Beaver Brand Hats

[Biltmore Bob]

I have been looking at the Beaver Brand line of hats on the web. I had a BB "Open Road" style hat back in the early eighties, it was a good quality hat. Is anyone familiar with the brand? What is their quality these days? They seem rather inexpensive to me, $90 from Dads Hats.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Custom !!

Here is my 2 cents.

They are rabbitt felt and have alot of stiffner in them. I was not impressed with the quality.

For $125.00 not very much more you can have Art Fawcett make you a truly custom hat with much better felt and all his vintage trimmings.

 

[fedoralover]

I had a 10x beaver brand hat and the felt was actually pretty durable. It was a western hat with too high a crown for my taste and I thought I would experiment with it to see if I could shrink it down. I actually poured boiling water on it but it didn't shrink, believe it or not. However the quality of workmanship in putting the hat together was very cheap.

fedoralover

 

[binkmeisterRick]

I've owned a couple of older BB hats that I've been pleased with. In fact, about a year and a half ago I came across a Beaver Blend Twenty with a HUGE brim. It was a cowboy felt, but it was very nice to the touch. The sweat and liner were top notch, too. I sent the hat to Steve Delk who gave it a makeover and transformed it into a nice Indy styled fedora. That hat later went to Zeus36, who still has it to this day, far as I know.

I haven't any experience with the newer BB hats, but if I came upon an older one at the right price, I might be willing to add it to my collection.

bink

 

[fedoralover]

If you get their higher end felts they would okay, not super, but okay. Like sharpetoys said though, for not too much more money you can do a lot better.

fedoralover

 

[1mach1]

Thought this thread could use a bump. I have a BB hat, and it leaves a lot to be desired. The felt is of poor quality, and is hard to shape, even under steam. I agree, spend a few more bucks for something else. It's no wonder they went under in 2012. If you are tempted by a BB on eBay or another venue, hold out, and go for something more reputable. You will not be sorry.

 

[Brother cavefish]

I have a 5x beaver, and I love them excellent hats very soft felt made inthe USA, or they were , bankrupt now

 

[barrowjh]

Their quality was all over the place at various times. BB was quite capable of producing good quality hats and made hats for a number of other brands, which we all discovered when the assets were auctioned and those that attended posted pictures of the liner logos for many other brands they made, or had made, at various times. BB also suffered from the same problems that dog all of the factory brands, the mass market will not pay for the quality control we expect. I have a really nice BB 100% beaver that I purchased new about 5 years ago during a Father's Day sale, it is a little stiffer than I prefer, and the brim is only 2 1/2 inch (I would rather have 2 5/8 or 2 3/4) but otherwise it is a really nice hat. So, there are some nice ones out there, but they are relatively few compared to volumes of mediocre-quality hats.

 

[RJR]

I've had several BB hats of various vintages and echo what barrowjh says above.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

I have one BB 20x beaver and it is a nice hat...

 

[Brother cavefish]

Yea a 2 3/4 would

 

[kingrat]

They made some great hats a long time ago and the newer they got the quality went way down . Just like everything else on the planet.

 

[1mach1]

They made some great hats a long time ago and the newer they got the quality went way down . Just like everything else on the planet.

Good point.

 

[Cornshucker77]

I have an older BB Fedora, 100 % imported fur appears on the sweatband, and I like it very much. Takes a shape well with steam.

 

[skydog757]

I bought one after the factory closed at a substantial discount. While it is not my best or my favorite hat, I like it fine. Again, for the price I paid for this fedora new with box, I feel that I got a bargain.