Posting our Fed IV's, yet!

[BobC]

I see the Deluxe is not listed as available in the greys. How much difference is there in the felt quality of the Deluxe versus the regular Federation?

This link may help you out:

http://www.hatsdirect.com/federation/index.html

The Fed IV is made from Akubra's imperial quality felt and the Fed Deluxe IV is made from heritage quality felt. Also the Deluxe has a better band. I have a deluxe and I have an Akubra Stylemaster (imperial quality) and there is a pretty big difference in the leather quality of the band. That said, they are both quite nice hats and I really like both of them. I've pretty much concluded that any Akubra you choose will be a nice hat as long as the style suits you.

 

[DrSpeed]

Here's my new Moonstone Fed IV. I love this color.

I'm convinced. I'm so convinced that I ordered it.

 

[Jerekson]

alright, I just ordered a Deluxe to replace my old Fed III. I never thought I would have more than one of the same hat, but...my Fed III has a hole in it So I guess now's a good an excuse as any to get a Fed IV...

Any estimation as to the shipping times into the states?

 

[indycop]

alright, I just ordered a Deluxe to replace my old Fed III. I never thought I would have more than one of the same hat, but...my Fed III has a hole in it So I guess now's a good an excuse as any to get a Fed IV...

Any estimation as to the shipping times into the states?

Last time I ordered from them it was 5 days to Florida.

 

[Woodfluter]

alright, I just ordered a Deluxe to replace my old Fed III. I never thought I would have more than one of the same hat, but...my Fed III has a hole in it So I guess now's a good an excuse as any to get a Fed IV...

Any estimation as to the shipping times into the states?

Mine took exactly one month to the day, in late April and early May of this year. But they were backed up I heard.

You will like the Deluxe quality. Based on one Imperial quality Akubra I have and two Heritage quality, they all start stiff but the Heritage felt softens up with flexing and working very nicely - the Imperial does soften eventually but not to the same degree I suspect. Also the Heritage finish is noticably better. I haven't really given any of mine a severe, years-long beating yet, but I think they would both prove to be quite durable. For the price differential, I would definitely go with the Deluxe.

- Bill

 

[Edward]

I see the Deluxe is not listed as available in the greys. How much difference is there in the felt quality of the Deluxe versus the regular Federation?

To add to what BobC says (which is quite correct)....

I have a Dark Brown Deluxe and a Crabon grey regular Fed III, both bought new last December. They are both beautiful hats, and I certainly don't feel that I bought a substandard product in going for the regular second. The Heritage felt is noticeably thicker, and had a stiffer feel to it. I gave both hats a rough dry bash before steaming them, and the regular Fed was noticeably asier to work with. I suspect though that Bob is right and the deluxe will in time be the softer of the two. I am inclined to feel that the deLuxe is worth paying the extra for in the long run, however, I certainly wouldn't be put off buying another regular if the colour I wanted isn't available in the deLuxe.

My next fed will probably be a regular in moonstone, though I also "need" a deluxe in black.....

 

[Fedoraphile]

Just wondering what the dimensions of the crown are, also the brim, and the hat band...

 

[Woodfluter]

To add to what BobC says (which is quite correct)....

I have a Dark Brown Deluxe and a Crabon grey regular Fed III, both bought new last December. They are both beautiful hats, and I certainly don't feel that I bought a substandard product in going for the regular second. The Heritage felt is noticeably thicker, and had a stiffer feel to it. I gave both hats a rough dry bash before steaming them, and the regular Fed was noticeably asier to work with. I suspect though that Bob is right and the deluxe will in time be the softer of the two. I am inclined to feel that the deLuxe is worth paying the extra for in the long run, however, I certainly wouldn't be put off buying another regular if the colour I wanted isn't available in the deLuxe.

I now have two Heritage felt Akubras, one of which is the Fed IV, plus one of the "standard" Imperial felt (a Riverina). Also I've seen Imperial felts in stores.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is to go for the Heritage quality. Well worth the added cost. It looks better straight off, but both kinds start off stiff. If you just carefully shape it and leave it be, the Deluxe (Hertage felt) will remain rather stiff. But if you beat the hell out of it, squash and mash it every which way, which I think is actually a good thing to do, the Hertiage felt will soften up very nicely. It won't become as soft as the vintage dress hats, but it will end up pretty comparable to a vintage Stetson Open Road. Not bad at all.

I've done the same with the Riverina, and it is getting a bit more flexible, but it is still what another FL poster calls "cowboy felt". Light and thinner cowboy felt, but still...pretty much what it is. Fine for many purposes. But the Heritage felt is not cowboy hat felt at all. What I've found anyway.

- Bill

 

[Fedoraphile]

I took a brown Indiana Jones style fedora and opened up the brim so it would be raw edged, soaked it with some undiluted Sta-Flo liquid starch, reshaped the crown and tried to get the look from the Adventurebuilt folks, ironed it, heck, I baked it a bit too... And it looks pretty doggone good now.

By the way, the Sta-flo didn't stiffen the hat as much as I would like. What's the best way of stiffening a brim?

Fedoraphile

 

[Jerekson]

Uh...are you talking about a Dorfman Pacific official hat? This discussion is about the Akubras.

But while we're here, there is actually a specific material used for stiffening felt hats. Just do a search for felt hat stiffener and you can probably pick up a bottle for about 10 bucks...

 

[Fedoraphile]

Uh...are you talking about a Dorfman Pacific official hat? This discussion is about the Akubras.

But while we're here, there is actually a specific material used for stiffening felt hats. Just do a search for felt hat stiffener and you can probably pick up a bottle for about 10 bucks...

If I had been able to find that hat stiffener locally (Chicago is a really big town, and when I say "locally" that would need to be within a 20 minute drive) I'd have probably gone with it, but as I'm an experimenter of sorts, and picking up on an idea from another thread suggesting hair spray, I slathered a generous portion of hair gel on the underside of the brim (horror of horrors!) all the way around, let it soak in, turned the hat upside down and let it dry. Once it was dry, I found it plenty stiff, and now the brim snaps down just fine. I brushed the hat well, and the slight roughness went away. Feels great, and looks even better.

Fedoraphile

 

[Edward]

I'm almost tempted to try that sometime, purely for the looks I get when buying it.... a while back, I bought a huge can of hairspray for use with some wigs I was stylnig at the time. The look I got from the cashier, who was presumably wondering why exactly a guy with an entirely shaven head was buying hairspray, was priceless. lol

 

[DrSpeed]

My Fed4 arrived today. It's a wonderful hat, the colour (Moonstone) and felt quality quite exceeded my expectations. Alas, so did the size. I'm an almost dead on 56, a bit on the small side, so I ordered a 56, fearing it would be too small, but just as Woodfluter mentioned in his first post here, it's really loose and seems larger than my other size 56 Akubra's.
I don't want to send it back, because I can't bear to wait again, and also I fear a 55 will be too small. So, it's steaming time I suppose.

 

[David Conwill]

I slathered a generous portion of hair gel on the underside of the brim (horror of horrors!) all the way around, let it soak in, turned the hat upside down and let it dry. Once it was dry, I found it plenty stiff, and now the brim snaps down just fine. I brushed the hat well, and the slight roughness went away. Feels great, and looks even better.

I'm going to have to try this on my old Broner. Heck, I just dyed the thing dark brown with hair dye, that seems like a logical next step!

-Dave

 

[Jerekson]

I'm going to have to try this on my old Broner. Heck, I just dyed the thing dark brown with hair dye, that seems like a logical next step!

-Dave

Details?

 

[David Conwill]

Details?

I'm waiting to make a full post until I've got things completely wrapped up. But it's coming.

-Dave

 

[Jerekson]

I'm waiting to make a full post until I've got things completely wrapped up. But it's coming.

-Dave

Totally looking forward to it.

I got my Fed IV Deluxe in today. Gee whiz, no words to describe it.
Unfortunatly I have to wait to shape it until I get a block made :rage:

 

[mike]

My Fed4 arrived today. It's a wonderful hat, the colour (Moonstone) and felt quality quite exceeded my expectations. Alas, so did the size. I'm an almost dead on 56, a bit on the small side, so I ordered a 56, fearing it would be too small, but just as Woodfluter mentioned in his first post here, it's really loose and seems larger than my other size 56 Akubra's.
I don't want to send it back, because I can't bear to wait again, and also I fear a 55 will be too small. So, it's steaming time I suppose.

Does anyone think ordering one size smaller is a bad idea? Or are you just opening yourself up to having to send it back :eusa_doh:

 

[mike]

And next to my camptown

Thanks for posting these together! They both have terrific qualities of their own... I keep looking back and forth and can't decide which I prefer :eusa_doh:
Are there any shipping time delays or sizing issues with the Fieldmaster?

 

[Colby Jack]

Is the Fieldmaster the lighter one?[huh]