Help me pick my AB Fedora

Hey all. I have a Fur Felt DP right now but I want to upgrade and AB seems the obvious best choice. I know that I want a Raiders style, either the opening idol scene or the Cairo hookah bar. Could someone please explain to me what exactly the differances are, if any? And also what exactly "the turn" is? Im an FNG when it comes to fedoras so I'd rly appreciate it. Also I was going to try COW but its nearly impossible to register there.

Also on a slightly related topic, does anyone know exactly or about how many hats were used total for the filming of all 3 currently out movies?

Hi !

if you want a close hat to raiders then go with AB. if you want something exactly the same go wih TODD HJ ( same color, same rabbit felt ). there was a lot of discuss about the original hat, block, fur etc...here or on COW and some fans think they know the truth....personaly, i made an interview some years ago with the man who work on the film, R.SWALES and he told me that the block never changed to make HJ hats and he doesnt understand why every body think that ! only the thickness of the felt has changed. but no fans knows the truth it is why i beleive R.S. just my opinion...

"Also I was going to try COW"
Save yourself the trouble....

M.C. said:

Hi !

if you want a close hat to raiders then go with AB. if you want something exactly the same go wih TODD HJ ( same color, same rabbit felt ). there was a lot of discuss about the original hat, block, fur etc...here or on COW and some fans think they know the truth....personaly, i made an interview some years ago with the man who work on the film, R.SWALES and he told me that the block never changed to make HJ hats and he doesnt understand why every body think that ! only the thickness of the felt has changed. but no fans knows the truth it is why i beleive R.S. just my opinion...

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Swales told me the same thing, but I don't know... I've owned several HJ's over the years and could never get any of them to resemble the untapered Raiders crown; maybe my bashing skill is not good enough, but I've heard many others say the same thing.

Steve Delk of Adventurebilt developed a Raiders block that looks terrific and uses it to make the HJ's that are sold by Tony Magnoli. I own one of them, and it is the only HJ that (to me) looked completely spot-on right out of the box.

Also, Swales is retired and HJ is not the same company it used to be. Magnoli buys their hats unassembled and has Steve hand make them and treat them to minimize shrinkage, etc. It's a fabulous hat, but the standard HJ's are tougher and will take a lot of abuse.

I haven't seen Todd's fedoras in person, but I know he's done great work on other pieces of Indy's costume.

SMr. Swales told me he made about 40 hats for all three films; I believe Steve Delk made at least that many just for Crystal Skull.

Jack

eazybox said:

It's a fabulous hat, but the standard HJ's are tougher and will take a lot of abuse.

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Sorry, meant to say the standard AB's are tougher; they'll take a knockin' and keep on rockin'.

Jack

The problem with the reblock hj from Adventure bilt sold by Magnoly is the hat crown is too much straight !! it is a wrong idea to think the crown is very hight and straight. we can see clearly in some pics or scene that it is not ! if it is in front view, it is not in profil or 3/4....S.Delk made all the crown perfectly straight...
i have a 1980 HJ and it is not soooo straight !.....

i also have a HJ from Swales bougth in 2000 and 2 from Todd bought in 2006, there is no differences.

by the way AB is a very very good hat, i do have 2 myself ! but my prefered is still the HJ...

Deckard said:

Could someone please explain to me what exactly the differances are, if any?

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The crown has reverse taper and the brim is more warped, for instance.

Deckard said:

And also what exactly "the turn" is?

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http://raidershat.com/

M.C. said:

The problem with the reblock hj from Adventure bilt sold by Magnoly is the hat crown is too much straight !! it is a wrong idea to think the crown is very hight and straight. we can see clearly in some pics or scene that it is not ! if it is in front view, it is not in profil or 3/4....S.Delk made all the crown perfectly straight...
i have a 1980 HJ and it is not soooo straight !.....

i also have a HJ from Swales bougth in 2000 and 2 from Todd bought in 2006, there is no differences.

by the way AB is a very very good hat, i do have 2 myself ! but my prefered is still the HJ...

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Just to clarify; the block Steve uses for the Magnoli HJ's is not perfectly straight all around. He's using a new block now that, to my eyes anyway, looks better than the old one. I agree though, the old block always looked too tall and too straight to me, too.

Steve and others have written volumes of material about the Raiders fedora, most of which I assume is still available for people to read and make up their own minds. But, I don't even need Steve to tell me how different the 6 HJ's I had looked from the hats that were used in the movie. Or how closely the one he sent me matches what I see on the screen.

The original Raiders hat still does seem to have a lot of mystery attached to it, though, even after all the research that has been done on it.

Jack

Thanks everyone, VP thanks for that link it explained alot. What would you guys reccomend as far as felt, Beaver? Also what is the actual fedora made from?

Adventurebilt only offers beaver, the original HJ was made from rabbit.

Deckard said:

Thanks everyone, VP thanks for that link it explained alot. What would you guys reccomend as far as felt, Beaver? Also what is the actual fedora made from?

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That now depends on which movie you want your hat from. The first 3 movies were rabbit; Crystal Skull is beaver. Magnoli's hat, of course, being a Raiders replica, is made of rabbit, which is softer and floppier than beaver.

If you are going for faithfulness to the original hat, Magnoli's is an excellent choice; if you are going to wear the hat a lot in all kinds of conditions and weather, the beaver felt probably would be a better choice.

Jack

Calling first thing tommorow to order my AB! I cannot wait just to have it on lockdown, I don't care if it takes a year as long as its coming. Thanks everyone for your help, ill post pics eventually.