the bigger sizes can take a while to track down.

Akubra Campdraft with a 5 3/4" open crown is about the tallest crown available open. Now the western market could have other options but don't wear westerns. Custom is always your best bet.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Akubra Campdraft with a 5 3/4" open crown is about the tallest crown available open. Now the western market could have other options but don't wear westerns. Custom is always your best bet.

The current Campdraft is listed as a 5 ½” open crown. That’s from Everything Australian and David Morgan. Some here have said their crowns were taller, but mine were right at 5 ½”.

 

[belfastboy]

The current Campdraft is listed as a 5 ½” open crown. That’s from Everything Australian and David Morgan. Some here have said their crowns were taller, but mine were right at 5 ½”.

Mine is an older one from maybe 15 years ago. Shrinkflation is my best guess!!!

 

[VansonRider]

Any thoughts on good custom hatters?
I’m in NYC, Their has to be someone doing this here!

 

[VansonRider]

Akubra Campdraft with a 5 3/4" open crown is about the tallest crown available open. Now the western market could have other options but don't wear westerns. Custom is always your best bet.

Oh!
I didn’t mean I’m looking specifically for an open crown, I just meant that most crown heights are measured after the bash is put in, but they often start with the same open crown height. So I’m looking for a hat with a taller height as measured pre-bash to take the crease dimensions (which are a variable) out of the equation.
Like, I’m not looking for a hat that’s taller because it has a Gus crease instead of a gambler crease, I’m looking for a hat that starts out with more crown height, from the outset

 

[wsmontana]

It is not overly difficult to find a 60s/70s western with a 7” crown (when open) that can be shaped to your liking. For example, a Resistol Western Hi-7 3X Beaver or a Stetson Last Drop 3X Beaver come to mind. The larger sizes are more difficult to find but they do show up now and then.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Any thoughts on good custom hatters?
I’m in NYC, Their has to be someone doing this here!

I have several custom hats for several different hatters. I’ve never met any of them in person. It might seem a bit scary, but ordering my long distance has never been a problem for me.

There is a facebook group called:
Custom Hats and Hat Makers: Fedoras, Homburgs, Western, and Cowboy
That group shows some great, and some not so great custom hats, and all my favorites.

A partial list of some of the perianal favorites, in no particular order:

Gannon
Wolfbrae @belfastboy
Triple R
Northwest
Hufvud
Terry Jones
Hornskov
HNC Agnoulita

It’s a rabbit hole, but it’s a fun rabbit hole.

 

[belfastboy]

Any thoughts on good custom hatters?
I’m in NYC, Their has to be someone doing this here!

Shop around as price is not necessarily the greatest gauge of quality. Northwest Hats, Gannon, Wolfbrae (me), all west coast hatters, all good and the prices are reasonable. The price of postage is not great ($25).

 

[belfastboy]

Further thought: most custom hatters these days do a significant portion of their business online/at a distance. About 50% of my clients are local the other half online. If you want to be a hatter selling online you better have an effective way of determining head size and equally important head shape.

 

[Mighty44]

Any thoughts on good custom hatters?
I’m in NYC, Their has to be someone doing this here!

The places I’ve seen—one in the East Village and one in SoHo—make very colorful, costumey hats. Fine for a lot of people but not what this crowd goes for generally. I’d also go with @wsmontana — you can get great vintage hats online if you are persistent. Vintage Open Roads are pretty commonly available for under $200 and hard to beat. You just have to be relentless in your search.

 

[VansonRider]

The places I’ve seen—one in the East Village and one in SoHo—make very colorful, costumey hats. Fine for a lot of people but not what this crowd goes for generally. I’d also go with @wsmontana — you can get great vintage hats online if you are persistent. Vintage Open Roads are pretty commonly available for under $200 and hard to beat. You just have to be relentless in your search.

Do they have taller crowns than other brands? That’s the impetus for going custom. I have either a tall dome or lowish set ears, but hats seem to sit “on top of” my head rather than “over” my head.

 

[Mighty44]

Do they have taller crowns than other brands? That’s the impetus for going custom. I have either a tall dome or lowish set ears, but hats seem to sit “on top of” my head rather than “over” my head.

In my experience most fedoras from the 40s and 50s have a 5 1/2 open crown. Using steam you can crease to whatever height you want. Open Roads also have less taper than a lot of other hats so they look taller because of the straight sides. If you want more than that you should go custom but it’ll likely cost 2-3 times what a vintage hat typically goes for.

 

[Mighty44]

Do they have taller crowns than other brands? That’s the impetus for going custom. I have either a tall dome or lowish set ears, but hats seem to sit “on top of” my head rather than “over” my head.

Or get a Camp Draft—I had one and even thought it looks like an OR it was taller and wider—5 7/8 OC and 2 7/8 brim. Plenty of hat for most folks unless you want a Western.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Or get a Camp Draft—I had one and even thought it looks like an OR it was taller and wider—5 7/8 OC and 2 7/8 brim. Plenty of hat for most folks unless you want a Western.

Where are you getting the 5 ⅞” open crown measurements the Campdraft? David Morgan, the US distributor, and Everything Australian both show the open crown height to be 5 ½ inches.

You should be able to get a rabbit fur felt custom for $250-350. A bit less if you go with someone like Agnoulita. Mike at Northwest just quoted me $375 for a heathered rabbit fur felt custom. Terry Jones could probably make one in the $250 range the same as The Umbrella Hat Company charged (they are taking a hiatus). Custom doesn’t have to mean expensive.

All of my custom Gannon fedoras are blocked to 6 ⅛ to 6 ¼” open crown. The taller crowns are a personal preference, but in my 7 ¾ size they also look to have about the same proportions as a 5 ⅝” crown hat in size 7.

 

[Mighty44]

Where are you getting the 5 ⅞” open crown measurements the Campdraft? David Morgan, the US distributor, and Everything Australian both show the open crown height to be 5 ½ inches.

You should be able to get a rabbit fur felt custom for $250-350. A bit less if you go with someone like Agnoulita. Mike at Northwest just quoted me $375 for a heathered rabbit fur felt custom. Terry Jones could probably make one in the $250 range the same as The Umbrella Hat Company charged (they are taking a hiatus). Custom doesn’t have to mean expensive.

All of my custom Gannon fedoras are blocked to 6 ⅛ to 6 ¼” open crown. The taller crowns are a personal preference, but in my 7 ¾ size they also look to have about the same proportions as a 5 ⅝” crown hat in size 7.

The camp draft I owned (and sold) was 5 7/8 OC.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

The camp draft I owned (and sold) was 5 7/8 OC.

I’ve had four, Imperial and DeLuxe, and they were all very close to 5 ½”. I really wanted a black Campdraft when it came out a couple years ago, but the 5 ½” open crown height kept me for pulling the trigger.

 

[belfastboy]

The camp draft I owned (and sold) was 5 7/8 OC.

My CD is bashed but certain it was just under 6" open crown when I purchased it 10 years ago or so.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

So you're telling me there's a chance?