The Death (and rebirth!) of a Stetson Open Road

[harbilly]

I also thought 'oh no' until I saw the pics. On you, perfect choice. On me, the original would be better. Congrats on your wise decision. Cheap at twice the price.

 

[thunderw21]

Quite frankly, I like both the 'before' and 'after'. A great hat either way!

 

[RBH]

:eusa_clap

Quite frankly, I like both the 'before' and 'after'. A great hat either way!

Kinda what I thought.. :eusa_clap

 

[Woodfluter]

Woo Hoo, Viper, fantastic job. I agree with others that it looked good before and after. But what amazes me is that Optimo will do all that for around a C-note. Per you and also the earlier cited thread. Wow, makes me wonder if I should send my OR 25 in to them too. I'm very impressed.

Speaking frankly, how did they do with execution of the edge binding? Hard to appreciate details from the pictures. I've heard hereabouts that commercial hat outfits do a very good job with that particular detail, compared to custom hatters, because they're set up to do so many, but then again Optimo may be different...

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

A good number of respondents had this initial "oh-oh" feeling; I too belong to those who have a particular liking for the "OR" (or similar substitute) notion, and (even tho I don't have any "real" OR hats...but that's another discussion) I bashed the ones I have (Stetson "20" and "100" hats) into different configurations, "cattleman" bash as well as "fedora" bash (most recently I did my "100" diamond, I'll show you); like both styles very much and ...I repeat... Viperman's hat has been very very well served by the Optimo touch.

I think I tend to be impressed with "cowboy hats" gone fedora, but I'm acting on faith of pictures only.

Again, congratulations, Viperman!
Paul

 

[Viper Man]

Thanks again for all of your positive comments. I admit I was a bit apprehensive myself at first but I am very glad that I did this. All told, this hat (with the renovation included) has cost me less than $140.

Speaking frankly, how did they do with execution of the edge binding? Hard to appreciate details from the pictures. I've heard hereabouts that commercial hat outfits do a very good job with that particular detail, compared to custom hatters, because they're set up to do so many, but then again Optimo may be different...

Honestly, this is the only problem I have with the renovation. Without going into detail, I feel the binding could have been done better. It's not terrible but there is one very serious flaw if you look closely. It's not bad enough for me to have complained to Optimo about it, though. I'll put it this way, the binding job on my Art Fawcett VS is far superior.

 

[Woodfluter]

Honestly, this is the only problem I have with the renovation. Without going into detail, I feel the binding could have been done better. It's not terrible but there is one very serious flaw if you look closely. It's not bad enough for me to have complained to Optimo about it, though. I'll put it this way, the binding job on my Art Fawcett VS is far superior.

Yep, I thought maybe I could see some irregularity in the back part of the edge binding, while the rest looks fine in your pictures. Overall, they did a fantastic job and I especially like the color of the ribbon - dark blue? Great blocking. Very worth the expense! I might send mine to them. It's doing well overall except for the sweatband and could use a cleaning.

- Bill

 

[Justdog]

I recently brought my silverbelly OR Deluxe into Optimo for a rebuild. The felt was in almost perfect shape but the brim width and thin ribbon weren't doing it for me. Plus, I really like the look of the Whippet but could never seem to land a vintage one. So, I thought I'd try my luck with Optimo to see if I could build my own Whippet and I am very pleased with the results. Here is the tale of the tape...

Brim Width: Was 2 7/8" and I had it cut down to 2 5/8"
Brim Treatment: I had the brim bound with a wider 9 ligne gray ribbon.
Ribbon: The original thin ribbon was replaced with a slightly wider blue one.
Block: Diamond

I actually love the original and the remake. The blue ribbon makes the remake
Remake looks more refined and the dents are superb:eusa_clap

 

[carter]

worthlesswithoutpics

Justdog, Sounds great! Where are the pictures? [huh]

worthlesswithoutpics