The Open Road Guild

[RickP]

Hello All - new here so not sure if I should post a question in a new thread of if here is better.

Even though it's snowing here in SW Ohio I have been thinking of summer hats! Decided on an Open Road and pulled the trigger on a Hemp, but I am not pleased with the brim. As you can kinda see in the picture, it is not level which looks very odd when worn. Did I just get a bad one?

Can I flatten out this brim so that is even and will stay that way or should I return and get one of the Shantung ORs?

I've seen posts from Hurricane Jack and StoryPNW and their Hemps look great, with a flat, crisp looking brim.

Ive had really good luck with my hemp stratoliners and steam.. Have straightened out lots of used hat wonkiness with steaming and a brim board or block to cool on

 

[RickP]

Hello All - new here so not sure if I should post a question in a new thread of if here is better.

Even though it's snowing here in SW Ohio I have been thinking of summer hats! Decided on an Open Road and pulled the trigger on a Hemp, but I am not pleased with the brim. As you can kinda see in the picture, it is not level which looks very odd when worn. Did I just get a bad one?

Can I flatten out this brim so that is even and will stay that way or should I return and get one of the Shantung ORs?

I've seen posts from Hurricane Jack and StoryPNW and their Hemps look great, with a flat, crisp looking brim.

For the Stratoliner hemps, I steam and cool with the brim snapped UP... (Steam seems to add a bit of body to the hemp and it holds its shape mo better). Then after cooling, I resteam the front half and iron the front half with the brim snapped down, and iron the front flat. ( use a press cloth for the iron) Gives a nice smooth front brim. A Hemp Open road should respond just as well

 

[Cattleman Crease]

Hi OR Guild!

New member here. I just introduced myself in the New Member thread and I wanted to introduce myself here as well. As my username implies, I'm partial to hats with cattleman creases, specifically ORs and OR clones. I have two Stetson ORs (6X Natural Straw and 10X Toasted Vented Straw), but I plan to add a few felt ORs to my collection soon, both vintage and modern. Just wanted to introduce myself and say hello to the Guild. Pics coming soon!

Cheers!

CC

 

[RossRYoung]

Welcome aboard, CC!

It’s a slippery slope though, that’s exactly what I was into when I first joined as well, cattleman bashed ORs. Browse the Western, Anyone? & Pre 1940 Stetson westerns threads if you want to see how far your tastes will bend… good luck

 

[DaveProc]

6X OR

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Another odd Stetson OR Twenty-five, 2.5 x 6 OC. I have another Twenty-five that is a 2.5” brim, blocked pretty square. Whenever I encounter OR’s like these in grades above 3X I always wonder if they were meant to be the “city” OR? Steam cleaned & ironed, ready to be creased. This one fits me a little round so I thought I’d wear it a couple days first to see if the sides would pull in. Has a faint ghost crease or two yet.

 

[TimmyV]

Here's my new Stetson OR Twenty-five. 3 inch brim 6 inch OC. All my other Open Road hats have a 2-3/4 to 2-7/8 inch brim...must be a Texas thing. Lol.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

3 inch brim 6 inch OC.

3x6 is probably my favorite vintage dimension, no matter whether an OR or Rancher.

An OR RD for this morning on a caffeine run.

 

[RickP]

3x6 is probably my favorite vintage dimension, no matter whether an OR or Rancher.

An OR RD for this morning on a caffeine run.

View attachment 707068

View attachment 707069

View attachment 707070

I agree with your thoughts... those dimensions just look really great. I normally wear more modest brims, but Ive got an older 3x and an Open Road with the same crown height and brim size. I got to thinking and had to go measure a couple Akubras on the wall. Ill be darned if my Sidewinder and Lawson arent also 6" crown and 3" brims. Such a sweet spot in hat shape and size

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I agree with your thoughts... those dimensions just look really great. I normally wear more modest brims, but Ive got an older 3x and an Open Road with the same crown height and brim size. I got to thinking and had to go measure a couple Akubras on the wall. Ill be darned if my Sidewinder and Lawson arent also 6" crown and 3" brims. Such a sweet spot in hat shape and size

On a vintage Rancher my absolute favorite is a 3.125 BE or a 3.250 RE x 6, & always a concentric cut brim.

 

[RickP]

On a vintage Rancher my absolute favorite is a 3.125 BE or a 3.250 RE x 6, & always a concentric cut brim.

Agree again... dimensional brims just look strange to me...my doorways arent so narrow that I need slimmer side brims

 

[M Hatman]

New to the corral. A mid-late 50's Sovereign Twenty OR. Thought I would document here. Nice soft firm felt. Standard Dimensions: 5 1/2" crown, 2 3/4" brim. Slight upturn at the binding (that gives it a great look). Super clean..,...It will be a keeper.

And now the insides:

Sold in Texas:

And YES....it is an OR.

 

[jlee562]

Open crown OR returns for the Stetson 160th. 6x in Fawn or Black.

https://stetson.com/products/open-r...Yo_Nlvc_qdu3RdNWDQlOGtMDcHAeOMgK10aTomnEY0dds

 

[Bobby Marshall]

Open crown OR returns for the Stetson 160th. 6x in Fawn or Black.

View attachment 727502

https://stetson.com/products/open-r...Yo_Nlvc_qdu3RdNWDQlOGtMDcHAeOMgK10aTomnEY0dds

No size 8/64. 500lb gorillas need hats too.

 

[jlee562]

I guess I'm on a Simpsons meme kick, because this was my internal monologue:

Lo and behold Village Hat Shop's labor day sale is still active, so with $40 off, I acted impulsively as usual and ordered the fawn. I have literally commented on Stetson's social media asking for an open crown OR, so I guess I'm gonna put my money where my mouth is. Funnily enough, the limited edition 160th is $15 less than the normal 6x. The liner tip looks to me like it might be embroidered and not silk screened. I'm not expecting too much out of it, but I figure it'll be a nice mate to my 150th Strat.

 

[Rmccamey]

Yep. Let us know what you find. I see they are sticking with the fishing line to attach the sweatband. The taper and short(?) crown will likely deter me from a purchase.

I guess I'm on a Simpsons meme kick, because this was my internal monologue:
View attachment 727556

Lo and behold Village Hat Shop's labor day sale is still active, so with $40 off, so I acted impulsively as usual and ordered the fawn. I have literally commented on Stetson's social media asking for an open crown OR, so I guess I'm gonna put my money where my mouth is. Funnily enough, the limited edition 160th is $15 less than the normal 6x. The liner tip looks to me like it might be embroidered and not silk screened. I'm not expecting too much out of it, but I figure it'll be a nice mate to my 150th Strat.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Open crown OR returns for the Stetson 160th. 6x in Fawn or Black.

I was surprised a 160th anny OR was not an OC Pure OR instead of a 6X.

The liner tip looks to me like it might be embroidered and not silk screened.

I thought so too.

 

[jlee562]

Yep. Let us know what you find. I see they are sticking with the fishing line to attach the sweatband. The taper and short(?) crown will likely deter me from a purchase.

Yeah, I saw that 4 1/2" spec on the official site, and that's gotta be a copy error. Just proportionally based on the ribbon, the pictured hat has gotta be taller. More to the point though, Village Hat Shop actually has it listed as 6" open crown, which is also interesting! Maybe graduated heights? I guess we'll find out soon. Pic from VHS, I kinda like the center dent...

I was surprised a 160th anny OR was not an OC Pure OR instead of a 6X.

Yeah, 6x was a surprise to me too. They've also re-released the Stetsonian, which is done in Royal Dlx. The other OC hat is The Boss 1865, which is a 7"crown/4" brim, modern BRE style (without the good vintage curl), also 6x. On the other hand, I appreciate that they made them more affordable. I probably would not have splurged on a 100% beaver OR. For one thing, I would be a lot more annoyed if that hat showed up with the clear poly thread.

 

[jlee562]

I may just be priming myself for disappointment, as the new 6x should be in hand tomorrow, but I pulled out my 3x OR today. I think earlier pictures of this hat may have gone dead because of photobucket. Probably 50's on this one. The tag has fallen out a while ago, but this one actually had the square black tag. But as you can see, it has the wider sweatband and embroidered Last Drop liner with onion skin liner tip. Sold from Stripling's in Ft. Worth. Also, I haven't seen "mid oval" on any other Stetson that I can remember.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I have two OR Twenty-fives. While they are a generation apart in age they are blocked similar to each other, & more like a “city” OR.