Great comparison, Brent. Alle three in blue and yet so different.With the arrival of my latest hat from Michael Gannon I now have three custom fedoras in blue felt.
Custom Agnoulita rabbit fur felt in suede finished marine blue:
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Custom Gannon beaver in navy:
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Custom Gannon nutria in midnight:
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And group photos:
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The marine blue Agnoulita is made from Tonak’s rabbit fur felt. The felt is light and has minimal stiffeners in it. It can almost be wadded into a ball. The felt is lower density and a bit spongey. The color is lighter than the others.
The Gannon navy is made from Winchester’s 100% beaver fur felt. It is the densest of the hats and the crown is thin and accepts most dry creasing (a bit of steam helps to hold the shape). The color is the darkest of the three and the hardest to accurately capture in photos.
The Gannon midnight is made from 100% nutria fur felt sourced from Sunrise Hat Supply. The felt is thicker than the beaver and the hat is the heaviest of the three. The hand is exceptional and the crown is very soft and the brim noticeably firmer. The crown shapes with minimal pressure, but it springs back much more than the beaver. The felt holds its shape easily with some steam, but it’s not the “dead” shapes like clay kind of felt. The depth of the color and the shade of blue is outstanding.
For color, I like the midnight nutria the best. The color saturation and vividness is excellent. It also has the best hand and will make an exceptional cooler weather hat. For overall felt characteristics, I prefer the beaver. The beaver is thinner and molds more like want felt to. I really like them both and have no regrets getting them both. The Agnoulita in marine blue is a nice hat that is soft, conforms to my head perfectly, and is easy to travel with. However, it’s immediately apparent when handling the hats that the Agnoulita is outclassed by the others, but it’s a perfectly acceptable hat that I wear often.