Mystery of the Raiders hat shape solved!

Posted by 3thoubucks from host-66-81-124-159.rev.o1.com (66.81.124.159) on Sunday, December 08, 2002 at 4:04pm :

I have been pondering it for years. I have never seen a hat around here that, when worn, tilts away from the head in back, like the Raiders hat. (I HAVE witnessed this phenomenon in some hats in old black and white movies.) Nor have I seen the exagerated mushroom shape, balooning sides, extra evident in Cairo street sceens. Here are a few theories I've had. (1) The hat was a size too big, and they cinched it up with a tight ribon. (2) The unbashed hat already had a light bulb shape, possibly made on a bowler hat form. (3) Ford has a unique head shape. (Then why couldn't they get the hat to look the same in TOD and LC?). A while back, before the new unbashed Miller version and the Peters Brothers hat were known around here, you probably got something fairly marginal, or the $350 range Herbert Johnson or White. Therefore I tried to manufacture an accurate model myself and learned alot about the hat. I still have not purchased any of the hats featured at Indygear, because none of them has ever nailed the look, shapewise, from what I've seen. -----This week I bought a $12 zero taper black felt hat in the bargain bin at Sears and have been experimenting. ********* If the hat is worn, turned aprox. 90 DEGREES - YOU GET THE RAIDERS EFFECT. Some hats have a round hole. Most, like this one, have an oval hole, therefore an oval crown and top. If this oval top is sideways, you get the balooning sides and the backwards tilt. The backwards tilt of the Raiders hat doesn't eminate from the base of the crown, but from about the top of the ribbon. -----Imagine that some people's heads were a foot long and 3 inches wide, and therefore, this was the shape of the hole, crown and top of some hats. If you put it on sideways it would look like you had an upsidedown triangle on your head when viewed from the front or back, and a very tapered pointy crown when viewd from the side. Also, in the side view, you'd notice the hat would follow the curve of the scull where it contacted the head. Now, in the sideview still, you put the bash in the top of the hat. The portion of the hat that contacts the back of the scull would still follow the contour of the scull verticaly, and above that, start tilting backwards to the end-point of the bash. This is what is happening in the Raiders hat.---Now, concerning the asymetrical Raider brim- If the oval in the hat is egg shaped, you will get the asymtrical brim when the hat is worn sideways. If the oval is a symetrical, you will need to turn the hat 5 or so degrees away from 90. ****I don't know if this 90 degree theory has ever been presented before. Someone at Indygear once recomended rotating the hat a few degrees to get an asymetrical brim. ---Somethig else about the actual Raiders hat- At some point a crease was made verticaly at the very back of that hat and is barely visible if the light is right. I think this may add to an accurate Raiders shape. One more note. The front bash above Indy's right eye has a wierd crease that extends under the ribbon, possibly all the way to the crown/brim junction. I think this is also due to the heavy 90 degree distorion. the crown can adapt, but the brim can't without something giving.***** In conclusion, this is all only theory to some degree, because the hat I'm working with is a loose fit, very soft and has a short folded edge brim- but I think it's valid.

Follow Ups: correction.... - 3thoubucks 7:39pm 12/08/2002 Interesting... - Rushmore 4:54pm 12/08/2002 That's mine- The 90 degree trick makes it obsolete. - 3thoubucks 6:15pm 12/08/2002 Awesome! - Rushmore 6:41pm 12/08/2002 Truely Awesome! - 3thoubucks 7:15pm 12/09/2002 Great... - Rushmore 7:27pm 12/09/2002 Post a Followup Name: E-Mail: ( default ) Subject: Message: : I have been pondering it for years. I have never seen a hat around here that, when worn, tilts away from the head in back, like the Raiders hat. (I HAVE witnessed this phenomenon in some hats in old black and white movies.) Nor have I seen the exagerated mushroom shape, balooning sides, extra evident in Cairo street sceens. Here are a few theories I've had. (1) The hat was a size too big, and they cinched it up with a tight ribon. (2) The unbashed hat already had a light bulb shape, possibly made on a bowler hat form. (3) Ford has a unique head shape. (Then why couldn't they get the hat to look the same in TOD and LC?). A while back, before the new unbashed Miller version and the Peters Brothers hat were known around here, you probably got something fairly marginal, or the $350 range Herbert Johnson or White. Therefore I tried to manufacture an accurate model myself and learned alot about the hat. I still have not purchased any of the hats featured at Indygear, because none of them has ever nailed the look, shapewise, from what I've seen. -----This week I bought a $12 zero taper black felt hat in the bargain bin at Sears and have been experimenting. ********* If the hat is worn, turned aprox. 90 DEGREES - YOU GET THE RAIDERS EFFECT. Some hats have a round hole. Most, like this one, have an oval hole, therefore an oval crown and top. If this oval top is sideways, you get the balooning sides and the backwards tilt. The backwards tilt of the Raiders hat doesn't eminate from the base of the crown, but from about the top of the ribbon. -----Imagine that some people's heads were a foot long and 3 inches wide, and therefore, this was the shape of the hole, crown and top of some hats. If you put it on sideways it would look like you had an upsidedown triangle on your head when viewed from the front or back, and a very tapered pointy crown when viewd from the side. Also, in the side view, you'd notice the hat would follow the curve of the scull where it contacted the head. Now, in the sideview still, you put the bash in the top of the hat. The portion of the hat that contacts the back of the scull would still follow the contour of the scull verticaly, and above that, start tilting backwards to the end-point of the bash. This is what is happening in the Raiders hat.---Now, concerning the asymetrical Raider brim- If the oval in the hat is egg shaped, you will get the asymtrical brim when the hat is worn sideways. If the oval is a symetrical, you will need to turn the hat 5 or so degrees away from 90. ****I don't know if this 90 degree theory has ever been presented before. Someone at Indygear once recomended rotating the hat a few degrees to get an asymetrical brim. ---Somethig else about the actual Raiders hat- At some point a crease was made verticaly at the very back of that hat and is barely visible if the light is right. I think this may add to an accurate Raiders shape. One more note. The front bash above Indy's right eye has a wierd crease that extends under the ribbon, possibly all the way to the crown/brim junction. I think this is also due to the heavy 90 degree distorion. the crown can adapt, but the brim can't without something giving.***** In conclusion, this is all only theory to some degree, because the hat I'm working with is a loose fit, very soft and has a short folded edge brim- but I think it's valid. Optional Link ( default ) URL: Title: Optional Image Link ( default ) URL: This board is powered by the Mr. Fong Device from Cyberarmy.com