Safari Edition Genuine Panama Hats
Hand woven. Hand blocked. Hand finished.
As finely woven as some of my Montecristi hats.
I love these. True, they are not Montecristi Panama hats. True, I am a hat snob, a total Montecristi nut case. But I really like these. They are genuine Panama hats, hand woven in Ecuador, hand blocked here in Hawaii. The weave is usually nice and even, the count is comparable to some of my Montecristi hats.
Two colors – “Cocoa” and “Blanco”. Tan and white. Dyed and bleached.
I call the color of the dyed ones “Cocoa”, because calling the color “Dirt” doesn’t sound very alluring. But, fact is, these hats must be the color of a lot of different kinds of dirt, and some foods, because my personal hats still look good after several years of adventures.
“Cocoa” colors vary somewhat from dye lot to dye lot, and they never look quite the same on my computer monitor as they do when I just look at them. Whatever color they may be, they have become more and more popular every year. My clients love these. Many have several.
I also now offer several Safari Edition styles in classic bleached “white” straw. I call these “Blanco.”
Safari Edition hats are all hand woven, all with woven brim edges. All hand blocked and hand finished. Custom sized. Many ribbon choices.
About Safari Edition
WEAVE COUNTS
WEAVE COUNTS
These are not your normal Cuenca hats. Much finer weave than the normal factory-made Cuenca hats you might see in hat shops and department stores. Also they are what is called a liso weave, which is the same weave as Montecristi hats. Most Cuenca hats are what is called a brisa weave, which is a faster, easier, cheaper type of weave.
These hats have comparable weave counts to some of my hand-blocked Montecristi hats. Yet even with the same weave count, hats woven in Cuenca are thicker, fuller, heavier than their Montecristi cousins. This can be good.
These are firmer than most of my Montecristi hats. Definitely not soft and cloth-like. They are hand blocked and hand finished, just like my Montecristi hats.
About Safari Edition
BRIM WIDTHS
BRIM WIDTHS
The brim style you see on the Kentucky Smith® SE, the Mombasa SE, and the Bahama Beach SE is called an “adventure brim.” First, I make the brim flat all around, then I shape it to dip down in front and back. When viewed in profile, the brim makes a nice arc.
An “adventure brim” could be anywhere from 2.5 to 4 inches, or even wider. It is the shape, not the width, which defines the adventure brim.
As a brim gets wider, gravity becomes more interested in it. The wider the brim, the more gravity will want to pull it down and change its shape. I do put some stiffener in my adventure brims, but stiffener has limits.
Adventure brims generally hold their shapes well from 2.5 to about 3.5 inches. A 4-inch brim is a lot of brim to keep smooth and nicely arced, as gravity, wind, etc. have their way. But it is certainly possible.
For anyone with a hat with an adventure brim, I definitely recommend my Brim Arc Form. The wider the brim, the more strongly I recommend it. If you’re a handyman type, by all means make your own and maybe save a few bucks. The important thing is to have this type form to maintain your adventure brim shape.
When you store and display your hat on the form, gravity works for you, pulling the brim into the shape you want. And you can iron your brim smooth and restore the arc shape as often as you wish.
Adventure Brim Widths
Short: 2 1⁄2 - 2 7⁄8”
Wide: 3 – 3 3⁄8“
Extra Wide:3 1⁄2 – 4”
Hand Blocked, Custom Sized
Safari Edition
Kentucky Smith may not be as famous as that Jones guy from across the river in Indiana, but he wears a much cooler hat.
There are other differences. Kentucky Smith maintains a tropical state of mind at all times, in all places. Almost like a religion. Makes Jimmy Buffett look like Nanook of the North.
In Tibet, Kentucky’s unusual wardrobe choices won him the awed respect of local lamas, who could clearly see the challenges of white linen and vintage rayon at 18,000 feet. Very Zen.
Naturally, he always wears a Panama hat. The Kentucky Smith® SE “Cocoa” is his choice for serious adventures in outrageous places. Places where a blackberry is still something to eat.
In the city, and fashionable suburbs, he often favors the “Blanco” version. During the day.
At night, he goes back to the been-through-hell “Cocoa” safari hat. Chick magnet. Tell her the A1 Sauce stain on your brim is blood. From the Congo in ’03. Don’t say whose. Be brave.
Look at the photos. You can see for yourself you’ll be in the middle of some sort of adventure within an hour of putting it on. You’ll be the one whose hat everyone envies.
Tip Choose adventure partners with much larger or much smaller heads.
Warning When your Kentucky Smith® hat arrives, don’t open the box!
First, gas up your car, go to the ATM, put your attorney’s business card in your pocket, leave a note.
Okay, you can put it on now.
You may be mere minutes away from knowing exactly what Warren Zevon had in mind when he sang “Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money.”
Kentucky Smith® was born
in Kentucky. Coincidence?
I think not.
I can tell you from personal experience that there are no tropical islands in Kentucky. Lots of basketballs. Fast horses. Bourbon. No tropical islands.
A life without tropical islands is a life that needs tropical islands. Ask anyone in Chicago in January. You know the feeling, right?
You look out the office window on a cold, dreary day, and you know to the core of your being that if we lived in a fair and just universe, you would be instantly transported to a perfect tropical island, sitting comfortably in the shade of a coconut palm, cold rum drink in hand, savoring the salty-sweet smell of ocean and coconut oil, tapping time to reggae music, eager for the grilled shrimp to arrive.
Here’s the remedy – a Kentucky Smith® SE “Blanco”. A truly classic Panama hat.
Put one on and you are suddenly ‘stylin’ ‘neath the palms. TM Even where there are no palms.
Yes, even in Chicago in January. Works every time.
If you can’t go to a tropical island, bring a tropical island to you.
INSTRUCTIONS: Put on your Kentucky Smith® SE “Blanco”. Put on the Marley music. Put your feet up. Pour a friendly shot of Ron Zacapa. And know to the core of your being that you do, in fact, live in a fair and just universe.
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Cocoa hats are straw dyed “Cocoa” color
- Blanco hats are straw bleached “white”
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 4 1⁄2“ to 4 3⁄4” measured on side
- Wide Brim is 3” to 3 3⁄8”
- Short Brim is 2 5⁄8” to 2 7⁄8”
- Extra Wide Brim is 3 1⁄2” or more
- Fine leather sweatband standard
- Cocoa - 1 1⁄2 inch Jamaica Brown ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Blanco - 1 1⁄2 inch Black ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
- This is a serious hat
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$525
Wide brim: 3” – 3 3⁄8”
$500
Short brim 2 1⁄2” - 2 7⁄8”
$550
Extra wide brim: 3 1⁄2” or more
Details
BRIM
Wide: 3 – 3 3⁄8 inches
Short: 2 5⁄8 - 2 7⁄8 inches
Extra Wide: 3 1⁄2 inches or more
CROWN
4 ½ to 4 3⁄4 inches
(measured on the side)
SIZES details
21” to 24 1⁄2”
(53.5 cm to 62.2 cm)
+5% 23 5⁄8” – 24 1⁄8“
+10% 24 1⁄4” - 24 2⁄4“
+15% 24 7⁄8” and larger
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for Cocoa is Antique Brown fine leather
Standard sweatband for Blanco is Sand un-dyed fine leather
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for Cocoa is 1 1⁄2” Jamaica Brown Blanco is 1 1⁄2 “ Black
COCOA
Safari Edition
Classic Fedora SE - Cocoa
My most popular style (Classic Fedora) is also available in a Safari Edition. Yes, tickertape parades would be in order were it not for modesty and a sense of environmental responsibility. This is a hat you need to put on the short list.
Why would you want the Safari Edition rather than the Montecristi Edition? Good question.
Okay, I’ll help you out. They look great. Even though it is the same style, the Cocoa and Caramel colors are a completely different look. They probably hook up with a whole different section of your closet than the light-straw-black-ribbon classic Panama hat look.
Field tested in Hawaii. I made a couple of Classic Fedoras SE for myself. Put a wide black ribbon on one. A wide brown ribbon on the other. Cotton twill sweatbands in both. I’ve been wearing one or the other, sometimes both, about once a week for a couple of years. Who knows how many Mai Tai’s they have survived?
These don’t show dirt as much as traditional near-white Panama hats. I often reach for one of these when it’s windy enough that my hat might undertake unmanned flights, and landings in places where I wouldn’t want my hat to be.
I don’t coddle these hats like I do some of my Montecristi personal hats. Maybe I’ve been lucky. Maybe I haven’t abused them as much as I think. But if I have to choose one of these or one of my Montecristis to go banging around in the bush, or to put into an overhead luggage compartment, no contest, amigo mio.
No guarantees, either. I don’t recommend putting any hat into any overhead luggage compartment. Who knows what’s up there? Body parts maybe. Weapons grade plutonium maybe. No nail clippers.
I’m just saying: got a gun to my head, I go with the Classic Fedora SE.
As you can see, changing the ribbon color and/or width changes the look, changes the personality of the hat. And perhaps your own as well. Sorry, ribbons are not interchangeable. Choose your favorite color. Or order lots of hats.
Ordering six would not be considered excessive.
Not by me. It is possible to imagine, if one stretches the mind, that there may be some wife or husband somewhere who might consider six hats all at once to be excessive.
Fashion is like Physics. Some people just don’t get it.
Find perfect. Make a decision. Take a position.
You may quote me if it helps. Call it Black’s 12th Hyperbole. Makes it sound almost indisputable. If that doesn’t work, play Randy Newman’s You Can Leave Your Hat On, and act accordingly. If that doesn’t work either, you’re back to choosing your favorite color.
Let me know how it goes.
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “Cocoa” color
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 4 1⁄2” to 4 3⁄4“
- Brim is usually 3” or less
- Brown leather sweatband standard
- 1 1⁄2” Jamaica Brown ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
- This is a serious hat
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$500
Details
BRIM
2 5⁄8 to 3 1⁄8”
CROWN
4 1⁄2 to 4 3⁄4”
Measured on the side.
SIZES details
21” to 24 1⁄2”
(53.5 cm to 62.25 cm)
+5% 23 5⁄8” – 24 1⁄8”
+10% 24 1⁄4” - 24 3⁄4”
+15% 24 7⁄8” and larger
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is Antique Brown fine leather.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 1⁄2” Jamaica Brown
Safari Edition
Mombasa SE - Cocoa & Blanco
Mombasa. I’ve always loved
that word. It sounds so exotic,
distant, dangerous. Mombasa,
you may recall, is a major port
city on the coast of Kenya. If you were going to East Africa on safari a hundred years ago, Mombasa might have been where you got off the boat and began your journey into The Dark Continent.
You would want a good sturdy hat to shade you from the equatorial sun. A hat that also would look quite dashing in the flickering light of the evening cookfire.
The Mombasa SE “Cocoa”would be a perfect choice. For both you and the Memsahib. Looks equally enviable on men or women.
Classic center dent crown. Choice of brim width. Straw dyed a dirt-defying cocoa color. Choice of ribbon colors. Custom sized for a perfect fit.
If you are a sensible soul who prefers to skip the safari-and-hot-sun stuff in favor of exploring the shaded veranda and libations at the lodge, you may prefer the dashing Mombasa SE “Blanco”.
And I may join you on that shaded veranda. Let’s start with a Tusker beer, well chilled.
GUARANTEED AGAINST ELEPHANT TRAMPLING
A Mombasa Safari Edition is so tough that I guarantee it will even stand up to being trampled by an elephant. The nice adventurous shape will be history, of course, but the hat itself will survive a good trampling far better than you would.
Simply return your elephant-trampled hat, along with photos and/or video of the trampling event, and I will replace your hat with a new one. The better the camera work, the more cheerfully I will make your replacement.
CITY SAFARIS & SUBURBAN SAFARIS
It is perfectly acceptable to look adventurous and dashing, even when you are within five miles of home. Yes, even when you are in your own backyard, or on your own condo balcony.
The Mombasa SE – either “Cocoa” or “Blanco” – is an adventurous and dashing hat. By extension, you look adventurous and dashing when wearing one. It’s easy enough to imagine you, Saturday to-do list in hand, journeying from place to place, wearing a Mombasa SE, looking adventurous and dashing, perhaps walking to the beat of native drums, as lions roar in your mind’s ear. Happens to me all the time.
Don’t be surprised if someone asks, “Hey, how’s the safari?”
To which you answer, “Safari sagoodi.”
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “Cocoa” color, or bleached “Blanco”
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 5“ measured on side
- Crown about 4” measured in front
- Wide Brim is 3“ to 3 3⁄8”
- Extra Wide Brim is 3 1⁄2” or more (“Cocoa” mostly)
- Short Brim is 2 5⁄8 to 2 7⁄8 inches (“Cocoa” mostly)
- Fine leather sweatband standard
- Cocoa - 1 1⁄2” Jamaica Brown ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Blanco - 1 1⁄2 inch Black ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$525
Wide brim: 3” – 3 3⁄8”
$500
Short brim 2 1⁄2” - 2 7⁄8”
$550
Extra wide brim: 3 1⁄2” or more
Details
BRIM
Wide: 3 – 3 3⁄8 inches
Short: 2 5⁄8 - 2 7⁄8 inches
Extra Wide: 3 1⁄2 inches or more
CROWN
About 5”
(measured on the side)
About 4“
(measured center front)
SIZES details
21” to 24 3⁄4 “
(53.5 cm to 62.9 cm)
+5% 23 5⁄8” – 24 1⁄8“
+10% 24 1⁄4” - 24 2⁄4“
+15% 24 7⁄8” and larger
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for
Cocoa is Antique Brown fine leather
Standard sweatband for
Blanco is Sand un-dyed
fine leather
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for Cocoa is 1 1⁄2” Jamaica Brown Blanco is 1 1⁄2 “ Black
COCOA
Mombasa SE Cocoa
Short Brim
Mombasa SE Cocoa Short Brim
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Mombasa SE Cocoa
Short Brim
Mombasa SE Cocoa
Wide Brim
Mombasa SE Cocoa Wide Brim
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Mombasa SE Cocoa
Wide Brim
Mombasa SE Cocoa
Extra Wide Brim
Mombasa SE Cocoa Extra Wide Brim
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Mombasa SE Cocoa
Extra Wide Brim
BLANCO
Mombasa SE Blanco
Short Brim
Mombasa SE Blanco Short Brim
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Mombasa SE Blanco
Short Brim
Mombasa SE Blanco
Wide Brim
Mombasa SE Blanco Wide Brim
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Mombasa SE Blanco
Wide Brim
Mombasa SE Blanco
Extra Wide Brim
Mombasa SE Blanco Extra Wide Brim
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Mombasa SE Blanco
Extra Wide Brim
Safari Edition
Bahama Beach SE -
Cocoa & Blanco
Another classic look.
Another must-have style.
The crown shape is the same as my Monte Carlo – a traditional “telescope” crown.
The Adventure Brim is the same as my Kentucky Smith® SE and Mombasa SE - flat but dipping down in front and back. Same choice of Cocoa or Blanco.
The main difference is the attitude. The Bahama Beach suggests rakish angles, more than the other two crown styles. Wearing it dead level is an attitude of its own.
John Steinbeck made these observations on hat angles and attitudes:
“Kino put on his large straw hat and felt it with his hand to see that it was properly placed, not on the back or side of his head, like a rash unmarried irresponsible man, and not flat as an elder would wear it, but tilted a little forward to show aggressiveness and seriousness and vigor. There is a great deal to be seen in the tilt of a hat on a man.” - from The Pearl.
Angles and attitudes vary. What will yours be?
NOTE: You will see in the photos that the Extra-Wide Brims are a different shape than the Wide and Short brims. The x-wide brims in these photos are more “cupped”. The brim edges lift up a little, compared to the others, which are Adventure Brims and are flat but dip down front and back. I can iron an x-wide brim as an Adventure Brim if you wish (more maintenance on your end).
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “Cocoa” color, or bleached “Blanco”
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 3 3⁄4 to 4“
- Crown about 4” measured in front
- Wide Brim is 3 to 3 3⁄8”
- Short Brim is 2 5⁄8 to 2 7⁄8“
- Extra Wide Brim is 3 1⁄2 inches or more
- Fine leather sweatband standard
- Cocoa - 1 1⁄2” Jamaica Brown ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Blanco - 1 1⁄16” Black ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
- This is a serious hat
Prices
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$525
Wide brim: 3” – 3 3⁄8”
$500
Short brim 2 1⁄2” - 2 7⁄8”
$550
Extra wide brim: 3 1⁄2” or more
Details
BRIM
Wide: 3 – 3 3⁄8”
Short: 2 5⁄8 - 2 7⁄8”
Extra Wide: 3 1⁄2” or more
CROWN
3 3⁄4 to 4“
SIZES details
21” to 24 3⁄4 “
(53.5 cm to 62.9 cm)
+5% 23 5⁄8” – 24 1⁄8“
+10% 24 1⁄4” - 24 3⁄4“
+15% 24 7⁄8” and larger
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for
Cocoa is Antique Brown fine leather
Standard sweatband for
Blanco is Sand un-dyed
fine leather
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for
Cocoa is 1 1⁄2” Jamaica Brown
Blanco is 1 1⁄16 “ Black
COCOA
Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa - Short Brim
Bahama Beach SE Cocoa - Short Brim
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Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa - Short Brim
Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa - Wide Brim
Bahama Beach SE Cocoa - Wide Brim
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Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa - Wide Brim
Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa -
Extra Wide Brim
Bahama Beach SE Cocoa -
Extra Wide Brim
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Bahama Beach SE
Cocoa -
Extra Wide Brim
BLANCO
Bahama Beach SE
Blanco - Short Brim
Bahama Beach SE Blanco - Short Brim
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Bahama Beach SE
Blanco - Short Brim
Bahama Beach SE
Blanco - Wide Brim
Bahama Beach SE Blanco - Wide Brim
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Bahama Beach SE
Blanco - Wide Brim
Bahama Beach SE
Blanco -
Extra Wide Brim
Bahama Beach SE Blanco -
Extra Wide Brim
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Bahama Beach SE
Blanco -
Extra Wide Brim
Safari Edition
Optimo SE - Cocoa
The Cocoa straw and the
Ivory ribbon were made for
each other, yes?
Major fashion statement. Very tropical. Craves linen and silk. The classic Optimo dome and center crease evoke thoughts of British ex-pats presiding over the warmer colonies. This particular look suggests India to my mind. What one might wear after a hard day of Bengal Lancing.
Freshen up a bit, then swan over to the Officer’s Club for an India Pale Ale, or two. Or twelve. Sit near a window, with the light coming from your side. Side light shows off the center crease better than front or back light.
No matter how many compliments and free rounds come your way, do call it a night well before you are at risk of falling down and wrecking the hat.
I hope your first thought wasn’t: “Can I roll it up?” Yes. If you must. But it looks so crisply shaped, so sharply creased, so smoothly rounded, so…perfect, just as it is. Why risk it? You’ve made it this far in your life without rolling a Cocoa Optimo with an Ivory ribbon, maybe you shouldn’t tempt the Fates.
Specifications
- Hand woven genuine Panama hat
- Hand woven brim edge
- Straw dyed “cocoa” color
- Hand blocked and custom sized
- Crown about 4 1⁄4“
- Brim is usually 3” or less
- Leather sweatband standard
- 1 1⁄2” Ivory ribbon standard (many other choices)
- Weave count comparable to some of my Montecristi hats
- This is a serious hat
Price
Why One Panama Hat Costs More than Another
$500
Details
BRIM
2 3⁄4 to 3 1⁄4”
CROWN
About 4 1⁄4 inches
SIZES details
21 1⁄2 to 24 1⁄2 inches
(54.5 cm to 62.25 cm)
I will send you size test bands
and will custom size your hat,
included in the price.
Extra shipping cost outside of U.S.
SWEATBAND see choices
Standard sweatband for this style is brown fine leather.
RIBBON see choices
Standard ribbon for this style is 1 1⁄2 inch ivory.
Optimo SE Cocoa
Optimo SE Cocoa
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Optimo SE Cocoa
Optimo SE Cocoa Order Now.
Text and photos © 1988-2017, B. Brent Black. All rights reserved.
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