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[tsores]

What is a palm leaf hat? Pros and cons?

 

[Zombie_61]

What is a palm leaf hat? Pros and cons?

The simple and obvious answer is that it's a hat made from palm leaves. I don't know about "pros", but the "cons" are that they're usually warmer, a bit heavier, and at least a little rougher around the edges (i.e. not quite as "polished") than a traditional Panama hat.

Actually, I can think of one "pro". If you buy a palm leaf hat made by Sunbody it'll provide better sun protection than most palm leaf and/or straw hats.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

What is a palm leaf hat? Pros and cons?

I don't know about "pros", but the "cons" are that they're usually warmer, a bit heavier, and at least a little rougher around the edges (i.e. not quite as "polished") than a traditional Panama hat.

Best suited to be used as an outdoor work hat; not finely finished.

One "pro" is that with a cloth sweatband they can be soaked in a rain barrel or stock tank & hold their shape when worn in extreme heat outside working.

One "con" is that the brim will become droopy from all the steam if worn in a hot tub. But they will return to shape after the steam dissipates. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Cornshucker77]

Best suited to be used as an outdoor work hat; not finely finished.

One "pro" is that with a cloth sweatband they can be soaked in a rain barrel or stock tank & hold their shape when worn in extreme heat outside working.

One "con" is that the brim will become droopy from all the steam if worn in a hot tub. But they will return to shape after the steam dissipates. Don't ask me how I know.

View attachment 155102

OK now I have to ask Jack.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

OK now I have to ask Jack.

What happens in a hot tub stays in a hot tub...until the chemicals take care of it the next day.

 

[BobHufford]

What is moleskin material?

I've not had a Moleskin Finish so can't comment directly on that.

Apparently I don't read my own hats. The finish is great, but I don't know if it due to the finish or the beaver felt.

 

[rpersson]

Does Akubra still manufacture their "Heritage Felt" for the hats in their "Heritage Series"?

The reason I ask is that the online vendors don't seem to mention it, and I remember reading in some thread on here (which I can't seem to find again) that Akubra recently (like a year or two ago) made some changes to their felt production, i. e., importing instead of producing.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

Last night the chronometer on eBay said I had 30 seconds left to bid on a hat, but when I tried to place my bid, time had run out already. The same thing has happened to me twice before. Has anyone else had this problem?

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[Cornshucker77]

What happens in a hot tub stays in a hot tub...until the chemicals take care of it the next day.

View attachment 155129

ok LOL!!!

 

[Cornshucker77]

Last night the chronometer on eBay said I had 30 seconds left to bid on a hat, but when I tried to place my bid, time had run out already. The same thing has happened to me twice before. Has anyone else had this problem?

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I have on occasion. And I don't know if my bid was cancelled out by someone else, but I have actually bid higher than the winning bid on a couple of auctions and still lost out. So I don't know what happened there either. Strange happenings on ebay sometimes.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

Last night the chronometer on eBay said I had 30 seconds left to bid on a hat, but when I tried to place my bid, time had run out already. The same thing has happened to me twice before. Has anyone else had this problem?

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I consistently see about a 3s discrepancy between the app on my iPad and the app on my Android phone. I attribute it to how the coding is done/processed between the two operating systems, but the 30s you experienced seems rather odd. More like an anomaly or bug. Possibly related to network traffic? Server overload? Looks like eBay has their own data centers, and I would imagine they are top of the line just like AWS or MS Azure, but even the best aren't fully redundant with guaranteed 100% uptime.

I've seen some buggy things with eBay as well, usually listings that show up again from the same seller even though there was supposedly a winning bid. Other times it's listings that I swear I just saw 3 or 4 pages earlier. As great as (digital) technology is it definitely isn't perfect. You'll just have to get the next one, which I'm willing to bet won't be too long.

 

[Zombie_61]

Does Akubra still manufacture their "Heritage Felt" for the hats in their "Heritage Series"?

The reason I ask is that the online vendors don't seem to mention it, and I remember reading in some thread on here (which I can't seem to find again) that Akubra recently (like a year or two ago) made some changes to their felt production, i. e., importing instead of producing.

As far as I know, yes, Akubra is still making their Heritage Quality felt. BUT...the only place I've ever seen it offered is on the Hats Direct/The Hattery website, and even then it's only offered on two hats--the Campdraft and the Federation IV. Everywhere else I've looked at Akubra hats they either mention the Imperial Quality felt, or they simply describe it as "fur felt" with little or no elaboration.

That said, if you're interested in ordering a specific hat you can usually contact the vendor to verify which grade of felt the hat is made from before you order it. Akubra has had to outsource the fur they use for their hats, but I haven't bought one since before that happened so I can't say if/how that has affected the quality of their felts.

 

[Just A Hat Rack]

Does Akubra still manufacture their "Heritage Felt" for the hats in their "Heritage Series"?

The reason I ask is that the online vendors don't seem to mention it, and I remember reading in some thread on here (which I can't seem to find again) that Akubra recently (like a year or two ago) made some changes to their felt production, i. e., importing instead of producing.

As far as I know, yes, Akubra is still making their Heritage Quality felt. BUT...the only place I've ever seen it offered is on the Hats Direct/The Hattery website, and even then it's only offered on two hats--the Campdraft and the Federation IV. Everywhere else I've looked at Akubra hats they either mention the Imperial Quality felt, or they simply describe it as "fur felt" with little or no elaboration.

That said, if you're interested in ordering a specific hat you can usually contact the vendor to verify which grade of felt the hat is made from before you order it. Akubra has had to outsource the fur they use for their hats, but I haven't bought one since before that happened so I can't say if/how that has affected the quality of their felts.

David Morgan sells a few hats from Akubra's Heritage Collection. To my knowledge these hats are made from the heritage grade felt, even though the listings say it's premium grade felt. I have the Lightning Ridge and when I purchased it almost a year ago it was listed as having the heritage grade felt, but now says premium grade. All of the other hats that I've looked at that were not in the Heritage Collection specifically say that they're made from the imperial grade.

 

[Bcraig]

For those who have em both
I am thinking about getting a Sunbody Hat for the summer.

Is a Sunbody Palm Fedora hat(standard not fine palm) with a 2 1/2 brim Heavier or lighter than a Stetson 3x Beaver Fedora with a 2 1/2 brim assuming the same crown heights ?

Also will the Palm hat be any cooler than the 3x Beaver?

Thanks

 

[Zombie_61]

For those who have em both
I am thinking about getting a Sunbody Hat for the summer.

Is a Sunbody Palm Fedora hat(standard not fine palm) with a 2 1/2 brim Heavier or lighter than a Stetson 3x Beaver Fedora with a 2 1/2 brim assuming the same crown heights ?

Also will the Palm hat be any cooler than the 3x Beaver?

Thanks

I don't own any Stetsons or beaver felt hats (yet), but my Sunbody (made from their standard/Guatemalan palm) is almost the same size and shape as my Akubra Fed IVs made with rabbit/hare felt. Weighing them using the proper equipment might reveal a minor difference in weights, but it's not noticeable to me when I'm either holding them in my hands or wearing them.

Most, if not all, palm or straw hats will be cooler than a fur felt hat simply because the palm/straw "breathes" better; i.e., the way they're constructed allows air to flow between tiny gaps in the weave. In warmer/hotter/more humid weather I can definitively state I sweat considerably less when wearing my Sunbody than I do when wearing any of my Akubras.

Another "pro" in favor of Sunbody's hats is that you can get them wet. Get most traditional straw or cheap palm hats wet, and they're pretty much ruined. But Sunbody actually advises their customers to occasionally "douse" their hats to keep them from getting dried out and brittle. The day I received mine I soaked it in a sink filled with lukewarm water for three to five minutes so I could give it the shape I wanted (see here if you're interested) and it suffered no ill effects.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

50 or 100 refers to the price point. So the hat would have retailed for $50 or $100. While it's a measure of quality, as you know quality also depends on other factors, such as year of manufacture, etc.

Thanks Fruno for the clear explanation. I have some others questions: in which period they were sold at that price?
Does every US manufacturer of hats have this standard in some of his models?
From the amount of the purchase figure, it seems to me that they were not put on the market in the 50s, or am I wrong?

 

[jlee562]

Thanks Fruno for the clear explanation. I have some others questions: in which period they were sold at that price?
Does every US manufacturer of hats have this standard in some of his models?
From the amount of the purchase figure, it seems to me that they were not put on the market in the 50s, or am I wrong?

Stetson seems to have been the most common. There is also a Cavanugh 100 or two floating around the lounge.

Some more research here: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/stetson-open-road-quality-designation-project.54092/page-4

It seems 100 was introduced in the mid 50's.

 

[Frunobulax]

Thanks Fruno for the clear explanation. I have some others questions: in which period they were sold at that price?
Does every US manufacturer of hats have this standard in some of his models?
From the amount of the purchase figure, it seems to me that they were not put on the market in the 50s, or am I wrong?

There are price designations for many hat. I have a couple Mallory Tens, a Mallory Fifteen, a Stetson 25. I think Michael A has a sixteen-fifty. Like Jerad mentioned, it seems the 100 was introduced in the mid-50s.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

Thanks Fruno for the clear explanation. I have some others questions: in which period they were sold at that price?
Does every US manufacturer of hats have this standard in some of his models?
From the amount of the purchase figure, it seems to me that they were not put on the market in the 50s, or am I wrong?

Here are some Knox Daniele, look. The first one is a Knox 100, my best hat, I think. Second, a Knox Forty, and third, a Knox Twenty.

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[drmaxtejeda]

Thanks Fruno for the clear explanation. I have some others questions: in which period they were sold at that price?
Does every US manufacturer of hats have this standard in some of his models?
From the amount of the purchase figure, it seems to me that they were not put on the market in the 50s, or am I wrong?

Two different Churchill Fiftys, and a Churchill One Hundred.
As you can see from the Fiftys, the number refers to the price, or quality of the felt, not on the model.

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