What degree of rake do you prefer?

[Blackthorn]

Since getting into fedoras, I've found it interesting how fedoras differ in the degree of rake.

For instance this VS Tucker has very little rake. It's almost as high in back as in front:

Then a "regular" degree of rake in this VS:

And a steeper rake in this one, similar to the one Bogart wore in Tokyo Joe:

What are your preferences of rake, and why?

 

[DJH]

Hmm, I have most of my hats with a simple centre crease so I have to say I prefer the top example - your VS Tucker.

I like the taller, straighter crown look.

Just took the Stetson 15 off my head and grabbed a quick phone camera shot - looks like a little more rake than your Tucker, but not too much

 

[HatsEnough]

I like my rake bent enough to smooth the sand after I swing out of the trap.... oh, wait this isn't the golf message board...

I am not a fan of the window shade...

Mark me as a medium bend man

 

[Mulceber]

Mark me down as a "no-rake" man - but then, I strongly prefer the center dent, so that might have something to do with it... -M

 

[coble]

when i had my vs fedora made (my avatar), i put a little more rake then Arts normal, and reason for me was i saw a movie with Bogart, and there was this photographer in the movie and you could see the teardrop. I liked the idea of there was some character to the hat even from the back. I still like it raked some in the back with a teardrop. Now my blacksheep is actually higher in the back then the front, Bob blocked it in reverse to give it character. For me its a creative aspect, i like my hat to show character in the front, and the back. To me it gives this accentric classic feel.

 

[St.Ignatz]

Depends on the hat of course. This just sort of fell into place.

VS Natural Light weight

 

[Sam Diamond]

I love a high rake!

 

[job]

I want my hats to have medium rake.

 

[G MAN]

I like your "regular" degree of rake.
To me it just looks right.

 

[Saint-Just]

I like my rake bent enough to smooth the sand after I swing out of the trap.... oh, wait this isn't the golf message board...

I am not a fan of the window shade...

Mark me as a medium bend man

I thought the rake referred to the slope at the top of the crown, not the shape of the brim

 

[BR Gordon]

I like your "regular" degree of rake.
To me it just looks right.

I agree, this just feels balanced.

 

[scottyrocks]

According to Blackthorn's photos, I guess I'm pretty close to regular with most of my hats:

 

[gtdean48]

I am definitely a regular rake if not a tad more. Just love that "tugboat" profile....

 

[fmw]

I like as little rake as possible and the crown as short as possible..

 

[Brando11]

I tend to prefer very little rake at all-

 

[zetwal]

Here's another popular option.

 

[Lloyd]

Regular or steep for me depending on the hat. The taller the crown the more rake I'll put in.

 

[The Good]

My favorite hat has what might be the "regular rake:"

A little up in the front, and down in the back. I think that's what I like most, and this is a teardrop crease.

EDIT: Here's my Federation IV, it's almost the same, but higher crowned and has a turned in front with the middle part sticking out:

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

In a well shaped, non-tapering crown, I usually go for the medium rake, nothing radical. The non-raking crown resembles the homburg, whereas the strongly raked hat appears in some way "unnatural".

But I have at least one instance where, due to the hat not having met expectations, such as a particular 7X Stetson originally out of Shudde Bros. (Houston) I once won on Ebay. This hat, through time, evolved and ended up with a strong rake, i.e. the latter part of the crown well down and the inner part with a bulge to ensure there's still enough room there for the rounding of my head.

This "anatomical shaping" was dictated by the fact that the crown of that hat isn't ample, how I like them, with quite some taper. As a result, after ripping and throwing away the liner, I "moulded" the hat around my head, using steam, water, brushing, spunging et. al., and it fits quite fine without, however, approaching what I consider to be the way I want my hats to look. And you might note this is, exceptionally, the one hat I have where the brim is not slanted down, but rather slightly upwards.

This is how, in principle a very high quality hat, with very good dense and soft felt, ended up being a mere beater...

 

[barrowjh]

Good topic! I like a lot of rake, but often the crown of my head cannot really stand a really low crown in the back, my head 'tops out' against the felt. So, I tend to have several different rakes, some of my hats 'top out' on me but it doesn't bother me much during the winter. Nowadays I tend to make a less aggressive rake to try and avoid topping out. It also depends on how much crown the hat has - if it has a lot of crown, maybe I can rake it aggressively anyway. For hats with a lot of crown, aggressive rake leads to a double-tear-drop (DTD) crease to avoid a huge 'bubble' of felt.