I love the Fed IV!!

[scottyrocks]

I'd say the Adventurer in Mid Brown is definitely darker than my Dark Brown Fed. Neither color matches the Sable that was used for the Indy hats, but I do think Akubra's Dark Brown is at least a little closer.

I guess I was basing my opinion on the many online photos I have seen of the Adventurer, and almost none of them look as dark as RJR's.

I still say not to trust online photography when comparing hat colors.

 

[Zombie_61]

I guess I was basing my opinion on the many online photos I have seen of the Adventurer, and almost none of them look as dark as RJR's...

That's interesting, because I've also looked at online photos of the Adventurer and almost all of them looked as dark as RJR's; some looked almost black with just a hint of brown.

...I still say not to trust online photography when comparing hat colors.

I agree. The actual color of every one of my Akubras was at least a bit of a surprise because those colors weren't an exact match to what I'd seen in photos. When I received my Silverbelly Campdraft I even asked the members here if I had received the right color because it was so much darker than what I was expecting.

That being said, look at the first/top photo in this post by @indycop from February of 2009; specifically the two middle hats in the front row. On the left is a Mid Brown Campdraft, and on the right a Dark Brown Fed IV. On my monitor the Mid Brown looks darker and has a hint of an Olive hue, while the Dark Brown is lighter and has more of a reddish brown hue. I'm not saying these are accurate representations of the colors, but since they were photographed side-by-side under the same lighting conditions I think it's a more "apples to apples" comparison of the colors.

 

[D00R]

Yeah the FedIV looks spot on when the bash is correct. Its just throwing me off when I see people wearing a size 58 and the brim looks perfect long length. I put the smaller crown width into considerstion hoping it would get that Raiders look but when I tried on a hat with a little over 2.5 inch brim and size 56, it looked to small a width with the Indy turn.

I have the Akubra in a 57 and its still a bit big, swivels slightly on my head so I wanted to get the FedIV in size 56 and give it the Indy turn and crease the leather sweatband in half to get that muffin top like Ford did to get his hat snug around his head for all the action in Raiders. I wanted to beat the hat up physically not only by adding fullers earth.

Im thinkin that was the trade off when they upgraded the Fediv, they got help from Delk? But to get Fans to buy all the handmade hats that are 4X the price the custom hats have the correct measurements and the Fediii is no more. Problem is the replicas have a 5.5 inch bashed crown that looks wrong on a lot of Fans heads. Harrison wore his hat so tight like second skin. Fans either never post photos of themselves wearing there Expensive Indy reproductions or the hat majority of the time is so ill fitting that it puts me off paying half a grand for a marked up hat.

 

[scottyrocks]

That's interesting, because I've also looked at online photos of the Adventurer and almost all of them looked as dark as RJR's; some looked almost black with just a hint of brown.

Here is what I am talking about.

Here is an Adventurer, in sunlight, like the RJR's. notice how much lighter it is than Bob's. In fat, it is closer to your Fed IV in color than RJR's.

Not arguing. Just 'proving' how unreliable online photography can be.

 

[Edward]

Is the FEDIV felt comparable to the thickness weight quality of the Campdraft?

Assuming we're comparing Imperial Quality to Imperial Quality and Heritage Quality to Heritage Quality, I'd say yes. There might be minor variations that are inherent in the felting process, but unless you're doing an in-depth examination they shouldn't be noticeable.

If you're interested, you can watch the videos posted on Akubra's website to get a better idea of how their hats are made.

To add to this, I have both a Fed III Deluxe and the Campdraft Deluxe in Silverbelly. I found the felt comparable with both in thickness, but the CD, being a Western, was significantly stiffer out of the box, and took much longer to soften up. (Interestingly, the Heritage felt in the DLX Fed was notably stiffer when new than my experience of my regular Feds in Imperial felt, though I find both types equally hardwearing and of equal quality over a decade of wear.)

Okay thanks. I wonder why they stopped making the Fediii with the wider brim.dies anyone own bithe Fediii & Fediv?

I've owned two of each. In all honesty, the differences are so minimal that almost any measurable difference once bashed and worn is as likely to be on account of differences in bash as it is the differences in unblocked, unbashed heights. I loved my IIIs so much that I was worried when they first announced they were going to change the specs, but if you'd presented me with both and said nothing, I'm not sure I'd have spotted it at all, and as Herself would tell you, I can be remarkably anal about my clothes and accessories!

As much as Hats Direct denies the Fed is based on the hats in the Indiana Jones franchise ("At no stage do we make any claim that this hat is a replica of the Indiana Jones hat as used in the movies."),

I'm not sure how far this is to do with the specs of the hat itself as legal niceties. Bear in mind that Indiana Jones is a trademarked property - anyone can copy the style of the hat as things sit (it's practically impossible to protect the basic design of clothing, clothing being more or less universally regarded as 'utilitarian' and not 'creative' by the law), but 'Indiana Jones' and a bunch of related terms are registered trade marks, so you have to be very careful how you market such a product. I suspect part of the reason they say things like that when asked is for that reason. (Of course, they may also have had negative experiences of the sort of people with unreasonable fanboy demands; most of the leather jacket companies we love round here have had similar experiences).

By the way, please ignore my comments in post #2013 regarding the "Last Crusade" hat. It appears the Fed II and III were refined versions of the first Federation hat, which was modified as new and more accurate information about the "Raiders" hat(s) became available.

That's my understanding too. FWIW, I'm also given to understand that the actual hats used in Crystal Skull were designed to replicate far more the Raiders hats (note also the brief reappearance of the grey hat for 'city' /non-adventure wear), even if the wardrobe department decided to give them a different pinch.

Thanks, man! That thread looks like fun reading.
It would be nice if Hats Direct would come out with a dark green Fed with a dark brown ribbon.

Seriously, if HD would offer- at a small upcharge, naturally - some customisation to the Fed, such as different colour ribbon, bound brim (I do love the look of a wide 1/4" bound brim on a fedora), and a wind trolley, maybe also a few different felt colour choices - that green looks amazing, midnight blue would be great, and I'd love an oxblood, maybe also a dark aubergine.... I'm not sure I'd feel much need to look for any other fedora. Alongside a vintage (late 40s) Royal Stetson, my Feds have consistently been my favourite and more worn brimmed hats.

The width of the brim isn't the only factor to take into consideration. For example, a 2-1/2" wide brim with a deep flange will look narrower than a 2-1/2" brim with little or no flange because the brim curl will bring the edge of the brim closer to the crown, making it look narrower. And a 2-1/2" brim will look wider on a smaller hat than it will on a larger hat because of the differences in the widths of the crowns. Even a hat with a lower crease can make the brim look wider; it's all in how we perceive the proportions.

There's the rub... unless one were to have the same body proportions and sizes as Harrison Ford, it's not always easy to make the same thing cut for a different person look the same. I ruled out the Wested Hero jacket for me for that reason - it may be more screen accurate, but on me it would look less so than the regular model. I've known costumiers tear their hair out over this sort of thing (in one case especially, it was a lady who was much larger than Nell Campbell demanding that her Rocky Horror costume hotpants have the same number of stripes the same distance apart from each other as Nell's originals - despite the fact that this particular lady happened to be twice Nell's size).

That said, you could be right and the Fed IV isn't the "right" hat for you. I think you're doing the right thing by researching all of your options before spending your money on a hat you might not be happy with. I obviously like the Fed IV, but I know it's not the right hat for everyone.

Agreed. he Fed is great for me because, well, it looks like an Indy hat and Indy got me into fedoras... Other folks who crave a level of costume perfection I don't with this (I wear mine as regular clothing, I've never put together an Indy costume) may feel that something else better suits their needs.

Yeah the FedIV looks spot on when the bash is correct. Its just throwing me off when I see people wearing a size 58 and the brim looks perfect long length. I put the smaller crown width into considerstion hoping it would get that Raiders look but when I tried on a hat with a little over 2.5 inch brim and size 56, it looked to small a width with the Indy turn.

I have the Akubra in a 57 and its still a bit big, swivels slightly on my head so I wanted to get the FedIV in size 56 and give it the Indy turn and crease the leather sweatband in half to get that muffin top like Ford did to get his hat snug around his head for all the action in Raiders. I wanted to beat the hat up physically not only by adding fullers earth.

Worth looking into this; I'd have thought you'd want to start with a hat that is a little too big, given that was the problem that they had to solve on the Raiders set (Ford had still had his long Han Solo hair when measured up for the hat, but when he arrived on set with his much shorter Indy hair, it made a difference. I can completely see how - I went down a full size when I started shaving my head). With Akubras having a tendency to snug up to fit, I'd probably start with a used hat or at least wear one for a while before doing anything to make it fit smaller.

Im thinkin that was the trade off when they upgraded the Fediv, they got help from Delk? But to get Fans to buy all the handmade hats that are 4X the price the custom hats have the correct measurements and the Fediii is no more. Problem is the replicas have a 5.5 inch bashed crown that looks wrong on a lot of Fans heads. Harrison wore his hat so tight like second skin. Fans either never post photos of themselves wearing there Expensive Indy reproductions or the hat majority of the time is so ill fitting that it puts me off paying half a grand for a marked up hat.

I can't see the Delk hats having needed to do that sort of thing to distinguish themselves from the production Akubras - they were already different in that each one was custom made, not production line, and also beaver fur (not the rabbit or rabbit/hare mix of the Akubras). Some folks will always see these sorts of things as worth paying much more for. Add in the buzz there was in the fan community, plus then they fact that later on folks were able to say they had or were buying a hat from the same people as made the Hat Indy actually wore in IV...

In terms of what looks right on a fan's head as compared to Ford, well, you're back to the curse of individuality, and the simple fact that even if I buy exactly what Ford wore, it will simply wear differently on me than on him.

 

[jlee562]

You're looking in the wrong places if you can't find folks posting pictures of their custom Indy hats. Swing by COW.

Also, folding the sweatband in half? Never heard that one.

IMHO, the eccentricities of the original HJ block can't be matched by the Fed, which is why a lot of folks on COW have ended up reblocking theirs for those who obsess over the Raiders look ( also why I say the Christy's block is better for the Indy look). The block on the Fed was chosen because of its similarity to the block Steve was using, but the "collaboration" was little more than that IIRC. Also (again IIRC), the Crystal Skull hat did draw from Raiders, but that the costume designer wanted significantly less Raiders influence than Steve probably would have opted for if left to his own devices.

 

[RJR]

Here is what I am talking about.

Here is an Adventurer, in sunlight, like the RJR's. notice how much lighter it is than Bob's. In fat, it is closer to your Fed IV in color than RJR's.

View attachment 130856 View attachment 130857

Not arguing. Just 'proving' how unreliable online photography can be.

Here is my Adventurer on the left and FED IV on the right for comparison.

 

[Just A Hat Rack]

View attachment 130884
Here is my Adventurer on the left and FED IV on the right for comparison.

Did you replace the ribbon on the Adventurer, or is that the one that came with the hat?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[RJR]

Did you replace the ribbon on the Adventurer, or is that the one that came with the hat?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

That's a replacement.

 

[Zombie_61]

Here is what I am talking about.

Here is an Adventurer, in sunlight, like the RJR's. notice how much lighter it is than Bob's. In fat, it is closer to your Fed IV in color than RJR's.

View attachment 130856 View attachment 130857

Not arguing. Just 'proving' how unreliable online photography can be.

Oh, it proves your point very well. I've never seen Akubra's Mid Brown photograph anywhere near that light in color, and definitely not as "warm". If I thought that was an accurate representation of the color I might start saving up for one.

...I'm not sure how far this is to do with the specs of the hat itself as legal niceties. Bear in mind that Indiana Jones is a trademarked property - anyone can copy the style of the hat as things sit (it's practically impossible to protect the basic design of clothing, clothing being more or less universally regarded as 'utilitarian' and not 'creative' by the law), but 'Indiana Jones' and a bunch of related terms are registered trade marks, so you have to be very careful how you market such a product. I suspect part of the reason they say things like that when asked is for that reason. (Of course, they may also have had negative experiences of the sort of people with unreasonable fanboy demands; most of the leather jacket companies we love round here have had similar experiences)...

It's definitely because of legal issues. Hats Direct also has this posted on their website: "Lucasfilm has asked us to display this disclaimer. 'Please note: The Hattery and this fedora hat are not affiliated or associated with Lucasfilm Ltd. or the Indiana Jones films and this product is not authorized by Lucasfilm Ltd.'" So there was clearly some form of communication between the two companies about those legal issues, and they apparently couldn't come to terms. Sadly, the Fed IV is far more accurate than any of the officially licensed wool felt Dorfman Pacific hats.

...Seriously, if HD would offer- at a small upcharge, naturally - some customisation to the Fed, such as different colour ribbon, bound brim (I do love the look of a wide 1/4" bound brim on a fedora), and a wind trolley, maybe also a few different felt colour choices - that green looks amazing, midnight blue would be great, and I'd love an oxblood, maybe also a dark aubergine.... I'm not sure I'd feel much need to look for any other fedora. Alongside a vintage (late 40s) Royal Stetson, my Feds have consistently been my favourite and more worn brimmed hats...

If Hats Direct were making the hats themselves they might be convinced to offer such a service. But they're a retailer, not a manufacturer, and ultimately they can only make inquiries to see if Akubra is willing to interrupt their production schedule for such deviations. On occasion in the past they have done so and Akubra produced at least a couple of special runs of a "Fedora Lounge" version of the Campdraft, but that seems to depend on the quantity of hats ordered and the specific changes requested.

...There's the rub... unless one were to have the same body proportions and sizes as Harrison Ford, it's not always easy to make the same thing cut for a different person look the same...

Very true. Even the stuntmen who doubled for Ford looked at least a little different--a little taller or shorter, more or less muscular, etc..

...I ruled out the Wested Hero jacket for me for that reason - it may be more screen accurate, but on me it would look less so than the regular model...

I do have a Wested "Raiders" jacket, custom made to my measurements. I didn't get it because I wanted an "Indy" jacket, but because I liked the style and wanted a real jacket (i.e., not a low quality costume item) that I could wear whenever I wanted. And for the most part, that's what I got. It's very comfortable, and the leather seems to get softer every time I wear it. It's not perfect--the "distressed" Novapelle cow hide leather absorbs water like a sponge so wearing it in anything heavier than a light rain is out, and it could use some insulation because it's not particularly warm on cold nights. Aside from those two minor issues, it's exactly what I wanted. I've even worn it with my Dark Brown Fed IV, and to this day have never once heard an "Indy" comment from anyone, so I'm very pleased.

 

[Just A Hat Rack]

View attachment 130884
Here is my Adventurer on the left and FED IV on the right for comparison.

Thanks for posting this side by side comparison Bob. It's good to see two similar styled hats next to each other. The only real noticeable difference (to me) is the brim width on the sides. I also wasn't aware of how similar the two browns were. The Fed IV (again, to me) looks darker than I had previously seen. I still think it shows as being slightly lighter than the Adventurer, but if separated I would think they're the same color.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[scottyrocks]

View attachment 130884
Here is my Adventurer on the left and FED IV on the right for comparison.

Wow, those are really close, and sort of backs up the Adventurer photo I posted that looks so close to Al's Fed IV.

 

[scottyrocks]

In short, and this may sound like a cop out, but I think that the only way for d00r, or anyone else, to know exactly which variation of any particular style of hat will look on them is to buy one and see, because every person is different, and there are a number of ways to make any hat look different and make it as suitable as possible for one's head.

 

[cm289]

Plug pulled, tawny fawn bought! Bazinga! (Pardon the 3 second bash)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jlee562]

Plug pulled, tawny fawn bought! Bazinga! (Pardon the 3 second bash)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

nudge that ribbon back toward the brim break and you'll be all set!

 

[scottyrocks]

Plug pulled, tawny fawn bought! Bazinga! (Pardon the 3 second bash)

Looks great, but again, that doesn't look like the color of the TF I have in my hand.

 

[Zombie_61]

Looks great, but again, that doesn't look like the color of the TF I have in my hand.

Nor mine. But it's a pretty close match to the way mine photographed here:

Further evidence that these damned fur felt hats just won't cooperate for photos!

 

[D00R]

View attachment 130884
Here is my Adventurer on the left and FED IV on the right for comparison.

They Both look GREAT.
Is the Crown and brim bigger than the FedIV ? Hows the felt softeness comapred to both? Did you need to order a size bigger like the Campdraft? Or does the adventurer and FedIV run small or are true to size and wont shrink around the sweatband?

 

[RJR]

They Both look GREAT.
Is the Crown and brim bigger than the FedIV ? Hows the felt softeness comapred to both? Did you need to order a size bigger like the Campdraft? Or does the adventurer and FedIV run small or are true to size and wont shrink around the sweatband?

The dimensions are very close.The Adventurer was slightly softer when new but only slightly.I've always ordered up one size and let them shrink to fit.

 

[Krash1974]

I like it, but green is one of my favorite colors so my opinion might be a bit biased.

For my personal "wish list" I'd like it if Akubra produced the Fed IV in Whiskey felt with the same color ribbon that they use on the Tawny Fawn or Dark Brown Fed IV. Since that doesn't seem likely I had Tim Mahovich (@Cane Rod Maker, Alley Kat Hat Co.) make a beautiful Whiskey fedora for me back in 2014, with dimensions similar to the Fed IV but "tweaked" a bit to match my tastes. It's my favorite hat, but if Akubra ever produces a Whiskey Fed IV I'd still get one.

Whiskey is one of my favorites, as well. On the Northwest Hat Co. website (or maybe his Facebook) there's one that's just smooth.