The Open Road Guild

[carter]

Just got my Open Road and am wearing it Proudly as God & John Stetson intended (Cattleman's bash).
Here is a link to the pictures.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=25238&highlight=open+road

tinmanzzz, Can't wait to see photos of same on your"Pumpkin Head".

 

[flylot74]

Great hat and photograph. And, I love the Browning. I'm a SxS shooter myself, although I favour the 16ga.

If I only had one, it would be a 16, it's all one needs........

 

[mtds]

Application for Open Road Guild Membership

I'm very new here and mostly a fan of caps, but I bought this Open Road:

I haven't owned a felt hat in over thirty years and I bought this one (without original box) on impulse, Buy-It-Now for $78.35 delivered (in December 2007). The seller's feedback was excellent, communication was good, the hat was as pictured, and it was shipped, carefully packaged, the day after the purchase. Perfect transaction.

My initial impression was not positive; I was surprised at the thin and stiff felt. Present prices for a new Open Road run about $170 and this just didn't seem like a $170 hat to this newby.

I even doubted the authenticity of the hat until I looked at it very closely. It appears to be too carefully detailed for a fake. It is a great fit, a 7-1/4 on a 23" head and clean except for a little possible soiling on the top of the liner. The liner has come loose in a few places, but tucks back under the sweatband and stays nicely.

 

[RBH]

Looks great mtds!
Also you can join The Brotherhood of the Thin Ribbon .

 

[mingoslim]

Looks good on you . . .

I'm very new here and mostly a fan of caps, but I bought this Open Road:

I haven't owned a felt hat in over thirty years and I bought this one on impulse . . .
My initial impression was not positive, but I have a variety of questions about it and several photos to share. First impressions was that the felt was too thin and too stiff to be a $170 hat. I wondered if it was genuine. Is this the real thing? When was it made? Why doesn't it say "Open Road" anyplace other than the cardboard tag I found stuck behind the sweatband? Can anyone decipher the codes on the tiny tag attached to the hat behind the sweatband?

Really, it looks great . . .
As for the hat itself, it looks like a mid-1970s OR, mtds . . . Not a bad knock around hat . . . but hardly a classic. The 4XB tells you that it is Stetson 4X Beaver, which means it is a step above their basic level.

You need to keep your eye out for a n OR from the 1950s . . . A Stetson 25 or 50. Then you will really have an idea of how nice an OR can be.
But

 

[GI Joe]

You Open Road Guilder's should be ashamed of yourselves, luring a respectable (well, semi-respectable) young (well, not so young) man (we're good with that one!) into your clutches.

Now I have the Open Road twitch so I'm doing my due dilegence and I have a question about a non-Stetson brand, Beaver.

HatsAmerica.com has 2 OR styles from Beaver, Classic Fur and Legacy Fur. Does anyone have any thoughts on this brand and these fur qualities?

If I go the new hat route, I would leave the original Cattleman's Crease bash.

Thanks!

 

[Rick Blaine]

Hiya Joe

You Open Road Guilder's should be ashamed of yourselves, luring a respectable (well, semi-respectable) young (well, not so young) man (we're good with that one!) into your clutches.

Now I have the Open Road twitch so I'm doing my due dilegence and I have a question about a non-Stetson brand, Beaver.

HatsAmerica.com has 2 OR styles from Beaver, Classic Fur and Legacy Fur. Does anyone have any thoughts on this brand and these fur qualities?

If I go the new hat route, I would leave the original Cattleman's Crease bash.

Thanks!

I dunno what size your head is, how you feel about eBay & I certainly do not mean to dissuade you from doing business w/ Duane @ Hatsamerica, 'cause he is a great guy and friend of The Lounge. But depending on yr. head size & degree of patience you have, I think vintage may be the way to go. If you are 7 1/8 or below, I routinely see ORs & Clones (Dobbs Westward or Resistol San Antonio for instance) go unsold for want a ten or fifteen dollar bid. And the felt quality in contemporary hats is not even in the ballpark of most vintage.

If you are determined to go with new/contemporary manufacture I would recommend an Akubra Campdraft, hands down. The Beaver Brand I have owned (off the shelf, not custom, vintage [i.e. 10 - 15 yrs. old] & regular grade felt) and handled have not impressed me. These were older and the felt is said to have improved of late, moreover many here like their Beaver Brand hats very much. I own an old Akubra made Stetson Open Road (before they lost the Stetson franchise down there) and it is absolutely indistinguishable from the Campdraft they now make. Akubras will give you more bang for the buck, IM(and others)O, I have three and I love mine.
fftopic:
So, do you really live in Mount Airy N.C.?

 

[GI Joe]

Rick,

Thank you for the good info. The Campdraft is at the top of my non-vintage Stetson list but I have not yet found a dealer in the US and all the Australian vendors have about a 3 month wait.

I wear a 7 3/8 LO so I know my eBay chances of success are somewhat slight unless I'm willing to pay big bucks. In that case, I'd just as soon order new but keep a lookout for a real vintage Stetson OR.

No, not Mt. Airy, the big Mayberry, Charlotte!

 

[Rick Blaine]

FYI

It looks like Valley Country has both Silverbelly & Taupe Fawn ready to roll w/o a wait as do several other Aussie online sites I saw. 7 3/8 Vintage ORs are out there though getting harder to find.

 

[GI Joe]

It looks like Valley Country has both Silverbelly & Taupe Fawn ready to roll w/o a wait as do several other Aussie online sites I saw. 7 3/8 Vintage ORs are out there though getting harder to find.

I just bit the bullet & ordered one in Silverbelly!

 

[PhilS]

Probable wait even for Silver Belly and Taupe

It looks like Valley Country has both Silverbelly & Taupe Fawn ready to roll w/o a wait as do several other Aussie online sites I saw. 7 3/8 Vintage ORs are out there though getting harder to find.

The folks at Valley Country are very nice and the prices are good; however, the website is a little misleading because I think that there is a 3 month wait for the Silver Belly and Taupe, though the site makes them look to be in stock.

Probably worth the wait. Could someone post pictures when they get the hat?

 

[GI Joe]

The folks at Valley Country are very nice and the prices are good; however, the website is a little misleading because I think that there is a 3 month wait for the Silver Belly and Taupe, though the site makes them look to be in stock.

Probably worth the wait. Could someone post pictures when they get the hat?

Ouch! I hope you're wrong about the 3 months. I took it that that the Silverbelly & Fawn were in stock & that the other colors were special order/3 months but I've been wrong before . . . with depressing regularity!

I will definitely post pics once I get mine.

 

[GI Joe]

Well, this is not going as well as I had hoped.

The Valleycountry website is rather misleading as to delivery time for a standard size Silverbelly. When they emailed me with the ship timeframe, I replied asking when my credit card would be charged, now or when the hat ships in June. They replied that they had already charged my card! I was not pleased. I have asked them to either retract the charge until shipping or cancel the order.

Has anyone else had this problem buying form Australia?

 

[Rick Blaine]

THAT STINKS!

Well, this is not going as well as I had hoped.

The Valleycountry website is rather misleading as to delivery time for a standard size Silverbelly. When they emailed me with the ship timeframe, I replied asking when my credit card would be charged, now or when the hat ships in June. They replied that they had already charged my card! I was not pleased. I have asked them to either retract the charge until shipping or cancel the order.

Has anyone else had this problem buying form Australia?

OUTLOUD!

I have only ever ordered from hatsdirect & was truly astonished at there speedy shipping, 7 buisness days from OZ to TN.
I did some quick poking around & it seems that All Things Australian claims to have taupe & SB in stock. Good luck!

 

[GI Joe]

OUTLOUD!

I have only ever ordered from hatsdirect & was truly astonished at there speedy shipping, 7 buisness days from OZ to TN.
I did some quick poking around & it seems that All Things Australian claims to have taupe & SB in stock. Good luck!

Tell me about it, Rick! I wouldn't mind a couple of weeks or so but hold my money for 3 months? I see little enough of my money!

Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye"!

I checked Hatsdirect and they don't offer the Campdraft but I have emails into Australiadirect and Allthingsaustralia inquiring about availability & credit card policies.

I'll keep ya posted!

 

[AlanC]

Since I've never officially joined the Guild, my Churchill Open Road clone. Without the Stetson, I hope I can at least qualify for auxiliary membership.I did violate its cattleman's crease, though.

 

[indycop]

I checked Hatsdirect and they don't offer the Campdraft but I have emails into Australiadirect and Allthingsaustralia inquiring about availability & credit card policies.

I'll keep ya posted!

I believe they have more than they list, if you haven't already you might want to shoot them an email and inquire.

 

[warbird]

I believe they have more than they list, if you haven't already you might want to shoot them an email and inquire.

Exactly. For whatever reason they don't list the campdraft on their site.

 

[GI Joe]

Good idea, Indy, thanks and done!

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Since I've never officially joined the Guild, my Churchill Open Road clone. Without the Stetson, I hope I can at least qualify for auxiliary membership.I did violate its cattleman's crease, though.

Alan, Looking Great!!! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap
Can you post a top shot of the "violation?"