Western, anyone?

[suitedcboy]

It's not Gladhatter. I have seen his posted hats on Ebay for months.

 

[bowlerman]

It's not Gladhatter. I have seen his posted hats on Ebay for months.

nope, not Gladhatter, though I'm not familiar with him in the first place. My hat isn't signed or labeled anywhere. Here's a link to some of his items. http://shop.ebay.com/bquisenb60d1/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562 I think I'm allowed to post that here, since most appear to be made to order anyway, as opposed to one of a kind auction items. Please forgive me if I'm mistaken.

 

[hatophile]

3X Stetson, sort of a Western Homburg. This is from yesterday.

 

[bowlerman]

3X Stetson, sort of a Western Homburg. This is from yesterday.

That is a very cool hat, and seems to have classy, somewhat understated dimensions for a western. What is the 3X feel like? I have a Stetson small-statured western in 4X, and it's almost like a flocked cardboard. Maybe it needs to be worn in a little more. Is your ribbon pleated too?

 

[hatophile]

Hi Bowlerman,

This hat is probably late 40's, early 50's by my inexperienced eye. The felt is actually pretty nice, malleable enough, but sturdy. The ribbon is what I would call corded, not pleated. I think the brim size is about 3", I really haven't measured it, but looks a little less drastic by virue of the brim curl. It's the kind of hat that doesn't cry out "cowboy" but still has that Western look to it.

 

[casechopper]

Bowlerman,
Did you go with the 100% beaver, the blend, or the fur felt? Whichever felt you got, how does it compare to other hats you have purchased? What did you think of the felt and pouncing? Was there anything you didn't like about the hat?
Sorry for the long list of questions. I'm considering ordering a custom hat from him and I'd like to know what the level of quality is. It's hard to tell from his auction photos.
Thanks,
Sam

Yes, it is a rather HUGE hat, and the open crown has got to be 6+ inches. Although if I become a cowboy it wouldn't be totally unlike the dimensions of Ben Foster's hat in the recent 3:10 to Yuma... and HE looked cool!

I liked the old style too, but I just wasn't wearing it (I felt like like a kid wearing a full size fireman's helmet) and thought I'd try messing around to see if I got more comfortable with a different style.

a kettle curl-- that would be fun. I like that idea. How do you DIY a kettle curl?

now this is just silly head-on, but you asked for it!

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[bowlerman]

Bowlerman,
Did you go with the 100% beaver, the blend, or the fur felt? Whichever felt you got, how does it compare to other hats you have purchased? What did you think of the felt and pouncing? Was there anything you didn't like about the hat?
Sorry for the long list of questions. I'm considering ordering a custom hat from him and I'd like to know what the level of quality is. It's hard to tell from his auction photos.
Thanks,
Sam

Hi Sam--

I don't recall I had more than 2 choices in felt quality, but I didn't go with 100% beaver. It's definitely some kind of blend, and very thick, like western weight. I think it's nicely shapeable, pliable, yet holds its form well.

Oh boy-- now I'm gonna have to read up on pouncing, cause I have no idea what that means. seems like people have been discussing it here lately though. I'll get back to you on that front.

The finish is rough and rugged, however, with hairs poking out here and there. I'll try to compare it to my other westerns. The actual felt quality seems to compare very favorably to my Stetson 3X western and my Beaver Brand 5X stoney river, but the finish isn't even close to my Montana Peaks 7X rabbit gus. I"m still learning, to be honest, how to separate felt quality from finish in comparisons. Seems pretty darned durable in weather though.

All in all, I think it's a lot of really good hat for the money. I think some of the cost cutting can be attributed to the cheaper leather sweatband, and perhaps his "rookie" status in the market.

Incidentally, I nixed the telescope and went back to the mesa pinch today. Tried to put a little packer flange on the brim, too.

Other than that, it's just a really big hat that I'll probably wear more if and when my hair and beard come back into some length!

 

[casechopper]

Thanks Bowlerman,
Could you tell me how bad the sweatband is? Is it bonded leather or just low grade leather?

Thanks,
Sam

 

[bowlerman]

It's definitely not "bad" but not as supple as some others. Here's a large detail for you, where you can see some of the texture. Hope that helps.
As far as "pouncing" is concerned, it's not a very fine, smooth, buttery finish, but then again I don't think it was intended to be. You might ask him about that, since he seems to customize certain elements.

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[DRB]

Hatophile: Brown is your color. Looks good on you.

Bowlerman: Beautiful liner, is it Taffeta or silk?

 

[Joao Encarnado]

This is my first post, so greetings from Portugal
I have a some may call it a cowboy hat collection, I like to call it my trial and error for my hat because in Portugal there is no Resistol representation, but some stores (very little amount) sell stetsons but only fedoras made of wool. I believe that in Portugal there is no one making or ever made beaver hats.

This is me wearing a 20x black gold Resistol on a wedding. Don't know the year nor the name of the crease, I bought it on ebay 2 years ago and paid $152 with shipping to my country. I only wear this hat on some occasions because I like it very much. I wear every day another 20x black gold Resistol and because this type of hat is not very common in Portugal, I'm known as the guy with a cowboy hat around here were I live.

 

[Raider]

Good story....Dropped a black Resistol (Cattleman crease) off at Peters Bros to have redone into a Fedora last Saturday...I've had it for more than 10 years (bought it to wear to a Garth Brooks concert) and have worn it 5 times (maybe)....usually only when the Stock Show is going on....
Anyway, drop it off and not two days later my wife says "We're having family pictures done for my parents...Don't you have a black hat? It's going to be a western theme." Her dad raises cattle. They took the liner and sweatband out while I was still there...gave me the NRCA pin that was on the ribbon. Sorry Dear, all that's left is this pic:

 

[danofarlington]

This is my first post, so greetings from Portugal
I have a some may call it a cowboy hat collection, I like to call it my trial and error for my hat because in Portugal there is no Resistol representation, but some stores (very little amount) sell stetsons but only fedoras made of wool. I believe that in Portugal there is no one making or ever made beaver hats.

Another bodacious hat. I like it. Good choice.

 

[4spurs]

Looks good on your head Joao.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Ty all

This is the second hat I bought because the first one was tight on my head and I don't have the tools to make it 1 number higher. I did measured my head but I needed a bigger one.
So I bough this 7 3/8 4x beaver used Stetson. Paid $51 for it with shipping to Portugal about 7 years ago. This was it when new to me.

I wore it 5 or 6 years it got a lot of abuse. I traveled 3 times to the UK (mainly Scotland) and I remember it being always wet and heavy there. It rained almost all day and when it wasn't raining, you could almost feel the water in the air. I couldn't dry it on the UK!
This is how it is now:

No one in Portugal works beaver hats, not even our "hat museum". The light color on the brim is or oilskin or hair oil (I used it on summer) and I don't know how to remove it nor reshape the brim to give it a new life, so it's stored in this condition.

 

[Nigel]

I'm known as the guy with a cowboy hat around here were I live.

Me too

 

[fmw]

Wow. Nice to see some Europeans wearing American style hats. Good stuff.

 

[Nigel]

Wow. Nice to see some Europeans wearing American style hats. Good stuff.

It's the western hats that set me off with the collecting and also the reason I found FL. Western hats first for me followed closely by fedoras.

 

[bowlerman]

Hatophile: Brown is your color. Looks good on you.

Bowlerman: Beautiful liner, is it Taffeta or silk?

It is a pretty cool liner. I'm embarrassed to say that I have no idea whether it's Taffeta or silk. All I can tell is it's shiny, blue, and kind of paisley.

 

[fmw]

It's the western hats that set me off with the collecting and also the reason I found FL. Western hats first for me followed closely by fedoras.

The same is true for me. The hat in my avatar is my favorite. I'm also very fond of the Open Road as well as the more "cowboyish" westerns. I would imagine your western hats draw some looks in the U.K.