Determining Felt quality?

[david]

Stetson is now making a line of fedora style bison felt hats. Has anyone had any experience with them? They retail for around $100.

 

[nicolasb]

A thin beaver felt hat in the summer is not that bad. I wear felt hats all summer.

Or of course there are the various "straw" options: panama hats, shantung, "milan straw", etc. These are usually light and well-ventilated.

 

[fedoralover]

I saw the bison felt hats in person and they were Butt Ugly, very course and cheap looking.

fedoralover

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Beaver year around.

I live in Florida and wear a light weight beaver that I had Steve aka Fedora make for me. I find its no hotter than a Montecristi Panama hat.

http://www.adventurebilthats.com/

 

[david]

I saw the bison felt hats in person and they were Butt Ugly, very course and cheap looking.

fedoralover

Thank you very much for the review.

 

[Buck]

Thanks!

Thanks to all who responded. I'll be placing my order with Steve tomorrow.

Best,

Buck

(Hmmmmmm.......maybe I should trap my own beaver up here!)

 

[Buck]

Ops

Whoops! Sorry........wrong forum

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

The hat in my avatar is a green Resistol Kitten Finish, but it's not really...

Is it?

 

[Matt Deckard]

Yeah... that resistol Kitten finish is the mercury finish... super smooth. I have a homburg with the same finish.

 

[feltfan]

Yeah... that resistol Kitten finish is the mercury finish... super smooth. I have a homburg with the same finish.

A lot of those Kitten Finish Resistols seem to come
from the 50s and 60s. Surely they weren't still using
mercury then?

 

[Matt Deckard]

You know it wasn't the Kitten finish Resistol I was thinking about, it was a Adam Homburg I have with a merc finish...

The Kitten is awsome though very silky

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

But it's not really made from kittens, is it?

 

[Matt Deckard]

No... no kittens.

 

[Pilgrim]

OK, in terms of assessing quality:

Matt proposed some very helpful criteria, but most of them can only be assessed after owning the hat for some time.

Jamespowers alluded to this, but I want to ask about it more directly: how much can one tell from the "hand", or feel of the felt, when touching and handilng a hat?

I realize that hats with more stiffener in them will have a somewhat different "hand", but among the dress hats I have, there certainly are different tactile characteristics to the felt. The grey Glen Allan (Canadian) hat I recently acquired has a wonderful, soft feel to the felt that rivals the blue Borsalino I have, but the Borso has a slightly rougher finish. My two Whippets feel identical to my Stratoliner interns of surface texture, softness and pliability.

Can any of the hatters here comment about what tactile qualities of the felt can be used to make a rough assessment of felt quality, if any?

 

[Fletch]

No... no kittens.

You wouldn't have to kill the kitties. Just shear 'em.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Correct.

 

[Dr Doran]

Fascinating info. Thanks, gents.