I love the Fed IV!!

[Rogera]

Thanks a bunch guys. I've been wanting the heritage fawn for some time and when I saw Moon's I couldn't resist. The exchange rate didn't help my resistance.

The Akubra bug has bitten again!

 

[moontheloon]

Thanks a bunch guys. I've been wanting the heritage fawn for some time and when I saw Moon's I couldn't resist. The exchange rate didn't help my resistance.

The Akubra bug has bitten again!

it is one of the most versatile hats I own

and even when she is not starting she is always warming up in the bullpen

from raking the yard to a Sunday service ... a winner every time

 

[RJR]

The heritage fawn is a really versatile color,hard to beat.

 

[Bob Roberts]

+3 Rogera.

 

[Rogera]

The heritage fawn is a really versatile color,hard to beat.

Yes sir!

Thanks Bob!

 

[Zombie_61]

Just got this Heritage Fawn in from Down Under. It only took 6 days which is unusual because it usually takes 10-11 days. The heritage felt is definitely more substantial meaning thicker and stiffer than the imperial felt. It does have a very nice sweatband in it. I bought this for the Heritage Fawn color and I am very pleased with it.

What, no head shots???

 

[Rogera]

What, no head shots???

Soon sir! I haven't been able to enjoy it yet. Busy at work and my evening hat has been my beater Open Road for yard work. You better believe it's coming out this weekend though!

 

[Zombie_61]

Soon sir! I haven't been able to enjoy it yet. Busy at work and my evening hat has been my beater Open Road for yard work. You better believe it's coming out this weekend though!

Ah, completely understandable. I can wait.

 

[Zombie_61]

While we're waiting for Roger's head shots, here's another Fed IV in Moonstone Grey:

As soon as I opened the shipping carton I noticed some differences between this hat and my two previous Fed IVs. First, this one had a noticeable chemical smell that the others didn't have; I assume it's from the stiffener they used, but I don't really know. Second, the brim already had almost as much curl/cupping as my others developed after weeks of wearing them; I don't particularly care for flat brims, so this was a plus for me. Third, my other Feds were almost a full size too large (best guess) out of the box, but shrunk to what I consider a perfect fit; this one was only slightly loose. But I have a hat jack, so I can stretch it out a little if I need to.

Then, as I was preparing to shape the crown and brim, I noticed this:

Yep, they sent me the deluxe model by mistake. So my shaping plans got put on hold, and I sent an e-mail to Hats Direct to notify them of the mistake and asked how they would like to handle it. I received a response from Trudi, who thanked me for my honesty, admitted that she herself had made the "simple mistake", and that I should "Shape the hat to your liking and please accept this upgrade from us without further charge." All things considered that was the simplest solution and, to my mind, good business. Honesty really is the best policy.

With that out of the way, I could return to shaping my new hat with a clear conscience. I like the shape my Tawny Fawn Fed IV has attained in the two years I've had it, so I tried to duplicate that with my new Moonstone and I think I got pretty close:

Not bad considering this is only the sixth hat I've shaped, but it's only a Teardrop crease so it wasn't too difficult. Speaking of which, I don't know if it was because of the Heritage Felt, the stiffener, or both, but this hat did NOT want to be shaped; certainly not as easily as my other hats. I had originally wanted the rear of the crown lower to give it a bit of a downward rake front-to-back, but the hat wouldn't have it--the felt would buckle and start to crease every time I tried to convince it to go lower than it was, so we (the hat and I) eventually agreed on what you see in the photos. And getting the front of the brim to snap down at the angle I wanted took four tries because it kept trying to revert back to it's flanged shape. None of my other hats fought me this much, but I like the end result so the extra effort was worth it.

And here are the mandatory head shots:

As always, comments and constructive criticisms are welcome and appreciated!

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Very nice Zombie. I really like the way you've creasd both your Feds. I must say I think your moonstone was right to put up a little fight, that straighter top line looks better in my opinion than the Aussie slope. you wear a hat a little higher than I would but there's no denying the fact that the Fed IV's do suit you.

 

[RJR]

Looks good to me.

 

[Preacher Man]

Very nice looking Fed Zombie! You did a great job on that bash too. The deluxe versions do seem to be a little more stubborn about shaping than the regular felt, but I really like the way they feel and look! Yours looks really good on you and I like that Moonstone color. I've been eyeballing a Moonstone Campdraft for some time now. I need one to go with my Silverbelly! Ha!!! You wear that Fed well my friend!

 

[moontheloon]

Zombie looks fantastic to me

... and Trudi is top notch ... I'm not surprised at all by how she handled the "simple mistake" ... she is always an absolute pleasure to deal with

congrats on a great hat and wear it in good health... you look awesome in it !!!

the Deluxe Fed IV is among my absolute favorite hats ever made

 

[Bob Roberts]

Nice job! I like the softer looking crown crease on the Moonstone.

 

[Rogera]

Looking good Zombie! Moonstone is a great color and you got a great deal.
I did post a head shot Sunday in the WHAYWT thread but here's another for the Fed thread. Forgive the wincing but the sun was hella bright. Ignore the back yard project/mess please!

 

[Bob Roberts]

I very much like the Feds with a deeper flange.

 

[Rogera]

I very much like the Feds with a deeper flange.

+1

 

[Zombie_61]

Very nice Zombie. I really like the way you've creasd both your Feds. I must say I think your moonstone was right to put up a little fight, that straighter top line looks better in my opinion than the Aussie slope. you wear a hat a little higher than I would but there's no denying the fact that the Fed IV's do suit you.

Thank you Sir! I didn't want anything too severe, just a slight downward angle front to back. But this hat wouldn't even give me an extra 1/8", so I just went with it. And, yeah, I tend to wear all of my hats pushed back a bit with the front of the sweatband at the top of my ever-growing forehead. It's not a "fashion" or "look" thing, that's simply where they're most comfortable.

Very nice looking Fed Zombie! You did a great job on that bash too. The deluxe versions do seem to be a little more stubborn about shaping than the regular felt, but I really like the way they feel and look! Yours looks really good on you and I like that Moonstone color. I've been eyeballing a Moonstone Campdraft for some time now. I need one to go with my Silverbelly! Ha!!! You wear that Fed well my friend!

Thank you Sir! Initially I wasn't overly impressed with the deluxe version--no more so than I've been with the regular version, anyway--and the hat being more difficult for me to shape didn't put any points in the "plus" column. But now that I've been wearing and handling it for a few days, I'm beginning to see the appeal. I'm still not sure I'd intentionally spend the extra cash for the deluxe model, but more time with this hat might change my opinion.

I'm not exactly an "Akubra virgin" at this point, but the colors are always a bit of a surprise to me--every hat has been darker than I was expecting based on the photographs I'd seen. So I anticipated the Moonstone to be darker as well, and it was still darker than I thought it would be. lol In subdued lighting it's really more of a "grayscale" gray with no other color to speak of, but brighter light does bring out that hint of a bluish hue. It really is a nice and versatile color, and I'm sure a Campdraft in Moonstone would look equally as good.

Zombie looks fantastic to me

... and Trudi is top notch ... I'm not surprised at all by how she handled the "simple mistake" ... she is always an absolute pleasure to deal with

congrats on a great hat and wear it in good health... you look awesome in it !!!

the Deluxe Fed IV is among my absolute favorite hats ever made

Thank you Sir! (I hope you Gents aren't tired of me typing that yet, but I mean it sincerely!) I was honestly expecting their resolution to be more problematic (i.e., "You can return the hat for exchange, or pay the difference..."), so I was very pleased when they chose the simplest solution. I've always received excellent service from Hats Direct and Trudi, and this was no exception.

By the way, I've been trying to access their website since yesterday, but I keep getting a "The connection has timed out" error. I hope everything is okay down under.

Nice job! I like the softer looking crown crease on the Moonstone.

To be honest, so do I. In hindsight, I realize that I made that "transition" around the top of the crown (I don't know if there's a technical term for it) too severe on my Tawny Fawn Fed, and I've recently begun intentionally making it softer/wider/thicker/fatter on my newer hats. I've thought about re-doing the crease on that Tawny Fawn, but when I pop it out to an open crown there's a visible ridge around the crown at that point and I'm not sure my amateurish attempts and complete lack of equipment would eliminate it. As the saying goes, "The enemy of good is better," so I've decided to leave well enough alone for now rather than make it worse. And thank you Sir!

Looking good Zombie! Moonstone is a great color and you got a great deal.
I did post a head shot Sunday in the WHAYWT thread but here's another for the Fed thread. Forgive the wincing but the sun was hella bright. Ignore the back yard project/mess please!

Thank you Sir! (Okay, it's just getting silly now.) And your Fed looks wonderful! I really like the way you've shaped it, especially that beautiful "swoop" on the brim! As for bright sunlight, that's why I'm wearing sunglasses in almost every photo I post here. If I didn't I'd be squinting like Clint Eastwood, except that he can pull it off while I just look like a moron. Backyard mess? We're experiencing one of the worst droughts in recorded history here in California, so everyone's yards are beginning to look like that. [huh]

 

[Rogera]

Thanks Alex! The Fed is easy to make look good isn't it?

I have heard about all the drought going on in California, damn shame. We just came out of one of our worst droughts and we are still under water rationing. The drought came just in time for an oil boom which uses large amounts of water for fracking accompanied by a population explosion. Not good.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Even folk on the other side of the world have heard about the Californian drought, 4th year running & no end in sight. Apparently there are quite a few households down in the south of the state that no longer have running water as the rivers, wells & aquifers have dried up. With global warming & climat change this could be the future for large parts of S.W. America.