What Else? #3 Hella Tight

Apr 5, 2011 by Pyrophilly    No Comments    Posted under: Fitteds

The New Era Cap Company plays a huge roll in the fitted cap market. Being the exclusive manufacturer of the official on-field cap worn by every Major League Baseball team is one of the main reasons for this. I do wonder if people are aware of the alternatives available when looking for a fitted cap. Nowadays there are plenty of brands producing top quality fitted caps. A great thing as competition is the best way to force companies to perform at their best. In a series of posts I will try to encourage fitted enthusiasts to look further than what they’re familiar with, by showing one alternative at a time.

In part 3 of the What Else series we take a closer look at US based brand Hella Tight, I think the brand started in 2007, anyone one that can confirm or knows better please drop a comment. The piece used for reference is the ‘Bombay” fitted; a collaboration between Hella Tight and Del The Funky Homosapein (part of the Hieroglyphics). The makeup of this hat came after an all black piece from late 2009 which was promoted by a track Del did called “Tha Bombay“.

The Bombay is a six panel fitted hat with a grey wool crown and black leather bill. The 3M logo gives it that little extra touch. The thing that suprised me on this hat is how clean it is, not a single logo other than the one on the front panels, only the Hella Tight brand tag on the inside tells you who’s responsible for making this fitted.  When taking a closer look to how the hat is produced; not a single wrong stitch or thread can be detected. Also the inner looks and feels good, especially the inner of the two front panels feels solid. The only remark I have is on the leather brim, the underbill has some ‘bubbles’ on the outer area.

All in all Im very happy wth this hat, it has a slightly deeper fit than an NE which is the way I prefer my fitteds. Although my piece has some minor flaws Im confident about the quality of Hella Tight hats. In terms of design they are doing very well too, working with nice colors and material combinations. The brand did particularly well last year, represented with two hats in my top 10 fitteds from 2010.

Got anything to say? Go ahead and leave a comment!