Best option for for protecting fedora from heavy rain & snow?

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

Hello everyone. This is my first post here. I am really happy be here.

I have been wearing fedoras for about 14 years.

I hope your advice can help me sort out the best solution to the dilemma that I am about to describe.

Throughout my years of wearing fedoras, most have only lasted for 2 years; maybe one or two of them lasted for 3 years at the maximum. All of them have been Biltmore fedoras.

Throughout the entire life of any one of my fedoras, it would gradually shrink. Eventually it would shrink to the point where it was too tight to fit me any more without squeezing my head excessively.

I asked an employee of my local hatter why this shrinking occurred and what I could do to prevent it with future fedoras. Her only response was, "They shouldn't shrink." Maybe they shouldn't, but I am certain that they do, therefore the advice that "they shouldn't shrink" doesn't help me.

I live in Canada, and I have definitely subjected all of my fedoras to heavy amounts of rain and snow. From what I have read so far, this seems to be the most likely reason as to why they have shrunk.

Starting now, I would rather avoid having my fedoras continue to shrink and hence to become unusable after every two years of service.

I do not wear fedoras just to look good (although that is certainly one reason why I do). The most important reason why I wear them is because they keep my head warm in the very cold Canadian winters. That is to say, I wear my fedora most of all because it literally performs for me a function necessary to my survival.

Because of where I live, there is no way for me to avoid having my fedora on my head during heavy snowfalls, unless I simply do not wear it in the winter. To not wear it in the winter would defeat the purpose of me owning it, since it would be too hot to wear in the other seasons, and since it would look strange without my overcoat complementing it.

For those reasons, wearing a beater hat instead of my fedora does not seem like a good solution to me.

I called Bencraft about this issue, and asked the person who answered about how some of the Borsos they carry hold up vs. rain and snow. He recommended that the best thing to do is not to wear them during those weather conditions, since they are expensive hats and they are not designed to withstand harsh weather. I can certainly appreciate that point in light of the shrinking issues I've mentioned.

He also recommended that if I am going to wear a fedora during harsh weather conditions anyway, I should use a Shaynecoat.

After searching for images of Shaynecoats, I have discovered that if I wear one over my fedora, I will look totally ridiculous. However, that is a price I may be willing to pay, if doing so will preserve my fedora against rain and snow, and prevent me from having to replace it every 2 years.

This bring me to the main point of my thread, which is to ask all of you: what is the best solution to my dilemma?

Is using a Shaynecoat the best option that I have?

Will a Shaynecoat's hood completely block heavy rain and snow from reaching my fedora?

Are there alternatives to the Shaynecoat that provide the same functionality as the Shaynecoat, yet look less ridiculous when worn over a fedora?

 

[bulldog1935]

the basic cowboy hat rain cover works just fine on a fedora
http://www.cavenders.com/western/co...ries/MF01080?gclid=CL7agZ3MhbMCFXSSPAodqUcAcA

 

[danofarlington]

I don't own one yet, but people on this site will say Akubra for the toughest rain-handling fur felt hats. Other than that, you could just buy a few inexpensive beaters. But won't your ears get cold in the winter with a fedora?

 

[alanfgag]

Welcome EC!

If you hang out here for a while, you will quickly accumulate enough hats to assign a couple of sacrificial lambs to the weather. That said, I have very few hats that I would intentionally subject to a pouring rain. Snow is less of a problem. You can shake most of it off before it melts and soaks through the hat.

If the weather forecast is awful, I choose my hat accordingly. When I travel, I always pack a nylon Tilley that compresses to a flat form and pops back up easily if I encounter a day with heavy rain. But the best solution is to accumulate a gross of hats... no matter how good a shopper you are, you'll wind up with a couple of trusty clunkers to wear when the weather gets gross.

cheers,
Alan

 

[Feraud]

I asked an employee of my local hatter why this shrinking occurred and what I could do to prevent it with future fedoras. Her only response was, "They shouldn't shrink." Maybe they shouldn't, but I am certain that they do, therefore the advice that "they shouldn't shrink" doesn't help me.

It is unfortunate your local hatter could not answer a basic question about a product they sell.
Hard weather will affect any fedora. Fedoras come in different quality and wear accordingly. You use your hat like any other piece of outdoor gear and it may need maintenance. A decent quality hat can be reblocked if necessary.

As mentioned by danofarlington Akubra makes tough as nails hats. I've owned one for years and it's been through a few rainstorms. It's a quality fedora.

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

But won't your ears get cold in the winter with a fedora?

They would if I left them unattended, but I have developed a solution to that.

I wrap a scarf around my neck, and also use it to cover my face and ears.

The setup keeps both my face and my ears warm, although the downside is that people who see me do not understand that the reason why I do that is for warmth, and hence they may get the wrong idea about what is going on.

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

A decent quality hat can be reblocked if necessary.

I always had my hats cleaned and blocked, but for the hats of mine that have shrunk, the blocking process did not restore them to their original size.

The hatter also offered a "stretching" service which supposedly would stretch the hat back to its original size. I used that service once, and when I got the hat back after being stretched, it looked worse than ever. It was an eyesore. The crown seemed to have extended past far more of the brim that it was meant to; it looked deformed; and on top of that, the stretching process caused white lines to appear all over the hat. After that experience, I realized that I'd rather throw my hats away rather than have them stretched again.

 

[Wolfwood]

One word: Akubra. They make great hats that still stand up to weather, whereas others make just pretty hats with no regard to their actual usability when it rains.

I've had wool and fur felt hats shrink on me over a few years, but none of them was an Akubra.

 

[gtdean48]

A nice dress fedora should not be subjected to harsh weather, just as a nice suede jacket is not.
Having a good rain/snow hat is key. For me as mentioned earlier, that is an Akubra. They love the wet & are built to take.
That does not mean they don't need maintenance. How a wet hat dries is key. A band block or stretcher are necessary hat tools.
A wet hat should either dry on your head or on a band block or stretcher. Wet sweatbands will draw up as moisture evaporates.
Leather does that.

 

[1961MJS]

the basic cowboy hat rain cover works just fine on a fedora
http://www.cavenders.com/western/co...ries/MF01080?gclid=CL7agZ3MhbMCFXSSPAodqUcAcA

Hi

Make sure and try out a larger sized rain cover before buying the exact size as your hat. I tore the bow off my Campaign hat and hat to do a bit of sewing. It's half beaver, I eventually just quit wearing the rain cover.

At least Biltmore hats aren't all wool. It could be worse, much worse. I'd second getting an Akubra, possibly a Federation which would be much larger than your average Biltmore. I'd also consider buying a custom job for $300 from one of our custom guys. 100% beaver hats are much more rain resistant than even the Akubra.

Just my $0.02

Later

 

[tonyb]

A nice dress fedora should not be subjected to harsh weather, just as a nice suede jacket is not.
Having a good rain/snow hat is key. For me as mentioned earlier, that is an Akubra. They love the wet & are built to take.
That does not mean they don't need maintenance. How a wet hat dries is key. A band block or stretcher are necessary hat tools.
A wet hat should either dry on your head or on a band block or stretcher. Wet sweatbands will draw up as moisture evaporates.
Leather does that.

Yup, that's it.

Customers sometimes ask me about wearing hats in rough weather. I generally say it's kinda like your good wool or cashmere overcoat. Wearing it across the parking lot in the rain, or around the block in a light drizzle, isn't doing it any favors, but whatever damage such use might inflict would be minimal, provided you let it (the coat or the hat) air dry under moderate (not hot) temperatures.

Still, as Alan noted, it's good to have a sturdy hat or three for use in the rain and snow, and accept that those hats will develop "character" such that you might not wear them when you're putting on the dog. But even a high-quality, all-beaver (say) hat can be a guy's rain and/or snow lid, and a darned good one that'll probably serve him well in that capacity for a number of years. But it won't look like a new hat after more than a bit of that kind of use.

The state troopers out here wear a nice-looking teal blue Stratton "Smoky Bear" hat, and they use those plastic rain covers when the weather calls for it. The protectors undoubtedly prolong the life of those hats.

 

[Mystic]

Yup, that's it.

Customers sometimes ask me about wearing hats in rough weather. I generally say it's kinda like your good wool or cashmere overcoat. Wearing it across the parking lot in the rain, or around the block in a light drizzle, isn't doing it any favors, but whatever damage such use might inflict would be minimal, provided you let it (the coat or the hat) air dry under moderate (not hot) temperatures.

Still, as Alan noted, it's good to have a sturdy hat or three for use in the rain and snow, and accept that those hats will develop "character" such that you might not wear them when you're putting on the dog. But even a high-quality, all-beaver (say) hat can be a guy's rain and/or snow lid, and a darned good one that'll probably serve him well in that capacity for a number of years. But it won't look like a new hat after more than a bit of that kind of use.

The state troopers out here wear a nice-looking teal blue Stratton "Smoky Bear" hat, and they use those plastic rain covers when the weather calls for it. The protectors undoubtedly prolong the life of those hats.

I agree with these guys....

If you don't want something messed up....dont put it in harms way.

When I was growing up I didn't have a lot of clothes but, I did have good clothes, school clothes and play clothes.

My mother always told me when going out to play....take off your school clothes and put on your play clothes...

In other words.....the clothes she didn't mind me getting messed up.

 

[Bassman]

As others have said, wear the hat that's appropriate for the weather. Akubra is MY foul weather hat.

 

[danofarlington]

I saw fur felt hats get rained on in the old black and white movies, and from this I inferred that not only can fur felt hats take the weather, but that's what they were used for back in the day. So I dedicate a certain number of my hats to rain duty. Now, I could probably do better in strict rain protection with an umbrella, a yellow rubber rain hat, a plastic bag over my head, a Tilley's hat, or any number of second choices, but I don't do that. The rain hats I use, the fur felts, are beaters and they exist in my place just for that purpose. They do survive. I plan to get an Akubra one day to do even better in the rain. However, I don't like to get my better hats too wet because I am worried about the shape and about shrinkage of the sweat band.

 

[tonyb]

I saw fur felt hats get rained on in the old black and white movies, and from this I inferred that not only can fur felt hats take the weather, but that's what they were used for back in the day. So I dedicate a certain number of my hats to rain duty. Now, I could probably do better in strict rain protection with an umbrella, a yellow rubber rain hat, a plastic bag over my head, a Tilley's hat, or any number of second choices, but I don't do that. The rain hats I use, the fur felts, are beaters and they exist in my place just for that purpose. They do survive. I plan to get an Akubra one day to do even better in the rain. However, I don't like to get my better hats too wet because I am worried about the shape and about shrinkage of the sweat band.

And not just the sweatband, Dan. Most of that dreaded crown taper can be attributed to the felt itself shrinking due to its getting repeatedly wet.

We've been over this at least a hundred times before, but it's germane to the matter at hand, so I suppose it bears repeating ...

It's the nature of felt, especially recently made felt, to want to continue felting. The individual fibers interlock with one another and tighten up, a process aided by moisture, heat and friction. This results in a piece of felt (in this case, a hat body) with smaller outside dimensions. If the hat's dimensions stay close to the same at the bandline (where the crown and brim meet) because the wearer helps it hold that dimension through wearing the hat or putting a band block or a stretcher in it, then that shrinkage will show in the crown. Hence, additional taper.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Aren't pure beaver hats much less subject to shrinkage?

 

[RBH]

My hats are bought to protect my head...aint gonna keep one long that will not take some weather.
I do not abuse my hats, but should it rain... {and the hat is on my head} it better be able to take what comes.
I do not have a hat in my rotation of fedoras that I wear that has not been in rain, snow or anything else the Arkansas weather has thrown at me. And that includes a tornado or two.

 

[tonyb]

Aren't pure beaver hats much less subject to shrinkage?

Good question, and one I really don't have an answer to.

If it is indeed true that 100 percent beaver fur hats tend to shrink less than their lesser counterparts (a proposition I'm not arguing either way), the fiber content is still only one factor that may contribute to more or less shrinking. Others include the care taken at the felting plant in producing the hat body, and that taken by the hatter in turning that hat body into a finished hat, at each of several steps along that path, at both the felting plant and the hatter's shop.

Greater care isn't necessarily taken with costlier materials, but it's not unthinkable that it would be.

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

And not just the sweatband, Dan. Most of that dreaded crown taper can be attributed to the felt itself shrinking due to its getting repeatedly wet.

We've been over this at least a hundred times before, but it's germane to the matter at hand, so I suppose it bears repeating ...

It's the nature of felt, especially recently made felt, to want to continue felting. The individual fibers interlock with one another and tighten up, a process aided by moisture, heat and friction. This results in a piece of felt (in this case, a hat body) with smaller outside dimensions. If the hat's dimensions stay close to the same at the bandline (where the crown and brim meet) because the wearer helps it hold that dimension through wearing the hat or putting a band block or a stretcher in it, then that shrinkage will show in the crown. Hence, additional taper.

I too think it is bears repeating, because as I was awaiting to become registered on this forum, I tried to search for answers to the questions I posted in the original post of this thread. That led me to threads like this:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?43985, which contain many posts that assert that fedoras should be able to withstand rain just fine; some even say rain is good for them. Based on my personal experience with several Biltmores, which are supposed to be a decent quality of hat, I do not believe that rain is okay for fedoras. Maybe in the future, the posts such as yours in this thread might be of use to others who search for answers to questions like the ones I've asked in the original post. Such posts are of use to me also.

In regards to "moisture, heat, and friction" causing hats to shrink, I have an additional question: are hats subjected to those things, and do/can they shrink, during a professional cleaning and blocking process?

I have another more general question: how does someone who wants to do so go about perusing the wares of the vendor members here? I've read that they aren't allowed to advertise and are only allowed to post in the vendors forum. Manually browsing that forum does not seem like an effective way to discover the totality of what products are available. Is there a better way to find that information, like a link on this site that lists all of the vendor members' sites?

Thanks to all of you for all of your feedback about everything. It's much appreciated.

 

[tonyb]

...



In regards to "moisture, heat, and friction" causing hats to shrink, I have an additional question: are hats subjected to those things, and do/can they shrink, during a professional cleaning and blocking process?

...

Another good question, and one which I feel considerably more confident I can answer.

Cleaning removes soiling, or at least the soiling that can be safely removed. Blocking, which is necessary once the hat body is cleaned, restores the hat's shape and "body." The blocking process involves ironing, which causes the felt to tighten up and further take the shape of the block. So, a hat fresh off the block should have any undesirable taper taken away, provided the hatter did the blocking properly (it ain't that hard) and used a block with relatively little taper itself. So yes, heat and water and friction contribute to felt shrinkage, but the block arrests that shrinkage, because the hat body can't be of smaller dimensions than the hat block on which it resides.

Now, how long that freshly blocked hat will maintain that restored shape is another matter. There are many variables affecting that.