Button cords??

[moustache]

How many of you use the button cords that usually came attached to the older (and some newer) hats??
Two of my Borsalinos have them.I have never used them but though i would ask around.I can imagine fellas in Chicago and other windy places might.

JD

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

How many of you use the button cords that usually came attached to the older (and some newer) hats??
Two of my Borsalinos have them.I have never used them but though i would ask around.I can imagine fellas in Chicago and other windy places might.

JD

I was taking a walk a few days ago and the wind was blowing very hard. I have several hats with the wind trolley but had never actually used them, so I figured I'd see if they worked. It took some fiddling to deploy the wind trolley on my Borsalino "Open Road" but I did, and I buttoned it to my shirt pocket flap. I was afraid it would be annoying to have that string flapping around, but it really wasn't.

It didn't get put to the test as the hat fits very well and the wind wasn't blowing hard enough, but at least I finally tried it out.

 

[jake_fink]

I was glad for my wind trolley today. If it's true that nothing looks more ridiculous than a man chasing his hat I would have looked pretty ridiculous, the wind took it off three times!


Of course a man with a flying hat attached to his shirt doesn't look much less ridiculous in my book, but you reel 'er in faster and look ridiculous for a lesser period of time.

 

[Spellflower]

I was in NYC this weekend, and the wind was unbeleivable. I wore a pirate costume out last night, and my pirate hat kept taking off down the street. I decided not to take that chance with my Akubra Fedora this morning, so I buttoned it on to my shirt. I suppose I should have put the hat on loosely to test it out, but I pulled it down further than usual to make extra sure I didn't lose it, so I can't say how well the cord works. I found the cord a bit distracting, and wondered if I would get some weird looks, but the fact is that a fedora gets enough attention anyway that a cord isn't gonna make a big difference.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Funny Story!

I was on a tour in Sabino Canyon, near Tucson, Arizona and the wind was howling pretty good down the canyon as we went up. I thought this might be as good a reason as any to employ my trolley cord - I mean that's what they're there for, right? So I took off my hat and tugged on the button only to discover that the trolley cord itself was never attached to the hat! The entire cord was around the width of the crown with both ends attached to the button. I stood staring at the hat in one hand and the trolley cord in the other! So much for that fabulous feature!!

Good thing I wasn't on a trolley car in Chicago in in 1938! This hat would have never made throught the decades to be with me today. Sometime holding on with both hands works just as well!

-Dixon Cannon

 

[MattC]

They work

I've used them in London walking along the Thames and at Point Reyes in Northern California. Pull the cord to the rear instead of forward and over your shoulder, and it won't look so strange.

 

[art92101]

Yup Trolley cords work!

We just bought my wife a Borsalino alexandria (only $70) and its first trip was on a tourist trolley. We live In San Diego and had won a bus tour of the town. The bus is made to look like an open air trolley. We sat in the back and it gets real windy back there. Because it was her first day wearing the hat my wife was worried about losing it. I noticed the trolley cord and we fastened it to her blouse. the hat did blow off but was trapped but the cord. She ended up keeping the hat on her lap because the back of the bus was too windy/
I have used my trolley on fishing boats and it works great. I also have an Panama hat from Optimo in Bisbee AZ and instead of the trolley cord they use a leather cord/tether on the inside hat band that has a tiny safety pin to attach to your clothes. I have used this with great effect. the pin sounds tacky but you don't have to be wearing a button hole to use it.

 

[ideaguy]

What luck- I've got a Borsalino Allesandria with a wind trolley-seems to
be an extra-long wind trolley, room enough to loop it around the hat twice
before it reaches the ribbon again. Does anyone have advice as to how the wind trolley is supposed to be attached-or is there a thread I've missed-
I'd really appreciate some help here-it's a great looking hat,and don't want to
mess with success so far...[huh]

 

[Justdog]

Button Cords

How many of you use the button cords that usually came attached to the older (and some newer) hats??
Two of my Borsalinos have them.I have never used them but though i would ask around.I can imagine fellas in Chicago and other windy places might.

JD

Was pleased to see that a new Biltmore fedora had a wind button on it. Very surprised:eusa_clap .

 

[bolthead]

I've used them in London walking along the Thames and at Point Reyes in Northern California. Pull the cord to the rear instead of forward and over your shoulder, and it won't look so strange.

.....wouldn't mind seeing a picture, demonstrating this.

 

[RBH]

Never used them, but really like the looks of them on a hat.

 

[Geesie]

I wish my hats had them. Not really needed in this climate but when I travel it really would come in handy.

 

[univibe88]

Never used them, but really like the looks of them on a hat.

Same here

 

["Skeet" McD]

Add-on "Wind Trolleys"?

Greetings, all!
I'm fond of wearing my hard straw hat during the summer months...but it's difficult to look dignified when you're holding your hat on, grabbing at it when the wind picks up, or carrying it....we won't even consider chasing down the street after it!

The answer, clearly, is a hat cord (as I would have called them) or "wind trolley" which seems to be used here....sadly, none came with the hat. Does anyone know of an after-market for such things? If not here: where?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Inusuit]

You might try here:

http://hatsupply.com/

I didn't wade through all their stuff, but a phone call may get you an answer. I think the tricky part would be getting a cord and button that match your hat and ribbon. I believe VS Custom Hats can put wind cords on the hats they make. Don't know if they would sell you just cord.

 

["Skeet" McD]

http://hatsupply.com/

I didn't wade through all their stuff, but a phone call may get you an answer.

Thanks, Inusuit! I searched their site (for "hat cord" and "wind trolley") and took a poke through the pages manually: no luck. So I've fired off an email. If there's a useful response, I'll be sure to let everyone know. Again, thanks for the help.

 

[gtdean48]

Graham at Optimo replaces Lapel Cords too.

 

[Sargon]

Here's a link to an alternative for hats that don't have a wind trolley installed. Not sure if the clip on the back would leave a mark on the hat though.
http://www.noggintops.com/page.cfm?p=162

 

[Dewhurst]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]I'm fond of wearing my hard straw hat during the summer months...but it's difficult to look dignified when you're holding your hat on...[/QUOTE]

I may be weird, but I like the feeling of holding my hat on in the wind with my hand, and I always think it is "cool" when I see people doing that as well.

No, I'm actually not joking or being sarcastic.

Doesn't beat a wind trolley with button or clamp though.[huh]

 

["Skeet" McD]

I may be weird, but I like the feeling of holding my hat on in the wind with my hand, and I always think it is "cool" when I see people doing that as well.

No, I'm actually not joking or being sarcastic.

Doesn't beat a wind trolley with button or clamp though.[huh]

Friend Dewhurst...I know exactly what you mean, and it never occurred to me that you might be joking. I wonder, though, how much of that is just the general fascination with hats evident here...and the rarity of seeing someone on the street covered, windy or not!

Nonetheless, as someone who frequently carries a briefcase....you're already one hand down; and the straw skimmer I'm thinking of is probably never to be replaced (I was foolish enough, a few years ago, to order only ONE of 'em: it was the only place I had ever seen a brim offered larger than 2 inches. I'm particularly interested in the early 20C, when brims were larger than the sort of 1940s versions that got stuck in amber and are still available. Additionally, I have a quite full face, so the larger brim is much more flattering). At any rate....a felt hat hitting the pavement at 10mph can probably have most damage repaired by a good cleaning....a hard straw at the same speed is almost certain to be chipped. And that would be TOO sad.

If I see you headed down the street, holding on to your hat with one hand...be sure to wave with the other one!