My wind retention cord broke off my hat... in a gust of wind!

[Wildblue]

So in the last few weeks, I'm walking along the sidewalk, wearing my favorite Selentino Queen fedora and my trench coat. It's somewhat windy outside, so I think... "Ah! I don't want my hat blowing away. This is what that wind retention cord was made for!" That cord has just been wrapped around my hat's crown ever since I bought it a year and a half ago, so I might as well use it! So I pull it down, properly fasten the button to my trench lapel, and all is good. Feels a little silly, though, walking down the street with a cord draped between my hat and my collar.

Then a few miniutes later, up comes a gust of wind. Now, this is not hurricane-like by any means, but enough that I immediately think that I might lose my hat. Sure enough, as it comes loose on my head, the thought that goes through my head is... "Sweet! This is exactly why I used the cord!" But my thought only lasts a half second, as when the hat falls far enough away from my body to pull the cord straight... POP! The cord pulls out of the hat at the base, leaving a big cord dangling from my collar, and my hat on the ground.

Thankfully, my hat only fell to the (dry) sidewalk, and no further harm done. Like I said, it wasn't a massive wind or anything. Didn't get run over by the nearest car. But that just p!ssed me off, that the whole reason that cord had for an existence, sitting on my crown and shifting obtrusively at times while it waited to be used, was completely futile.


Arrrgh...

 

[monbla256]

So in the last few weeks, I'm walking along the sidewalk, wearing my favorite Selentino Queen fedora and my trench coat. It's somewhat windy outside, so I think... "Ah! I don't want my hat blowing away. This is what that wind retention cord was made for!" That cord has just been wrapped around my hat's crown ever since I bought it a year and a half ago, so I might as well use it! So I pull it down, properly fasten the button to my trench lapel, and all is good. Feels a little silly, though, walking down the street with a cord draped between my hat and my collar.

Then a few miniutes later, up comes a gust of wind. Now, this is not hurricane-like by any means, but enough that I immediately think that I might lose my hat. Sure enough, as it comes loose on my head, the thought that goes through my head is... "Sweet! This is exactly why I used the cord!" But my thought only lasts a half second, as when the hat falls far enough away from my body to pull the cord straight... POP! The cord pulls out of the hat at the base, leaving a big cord dangling from my collar, and my hat on the ground.

Thankfully, my hat only fell to the (dry) sidewalk, and no further harm done. Like I said, it wasn't a massive wind or anything. Didn't get run over by the nearest car. But that just p!ssed me off, that the whole reason that cord had for an existence, sitting on my crown and shifting obtrusively at times while it waited to be used, was completely futile.


Arrrgh...

That's why the good Lord gave ya TWO hands Glad ya did not loose it as one of the Loungers did with his Borso

 

[Aureliano]

That's why the good Lord gave ya TWO hands Glad ya did not loose it as one of the Loungers did with his Borso

That was me.

 

[Wildblue]

Those cords certainly aren't decorative, so if they're not made to be completely functional, then what's the point?

 

[VetPsychWars]

Well, I don't know, maybe they ARE decorative?

I just checked my contemporary Borsalino Alessandria. The end of the cord is sewn down to the hat but there's no knot in the end of the cord or anything... so I surmise a sharp enough yank would get it loose. It doesn't look like it was intended to be used. Then again a gust of wind snatching your hat off your head shouldn't involve that much force....

Now I'll have to check my vintage Alessandria and see how it's attached....

Tom

 

[Aureliano]

They are meant to be used, I guess yours wasn't properly sewn to the felt. The hat I lost didn't have a trolley. Or it did and I didn't use it. can't remember now.

 

[EggHead]

Is that a new hat or vintage?
Where was that Selentino made?

 

[animator]

Maybe the cord is for when you go back to the hat store and say I'd like a replacement hat in "this" color.

 

[zetwal]

Those cords certainly aren't decorative, so if they're not made to be completely functional, then what's the point?

They are (or should be) made to be fully functional. Yours (on the Selentino) was somehow flawed or improperly installed.

 

[VetPsychWars]

I checked my vintage Borsalino and my vintage Stetson. All my hats are now 4-ligne ribbons, by the way. Both hats, the cord was anchored firmly under the bow, I couldn't find how it was attached or whether it was knotted, etc.

So on the new Alessandria, maybe it IS just decoration.

Tom

 

[EggHead]

I have 3 hats with wind cords. I am thinking of testing them by unwinding the cord, grab it by the button and swing the hat around my head (in the safety of my living room)
Kind of like bolo?

 

[Wildblue]

Egghead, that's actually not a bad thought!

Maybe the cord is for when you go back to the hat store and say I'd like a replacement hat in "this" color.

:eusa_doh: Now THAT's funny.

Yeah, this was a new hat, not vintage. Only a year and a half old, but didn't wear it for 12 months of that while I was out of the country.

 

[HeyMoe]

I have a new cheapie Scala that I no longer wear. It had a wind / trolly cord when I first got it. It was obviously for decoration because when I was checking out the cord and how the button was attached I dropped the hat and the cord came out in my hand.

The borsaliano I had had a cord but the thing was so brittle that when I tried to position it on the hat behind the bow, the darn thing broke off. The only other hat I have with a cord is a Champ "Dash" and that cord feels solid but given my previous experiances, I do not belive I will use it.