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Nutria felt in the modern day

jwalls

Vendor
Messages
741
Location
Las Vegas
040.JPG

I made this hat from an old Nutria body I had in stock.
 

fmw

One Too Many
Messages
1,017
Location
USA
I know Stratton uses nutria in at least some of the law enforcement campaign hats they make. I'm not aware of anybody else using it.
 

1961MJS

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,370
Location
Norman Oklahoma
A master hatter I have bought from told me that nutria is hard to work with.
Hi

If he means, stiff as a board, then that would match the Stratton I had for a while. A campaign hat is SUPPOSED to be stiff, but this thing was much stiffer than my Beaver Brand, which is cowboy stiff, and my Jaxonbilt which is just stiff.

Later
 
Messages
15,276
Location
Somewhere south of crazy
I believe Lagomarsino out of Argentina uses nutria but I am not sure if they have a NA distributor.

http://www.lagomarsino-hats.com.ar/

JWalls, Looks super!

The Hat Guys out of Oakland used to sell Lagomarsino, but do not appear to have them now.
I bought 2 Lagomarsinos while in Argentina, but they tapered so badly, I ended up giving them to Goodwill. I don't know if it was the fur itself, or the process. They were both listed as "Nutria Quaility".
 
Messages
10,524
Location
DnD Ranch, Cherokee County, GA
I recall somebody, maybe Matt Deckard, has a ultra-lightweight from Optimo that is nutria/beaver blend.
The nutria fur felt coarser than beaver when we were last at Winchester Hat Factory.
The stiffness is the amount of shellac for the uniform hats by Stratton more than it being nutria.
Nutria seems to make a rougher/tougher felt than beaver which makes sense for the uniform hat use, probably just seems that way as beaver felt is dang tough.
 
Last edited:
Messages
17,489
Location
Maryland
The Hat Guys out of Oakland used to sell Lagomarsino, but do not appear to have them now.
I bought 2 Lagomarsinos while in Argentina, but they tapered so badly, I ended up giving them to Goodwill. I don't know if it was the fur itself, or the process. They were both listed as "Nutria Quaility".

Doesn't sound good. It's highly possible "Nutria Quality" isn't actually Nutria. :) I will send them an e-mail and check if they are making hats out Nutria fur.
 

Matt Deckard

Man of Action
Messages
10,045
Location
A devout capitalist in Los Angeles CA.
I do have 3 nutria beaver blend hats from Optimo and they are all still in action. The gray one has been around the world and back again and still rolls up and pops out well after about 10 years of wear (really needs a cleaning and a reblock). The hats are finished smooth and over years and years of being grabbed by the crown, they still show no signs of cracking. I have all beaver and all hare or rabbit that have worn through over time, but the Nutria blend is still kicking ass.

The Nutria Annie Oakley hat that's up for auction spawned my Nutria frenzy again.
 
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ChicagoWayVito

Practically Family
Messages
699
FEPSA do not make Nutria felts :(

I suspected as much after looking at their site, however I am interested in their Cashmere and Cashmere blend hat bodies. Do we know for sure what FEPSA means when they say 100% Fur? I would like to assume Beaver but not sure. I sent them an email today asking for clarification.

Winchester does not sell Nutria felt either, at least it wasn't on my price list.

Between FEPSA, Winchester and Yanapi I can get most of my felt needs covered. Just really wanting to work with Nutria/blend and Mink/blend if I can find it.
 

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