still wearing fur felt in late June

[danofarlington]

But not as good as an old fashioned, easy-to-come-by, and immensely inexpensive umbrella! Or a hat really designed for rain (like actually and really with malice aforethought).

Most fur felt hats will get you by in the rain, but they then usually require some special baby-sitting afterwords. Best to not wear your Sunday best dress hat in the rain, all things considered. Go with a designated beater.

A designated beater, or one of the tough Akubras, I hear.

 

[AlterEgo]

While I'm not intentionally abusive to my hats, I don't baby them, either, and often wear them in the rain, even driving storms. When I come inside, I simply hand-reshape it if necessary and then hang it on a blunt knob by the back of the sweat so that the hat dangles freely, and let it dry overnight at room temperature.

In all the years I've been wearing fur felts, I've never had a problem with wearing them in the rain and then letting them dry like this. Maybe that's because they're all Akubras.

While I will use an umbrella in certain situations, I find that when getting in and out of a car, I get wetter dealing with the bumbershoot than wearing a hat and trench/rain coat.

However, the thoughtful engineers at Rolls-Royce have solved that problem by equipping all its motor cars with custom umbrellas ensconced in the front doors. For those who of you who simply must have this unique-to-RR feature, the new "entry-level" Ghost can be yours for only $248,700, not including options.

 

[Blackthorn]

I've heard Akubras were tough...

...so I decided to see how tough. I rain-tested my Imperial grade tawny fawn Fed IV last year. The day after, it still looked brand new. I love this hat:

 

[Mr E Train]

...so I decided to see how tough. I rain-tested my Imperial grade tawny fawn Fed IV last year. The day after, it still looked brand new. I love this hat:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff16/darvis73/Fedoras/IMG_5290.jpg

I was out and about with my wife last weekend when a heavy rainstorm started just as we were coming out of a shop, with no umbrella. I was wearing my Campdraft. I went to get the car, which was a good ways away, so I could pull up to the curb and pick up my wife. I took my good sweet time, slowly strolling through the downpour, listening to the pleasing sound of the big heavy raindrops thumping against my hat. People probably thought I was nuts, but I had no worries. It got about as wet as Blackthorn's Fed IV, and when I got home I hung it on a hook and let it dry. The next day, you'd never know it'd gotten wet.

 

[Undertow]

I'm gonna run right out and tell those beavers to get out of that pond before they ruin their fur! The only special care I've ever given a rained-on fur felt hat is to let it dry at room temperature. The ones with a high beaver content don't even really get wet, the rain beads up and runs off.

I believe most modern hats are entirely rabbit, unless otherwise noted. But most importantly, some of the modern Stetsons have a problem with "spotting" due to their "powder coat". There's a thread on here about that very problem somewhere.

So yeah, it's not going to ruin your hat to get it wet, but umbrellas never hurt a custom hat's feelings.

 

[Pompidou]

I can confirm that a 100% beaver hat doesn't really get bothered by rain. I wore a Stetson Whippet in the rain a few times and it'd get soggy and spotty. I wore my Art Fawcett in the rain today, and wow did it ever rain, and the hat was perfectly fine. The rain was beaded up like a freshly washed/waxed car.

 

[St.Ignatz]

Rainy and 70's tomorrow. Time to bust out the Camp Draft!

 

[BanjoMerlin]

Akubras are made of rabbit fur. I don't think they even have beavers in OZ.

Some of my hats are all rabbit, some have some beaver in them and a couple are all beaver. The beaver hats don't get wet, the rabbit hats dry. Never a problem with any of them.

With all the money I spent on umbrellas in the last 30+ years I could have several more pure beaver hats.

 

[dwebber18]

It's been high 80s through high 90s here in Tennessee, and I've had no problem wearing my fur felt hats. I've never had a straw hat, though, so I really don't know how much more comfortable a straw may be in our weather here.

Luckily I go to UTK. Knoxville is has truly chaotic weather, and it can go from bright sunshine to raining sideways within hours. My hats have worked just fine so far.

Also being in Knoxville and only owning 2 proper hats both of which being straw that's what I've been wearing. I think the real upside is how light weight straw hats are in regards to fur as well as their lighter color hopefully reflecting some heat away. I agree with the comments about the weather here and it makes it difficult to wear the straw some days because I don't want to have to leave it at work if its pouring or go home and work it back in to shape. I really like wearing my semicalado panama to the dog park and out where I know I'll be sweating because its open weave lets it breathe a bit better than my Montecristi which is a nice feature. Hopefully I'll have my Art hat before it gets too cool here!

 

[Dewhurst]

...so I decided to see how tough. I rain-tested my Imperial grade tawny fawn Fed IV last year. The day after, it still looked brand new.

Purposely rain testing hats can be fun. Well, not hats designed for rain (obviously, my poplin Dockers rain cap and rain proof (for real) bucket hat aren't fun to test), but all the rest. I have had good results, horrible results, and a few surprises.

I have had multiple linen flat caps with satin or silk linings get caught in light showers and it absolutely wreaks havoc on them. The linen is usually fine, but the water pours through the fabric with gusto while the silk or satin lining sucks up all the water turning in to a wrinkled mess afterwards.

My wool flat caps all behave admirably in rain. They aren't even phased, although I haven't tried a good old fashioned Tornado Alley Downpour yet.

A particular Stefano $95 dollar special fur felt fedora laughs in the face of rain. I think it was born in monsoon season, or it's ancestry may be found in rain forest dwelling rabbits of olde. Spine tingling Tornadoes, life threatening floods, light rains and everything else, it eats it all up and begs for more. I almost always wear this one particular hat when the going gets rough and I feel like laughing in danger's face.

A sad note: My Biltmore Rosellini Luauro. It DOES NOT handle rain well. First, it smells bad when it gets wet (when it dries it smells good again). Secondly, a medium to light rain, as with your picture, was all it took to give me hell. Using time tested techniques, the hat turned out fine, but it was scary going. Never again will I treat that hat like a trusty friend who can be set up and left alone after getting wet (as people affectionately like to do). Much too temperamental.

Some of my hats still require an umbrella if I want them to survive through the night.

 

[Tone]

Yeah. After a few brands and felt types it becomes pretty easy to determine which hats do well in the rain and which do not. A hat's ability to withstand rain does not make it a better hat (especially a better looking hat); rather, it just depends on the style and "degree of style" one wants out of their fedora. Some of those bulkier felt rain hats hold up to rain but lack the finesse of the non-rain fedoras. And vice-versa sometimes. The fit and ride are just different and they almost never match among the types.

Not to mention that some hats touted as rain proof usually aren't as indestructible as some would embellish.

However, on that note of overall trustworthiness,

I've been wearing my Akubra Adventurer throughout the summer. Tough hat and looks good, too. 'course it's only rabbit, but it's seen a ton of rain for such a hot season.

 

[Blackthorn]

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Yesterday the fur got hung up on the hat rack. it was 102, and Panama time.