I love the Fed IV!!

[cybergentleman]

worth the wait

funny you mention the Whippet, i was perusing some shots of the fed and thought to myself today that you could do some brim binding and make a whippet-like hat.

funny really.
keep us all posted- you may just start a new fad.

 

[elvisroe]

A radical trim!

this is the most radical Fed iv treatment I've seen. Stax more crown than the tapered little hampton in my avtar!

One last trim. It measures right over 2 and a quarter.

 

[David Conwill]

Whippetized Fed IV

My Buckubra Aero, as promised.

-Dave

 

[avedwards]

I finally decided to order a Federation, after about nine months of contemplation. It arrived today with Hats Direct putting a nice touch on the box by wishing me a happy 2010. Like many it seems I had a hole in my box, but I think that could be due to the customs people who seem to have opened it to verify its contents (I managed to avoid paying tax because the people evidently thought it was a gift as Hats Direct had written on the box).

However, the immediate thing I noticed is how ridiculously stiff the hat is. Even out of the box my Stetson Chatham was not so stiff (by coincidence I received it about exactly a year ago, give or take a few days). Lets just hope it softens up as many people claim it does.

My only other problem with it is that it's loose on the sides but actually tight front and back. I know I'm a long oval, but I didn't think it would be tight. Will it conform or would I be better to ask for a size larger? (I ordered a 59cm and my head measures 58.5cm circumference.)

Other than that, the quality of the sweatband seems good, the felt seems nice even if stiff at the moment. Considering that the liner is glued, the way it fits under the sweatband is done very nicely.

Pictures will come once it gets a crease as I'm wearing it open crown at the moment and feeling ever so slightly Jewish doing so. However creasing will have to wait until I know whether I will want to keep it or get a size up. So someone please reply soon as I am just itching to work on it.

 

[Wolfwood]

It will conform. If it is nicely loose on the sides, I would not worry about the tightness in front and back since it will conform in time. You can naturally speed it up a bit by pressing the hat from the sides around the area where the memory wire is inside the sweatband (squeezing it).

Hatsdirect has spoken of about .5 size shrinkage over time, so the size of your head should be just right for the hat in question...

Mind you, I just remembered that Federations are supposed to be a little smaller than their size tells you. Did you look at this chart?:

http://hatsdirect.com/federation/size.html

 

[avedwards]

Thank you. Looks like I will be creasing it after all in a few minutes. Perhaps I might leave it in the bathroom so that the steam from the shower softens it up.

I didn't spot that chart, but I'd heard something about them being a bit small. I PMed Edward about the Fed with general questions as he is the only UK lounger I know to have one, and he advised me to get my actual size, which is 59cm on modern hats since they inevitably shrink a bit anyway. If it tapers a bit as a result of minor shrinkage I'm not bothered as I think a tiny bit of taper looks better with my face.

EDIT: The centre crease I just put in five seconds ago (and have taken out) makes it fit better anyway. I see what people mean when they say it fits better creased. Now it's time for my proper teardrop/diamond hybrid crease (based on Bogart's hats). If it does fit better creased than open crown though, I'm lead to wonder what Orthodox Jewish hat wearers do as they may prefer to wear it open crown...

 

[Duper]

Hey avedwards, I can't comment on the "conforming to a long oval" as both of my Fed IVs fell down to my ears when I first put them on. They both snugged up nicely after bashing and the tawny fawn needed some slight padding under the sweat on the sides at first.

As or the stiffness, the tawny fawn which is older and is my "go to" hat softened after being lightly moistened with the shower head nozzle and being bashed and the brim shaped.

I also own a Steston Chatham clone and I think because the Fed is not a "snap brim" hat it leaves an impression of being stiff.

What colour did you choose?

The staff at HD may be your best source of info on whether the hat will conform or if you need to upsize.

I hope it works out for you. I agonized about returning my first Fed IV when it appeared to be way too large.

Just in case I see in the classifieds section that someone is looking to purchase a size 59 fed IV.

 

[avedwards]

I purchased a moonstone, as I have a thing for grey hats with blue hues.

I think I'll keep this one due to Wolfwood's advise. I can't make myself go through the agonizing one week wait again, and it looks to conform if what this whole thread is about is true.

I would consider this a snap brim though as it does snap down in the front when forced, even if the brim is a little stiff at the moment.

I'm just so happy that it's untapered, as I like my tapered hats when viewed from an angle, but front on they just look too tapered. I might actually like the look of this one from all angles.

By the way, what do you mean by Stetson Chatham clone?

 

[Duper]

My Stetson Chatham clone is a "Bear Creek" made exclusively for Noggintops. It has a narrow leather hatband rather than the standard ribbon hatband. Same hat,,,different hatband.

http://www.noggintops.com/page.cfm?p=52

 

[avedwards]

Yes, I've seen that one before. I wasn't sure if by clone you meant that you hat Art Fawcett make you a hat with Chatham dimensions or another Stetson hat with the same block and crease.

 

[scottyrocks]

I may be a little late here, but your Fed IV will soften with time. Ive had my standard a coupla months short of a year, and I can do the squishy thing with it shown in a video with a deluxe. I dont have the link for the video but Im sure someone here knows the one Im talking about.

My Fed's consistency and feel is similar now to some of the vintage hats I have. Not super soft, but not stiff, either. I can wear mine in a high wind, and the brim will give way before I lose the hat, something that has not happened yet.

Feds do not have a snap brim. The edge is not bound. and is very shapeable, something thats not as easy or possible with a snap.

Give it some time. It should become your everyday hat. I dont go anywhere without mine.

 

[avedwards]

I've seen the video in question, so I know what you mean. I'm looking forward to my first hat which will get better with wear, not worse as my other two fur felts looked fine at first but started to show signs of wear.

I may need to adjust the crease before it gets worn in public as the crown looked odd on my long face. It's surprising what tightening of the top of the pinch can do though. And I'm working on the dents to give the visual effect of taper.

 

[frussell]

Softening Up

I've only had my Fed IV for a few months, and it's already a lot softer than it was to start with. I used cold clean water in a spray bottle to shape it, and a few doses of that seemed to soften it up a good deal, along with normal wear. I also feel your pain on the fit issue. Mine is plenty big enough, but seems to want to return to a less oval shape, making it gappy on the sides, but tight front and back. I have yet to put a stretcher in it to correct this, because it's roomy enough as it is, but what I do like about this hat the most is it seems to bounce back from just about anything. Frank

 

[Edw8ri]

The latest, and last, addition to the Federation IV Tugboat Fleet was commissioned earlier today.
Second row, forward, Heritage Fawn Deluxe Arrived yesterday, but waited until this AM for Sea Trials. Tried a higher crown...didn't like it.
So, "Tug" it is.

Carbon Standard is jockeying its' way through the Promotion Board as my favorite to knock out the Dark Brown Deluxe for postion of Flagship.

This is a truly magnificent collection. I like the ES pins on them. But I must ask a newbie question. What is it about the way these hats are bashed that make them tugboats? How does this differ from an Indy bash. Pretty dumb questions, I know but if I don't ask, I'll never know.

 

[CRH]

...I can wear mine in a high wind, and the brim will give way before I lose the hat, something that has not happened yet.

...

Those darn brim flipp'n winds.

 

[scottyrocks]

This is a truly magnificent collection. I like the ES pins on them. But I must ask a newbie question. What is it about the way these hats are bashed that make them tugboats? How does this differ from an Indy bash. Pretty dumb questions, I know but if I don't ask, I'll never know.

The tugboat has a slight hump just behind the front pinch, as opposed to having a normal center dent followed by the side pinches being put in. The reason its not 'close' to an Indy bash, at least on Goose's hats, is that the crowns are too low, in proportion to the rest of the hat.

My hat started out with a regular center dent and tight front pinch a la IJ. Later on, I decided the front was too high, in proportion to the rest of the hat. I decided to bring the top of the front pinch down, and did it without redoing the center dent, so the area just behind the top of the front pinch is now higher than the front, which dips down, making it a tugboat, but only mildly.

I did this by wetting only the very front and forcing it down with my forefinger, while not allowing the rest of the center dent to drop (I didnt wet it).

So my Fed has a slight tugboat on it, but the whole hat is taller than Goose's hats. And its all just preference and how it looks to your eye.

 

[MattJH]

Count me in, too! I love my Akubra Federation IVs. I have the Dark Brown and the Carbon Grey, both in Standard. They were stiff when I received them, too, but that's natural. Just wear them. I wear mine every single day. In fact, they've become the only hats I wear these days. I don't know what you'd call the crease I did on both. I don't know if it's a tugboat or a c-crown or what, honestly. It's just what happened.

I never used a spray bottle or any other tricks to hasten the wearing in of these hats at all. I just wore them - in the sun, the rain, the hail, the snow - they can take it, don't worry about it. Here are mine after a little over a year and a half's worth of wearing (btw, I realized after previewing these images that I need to tug the ribbon down on the Carbon Grey one - oops!):

​

 

[Goose.]

This is a truly magnificent collection. I like the ES pins on them. But I must ask a newbie question. What is it about the way these hats are bashed that make them tugboats? How does this differ from an Indy bash. Pretty dumb questions, I know but if I don't ask, I'll never know.

Thanks Edw8n...

Scotty on the Rocks answered the tugboat question. Just for the heck of it, here's dimensions on mine:
Front: 4.00"
High Side: 4.4" - just shy of 4.5"
Rear: 3.5"

Varies a bit hat to hat. But that's the dimension on my Fed IV Deluxe Dark Brown that I'm wearing today.

Here's some visual aids for the "tugboat"

.

​

Hey MattJH, of the Carbon and Brown, which do you prefer? I thought the carbon would be my new favorite. But I find that my first Fed is still my favorite. That is the Dark Brown.

 

[scottyrocks]

Count me in, too! I love my Akubra Federation IVs. I have the Dark Brown and the Carbon Grey, both in Standard. They were stiff when I received them, too, but that's natural. Just wear them. I wear mine every single day. In fact, they've become the only hats I wear these days. I don't know what you'd call the crease I did on both. I don't know if it's a tugboat or a c-crown or what, honestly. It's just what happened.

They have a mild tugboat in them, but it doesnt look like it was intentional.

And a c-crown (or center dent, or diamond) is independent of a tugboat. IOW, a tugboat front can be formed with any of the top-styles (center dent, C, or diamond, etc).

I never used a spray bottle or any other tricks to hasten the wearing in of these hats at all. I just wore them - in the sun, the rain, the hail, the snow - they can take it, don't worry about it. Here are mine after a little over a year and a half's worth of wearing (btw, I realized after previewing these images that I need to tug the ribbon down on the Carbon Grey one - oops!):

Im not sure what 'hasten the wearing' means, but I used a spray bottle simply to achieve the bash I wanted. It wouldnt pinch as tightly as I wanted without water, which softens the hat enough to mold it without damaging it. With a looser pinch, such as yours, water obviously isnt necessary. As long as you get the look you want, though, its all good.

 

[Edw8ri]

Thanks for the help with the tugboat question. As yet, I have never owned an open crown hat, so this whole bashing thing is new to me. But it sounds very interesting. I think I need my own Fed IV to tinker with.