On the stiffness of felt...

[adamgottschalk]

I am going to order a fully customized Beaver Brand hat from the Fedora Store soon. One of the specifications you can make is as to the stiffness of the felt: soft, standard, or firm. I always thought of this aspect as being a sort of secondary consideration. Until tonight. A rainy night here in Portland. Got to a restaurant with a soaking fedora, a light-weight Towncraft jobbie. Had my friend place it carefully on the bench next to her...only to discover as we were leaving that a garment had been piled on top of it and at least one "interaction" with the hat had occured. It was pretty mangled. I was able to re-shape the hat OK (not perfect), the felt still wet.

But I definitely found myself regretting that the felt on this hat is so soft/thin/light. Are stiffer hats better for places with lots of rain? What are the pros and cons of a soft versus a stiff felt hat? How would a 100% beaver-fur hat hold up to being mangled while wet? From what I can tell, it doesn't have to do with the thickness of the felt so much as how the felt is treated. Anyone care to elaborate?

 

[John in Covina]

?

Great question!

One thing is it seems that some hats are re-shaped easily and are quick to return to their original bash or blocking and those always seem to be described as soft felts.

Does an open crown and hand bashed hat have different charectoristics over a hat that had it's crown and pinch blocked to shape when it come to retaining that shape?

 

[art92101]

If I lived in Portland....

Your question is an excellent one. If I lived in Portland I'd do the research before I put my final request for a custom hat. I don't remember how many inches a year you guys get but I know its significant. Let's see what the FL says.

 

[ideaguy]

Heck-why not ask Duane himself? I've found him to be very knowledgeable and
generous with advice, learned a lot from him on this forum. And if it's a hat that
he carries-he'll know about it! adieu M

 

[Blackhorse]

I'm in the same situation of ordering a custom and also live in Stumptown...PDX...Portland. When Adam says it rained last night, he means we got between 3/4" and 1". It was significant...with wind and general bluster to match. He could most likely have wrung a half cup outta his hat if he'd been out there for any time at all. Nasty!

Let's get a verdict posted on this stiffener business. I know Akubras are legendary for dealing with rain, etc. and they're so stiff (most of 'em) that you could slice a chub of balony with 'em. But then, maybe it's some other charactersitic that makes 'em tough...maybe it's the wabbits!

Eh...what's the answer Doc?

 

[feltfan]

In my admittedly limited experience, stiffness isn't really the issue.
Recently I had two hats crushed. I was test driving a Toyota Rav4
and the salesman demonstrated the ease with which one can fold
down seats... on my 50s Borsalino. Last month I was at the symphony
and someone arrived late. I stood up to let him pass and my seat
folded back, crushing my Zephyr weight Stetson. Both hats
recovered nicely with a bit of rubbing. Steam would finish the job,
but wasn't really necessary. These hats weren't wet, but it's the
same issue.

In those cases, a stiff hat would likely have to be sent out to be
reblocked. I believe that is one of two reasons why soft hats
became popular. The other, of course, is comfort (though a
hard hat that fits well, like my Mallory bowler, is a real pleasure).

I wear just about all my hats in the rain. The exceptions, if I can
help it, are the lightest colors and the Panamas. I have not found
stiffness to be much of a factor in rain resistance. Yes, a very
thin hat will soak and possibly droop a bit. But once any hat is
wet it's not safe to put anything on top of it, and at least the soft
ones are easy to reshape yourself.

That said, I will often wear stiffer hats in the rain, if only for the
irrational feeling that they resist water and wind better. They
don't necessarily, but... The real issues are either felt ingredients,
the sort of process used for water resistance, and thickness of felt,
it seems to me. Since you bring it up, I'd say thickness really can
be an issue. My Cavanaghs hold up much longer than my
lightweight Borsalinos in a downpour, though both have impossibly
dense felt.

BTW, I'm not too sore at the Toyota salesman. It appears I
punctured his rear bumper while parallel parking...

 

[Russ]

I'd go with a soft felt. My brown Federation was a bit stiff when I got it a year ago but from repeated assaults with a water spray bottle and a few rains, that felt has become incredibly soft. I think all the stiffener has been washed out. The same thing happened to my old Snowy River after getting dunked in the river a few times. Soft felt feels great and can take a smashing and be immediately bashed right back to its old shape. You can get a stiff hat for the rain, but it will eventually become a soft hat, which is a nice thing.