My new Rand's hat is on the way...

[Jfet]

Reviving this a bit with a question in the hat genre but not specific to Rand's. Where would one send a felt hat for reconditioning and possibly resizing? I inherited my grandfather's hat and would like to have this done so that I could wear it on my future hunts and adventures. I only need to go up maybe 1/4 at most.

I believe Rand can do that.

Rand's Custom Hats Services

At Rand's Custom Hats we are experts at giving great hats a new life. Rand's will provide you with sound advice and service on your old hat, no matter who made it.

www.randhats.com

 

[SFRanger7GP]

Huskey Hat Company in Wichita Falls TX does a great job on restoring/repairing hats and their prices are reasonable.

Safe hunting

 

[samson7x]

I believe Rand can do that.

Rand's Custom Hats Services

At Rand's Custom Hats we are experts at giving great hats a new life. Rand's will provide you with sound advice and service on your old hat, no matter who made it.

www.randhats.com

Hat in question isn't a Rand, but I'll reach out to see if they offer this service on other brands. Thanks.

 

[Jfet]

Hat in question isn't a Rand, but I'll reach out to see if they offer this service on other brands. Thanks.

I hope they do. I have just received my Rand hat. I plan on sending them my older hat that is not a Rand.

 

[Jfet]

I just finished talking to Christine at Rand Hats and they will restore felt hats that they did not make.

 

[PARA45]

@Tanks
You should have just bought a good Australian AKUBRA. It will give you years of faithful service and comes in a lot of different styles.
Bob

Thanks Bob, I had to look at the Australian Akubra, and I may have to buy The Territory. Going to see if my wife will buy it for Christmas or my B-day.

 

[Rare Breed]

Just got an email that the hat I had ordered last year is ready and being shipped Monday. Here are the pictures they sent. I wanted it to be ready before my October hunt and they exceeded my expectations. Drover style 20X beaver with custom bead hat band with a light distress.

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will look awesome with your new Rigby!!!

 

[D.M.V]

I created a hat thread on here quite awhile ago.

 

[samson7x]

I just finished talking to Christine at Rand Hats and they will restore felt hats that they did not make.

Fantastic. I sent an email earlier but hadn't heard back.

 

[D.M.V]

Post in thread 'Show us your Hat' https://www.africahunting.com/threads/show-us-your-hat.30703/post-309106

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

You might find a place closer to home. Many western wear places that sell felt hats can steam and reshape or resize. I took my Rand hat to a local and had him to a little reshaping. It took him all of 5-10 minutes and did while I waited.

The guy didn't even charge me, but I tipped him $10 (but that's another topic on another thread).

 

[D.M.V]

Boil some water and waft your hat over the steam and you can shape it yourself

 

[Fixfire]

Can a hat be slightly shrunk as well??

 

[Woodcarver]

Can a hat be slightly shrunk as well??

Yes. A felt can be shrunk by simply leaving it in a hot, closed window car for a day. Years ago, I shrunk a Bailey my uncle gave me from a 7 5/8 (his size) to a 7 1/8 (my size) by leaving it on the dash of my pickup for a few days; testing fit on a daily basis. Still have the hat some 40+ years later. Still fits. Also a good reason to never leave a felt that fits in your car in the summer; it might not fit at the end of the day.
By the same token, a slightly undersize hat can be stretched a little with a hat stretcher (I have my Great-Grandfather's), but my experience has been they can only be stretched 1, maybe 2, sizes up, and it must be done very, very slowly or the felt can be torn or severely weakened.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

View attachment 533905
This crushable wool felt hat is genuinely distressed by twelve years of wearing. I bought it at an Oakhurst, California grocery store a few months before my son died in 2009. I was working at Yosemite then. Cost less than twenty bucks as I recall. It's made a couple trips to Africa but never to hunt. Brimmed hats are purely ornamental. They get knocked off in brush or blown off in the breeze. I wear a ball cap when hunting. Over the years I've gone through several beaver felt hats as an animal packer, ranch hand, and park ranger. This was my first crushable wool felt hat. I'll never go back to fur felt.

Can't agree that hat brims are purely ornamental. The brim is what keeps sun, rain, snow and misc. plant debris out of your shirt collar. Try going through a patch of 100° F chemice brush in a Northern California deer season for some itchy fun. Keeping the hat on your head in brush, timber or Western mule deer country wind is not complicated. Just do like the cowboys did. Get a chin strap. The brim might be the most useful part a hunter's hat, otherwise you might as well wear a beret. Some do, but not me.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Can a hat be slightly shrunk as well??

@Fixfire
Just shoot a .25 inch group with your deer rifle. Won't need to shrink your hat because your head will swell.
HA HA HA HA HA HA
Bob

 

[Woodcarver]

Can't agree that hat brims are purely ornamental. The brim is what keeps sun, rain, snow and misc. plant debris out of your shirt collar. Try going through a patch of 100° F chemice brush in a Northern California deer season for some itchy fun. Keeping the hat on your head in brush, timber or Western mule deer country wind is not complicated. Just do like the cowboys did. Get a chin strap. The brim might be the most useful part a hunter's hat, otherwise you might as well wear a beret. Some do, but not me.

The brim is what makes a good hat functional. None of mine have ever left my head without permission (without a chin strap), including a rough ride into Nasty Creek (WA state), upside down, in the creek. Wind blows pretty strong occasionally in eastern Colorado, and worn properly, the wind actually keeps the hat on one's noggin. The brim keeps the wind, rain, snow, and debris from falling inside a collar and causing discomfort. A ballcap can't compete for protection.

 

[flying sailor]

Thanks Bob, I had to look at the Australian Akubra, and I may have to buy The Territory. Going to see if my wife will buy it for Christmas or my B-day.

I purchased an Akruba earlier this year. The Territory is a fine hat indeed. I like it very much. The price is reasonable for the high quality.

 

[sestoppelman]

It is not for me. I was comfortable in August even when it got to 43 Celsius a few days last August. The one advantage, for me, compared to soft hats is the protection I get from branches and thorns in the jess. Also, the brim provides plenty of protection from the sun as evidenced below.

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I wear hats majority of the time, shooting clays.

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Horse races with 4 generations...

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Or just enjoying NYC at Christmas, I had Rand's make me a "dress" hat as well.

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I should invest in Rand's considering the number of hats I have gotten from them over the years.

A veritable Dapper Dan man!

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I purchased an Akruba earlier this year. The Territory is a fine hat indeed. I like it very much. The price is reasonable for the high quality.

Most of my hunting and fishing pictures over the last 40 years show me with an Sounds hat on my head. I would hate to give them up.