Beater Brotherhood

[MCrider]

I figured this would be the place to put this.
Saturday at work, a gentleman in his 80's walked in wearing an old coat and an old fedora. It was a tan color with a leather band instead of a ribbon and had a hole at the top of the pinch. It had a probably 2.5 inch brim with a little dust on it, like he just tried brushing it off with his hand. I commented about his hat telling him it looked like it had seen better days. He smiled at me and taking the hat off (by grasping the pinch of course) looked at it and stated: "Yes sir, we've seen some days together." Still wearing that smile, he nodded at me and put his hat on before walking out the door. After he was gone, I went back to my locker and pulled out my Akubra Sydney and wondered if it would ever have as much class as his hat did.

 

[RBH]

I figured this would be the place to put this.
Saturday at work, a gentleman in his 80's walked in wearing an old coat and an old fedora. It was a tan color with a leather band instead of a ribbon and had a hole at the top of the pinch. It had a probably 2.5 inch brim with a little dust on it, like he just tried brushing it off with his hand. I commented about his hat telling him it looked like it had seen better days. He smiled at me and taking the hat off (by grasping the pinch of course) looked at it and stated: "Yes sir, we've seen some days together." Still wearing that smile, he nodded at me and put his hat on before walking out the door. After he was gone, I went back to my locker and pulled out my Akubra Sydney and wondered if it would ever have as much class as his hat did.

Now that is a great story...

Thank you!

 

[Big_e]

My hats are still fairly new. I think my Dynafelt Derby will end up becoming my beater. It's the one I grab if I even think it's gonna rain or snow.
Ernest

 

[Yeps]

So this is my beater for when I am not in the city.

In case you didn't guess, I am the one in the middle.
The hat is a Baily's Firehole in LiteFelt. It can take a heck of a beating.

 

[johnnycanuck]

At what point do you retire your hat? Or maybe send it off for a renovation job? Lets hear about it, or maybe better yet, see it.

I have retired two hats so far, both Akubra's, a Federation and a Snowy River. They both still looked good and still had life left in them but the sweat band kept shrinking. I bought a hat Jack to stretch them out again but they just kept shrinking. In the end I found it was worth it to me to buy a new hat rather then keep stretching the old hats out every other day. Here is a picture of the Snowy River

as I say, it still looks good but it shrank down from a 7 1/2 to a 7 3/8 LO over two years. The Federation is now owned by a friend that still wears it regularly.

So lets see your old worn hats.

Johnny

 

[Lefty]

to accompany the "beaten" thread

 

[scottyrocks]

If by 'beater' it is meant a hat that you dont care what happens to it, or what gets on it, then I guess I have two of them - a woolie that I do construction, including wallboard, plaster and paint, in:

and this converted Bailey western:

I wear two of my Akubras when doing yard work but I dont consider that beater-work.

 

[DRB]

My first hat post on Fedora and appropriately enough the very first hat i bought...

That is a really cool hat

 

[warbird]

It has, ever so slight, a bit of taper.

 

[Lefty]

because it's still funny

 

[julie-tom]

Hey, somebody just called my borso ugly. I think that's just unkind....

 

[julie-tom]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?53973-Show-us-your-beaten.-Not-your-bea

This is my "universal" and it's just swell on cold mornings...

 

[DJH]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?53973-Show-us-your-beaten.-Not-your-bea

Ok, maybe my Bailey Ventilator might be considered ugly.

This 5-panel is pretty attractive, allbeit somewhat worse for wear.

This Adam stiff-brim is ideal for rototilling in the back 40..

I just wish there was a topic dedicated to our favorite 'beaters', I'm just sure that I am not alone in loving some of those less-fortunate hats of yesteryear...

I just wish there was a topic dedicated to our favorite 'beaters', I'm just sure that I am not alone in loving some of those less-fortunate hats of yesteryear...

I believe I've seen such a thread.

 

[randooch]

Julie-Tom, DJH, you've got me *ahem* beat, but here's my offering, which looks fine on the outside:

but has issues within. The ancient cloth sweatband was so disgusting-looking, even after washing it, that I tore it out, leaving only what you see below. Somehow, it's still comfortable!

 

[Dinerman]

Got this from a fuzzy ebay picture and a description which listed it in "good" shape. The brim was like this when I got it. The pinch hole, was too, but has grown despite my attempts to shore it up from inside. Someone put a lot of work into trying to "repair" this one.
Shortly after I got it, and seeing its condition, I tried to steam it into at least a little bit better shape- the oilskin behind the sweatband caught on fire from the heat through the felt, causing a bit (though not as much as you'd expect) of sweatband damage in addition to what's obvious with the felt. Not much that can be done to save this one.

The only vintage hat I've ever thrown out was a '50s royal stetson that seemed like it had been soaked in grease. Nothing I did to it (and believe me I tried everything) would keep it from leaving rings on anything it was set on, from getting your hands greasy when you touched it. It was like someone had stored it in a big old oil drum.

 

[randooch]

Say hi to Jeb, for me, eh?

 

[julie-tom]

hey, that hat is a beauty! I'm diggin on this new thread!!

 

[Cliffnopus]

Got this from a fuzzy ebay picture and a description which listed it in "good" shape. The brim was like this when I got it. The pinch hole, was too, but has grown despite my attempts to shore it up from inside. Someone put a lot of work into trying to "repair" this one.
Shortly after I got it, and seeing its condition, I tried to steam it into at least a little bit better shape- the oilskin behind the sweatband caught on fire from the heat through the felt, causing a bit (though not as much as you'd expect) of sweatband damage in addition to what's obvious with the felt. Not much that can be done to save this one.

The only vintage hat I've ever thrown out was a '50s royal stetson that seemed like it had been soaked in grease. Nothing I did to it (and believe me I tried everything) would keep it from leaving rings on anything it was set on, from getting your hands greasy when you touched it. It was like someone had stored it in a big old oil drum.

I think we just found a new one for Johnny Depp.

Cliff

 

[James71]

These two belong to a mate of mine. He is a sheep farmer and gets his money worth out of hats.

The first is a squatter. The second is an akubra made so long ago we cant find the model.

 

[MDphoto]

I think we just found a new one for Johnny Depp.

Cliff

I was thinking the same!