Akubra in the news

[Duper]

Akubra wins lion's share of military hat contract

Some interesting facts about the production of their slouch hats and the growing export market as well.

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201210/s3611519.htm

And in another article on the same topic I found some national pride proclaimed. I wish there was more of that going around.

Defence came under fire several years ago over potential plans to move production overseas due to high Australian labour costs.

Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare said the tender required two companies so supply was guaranteed.

Strict Commonwealth purchasing rules were relaxed in December 2011 to allow the government to keep the symbol of Anzac an exclusively Australian-made product.

"The slouch hat is a national treasure but you don't have to go to a museum to see one - they are worn with pride by members of the Australian Defence Force every day," Mr Clare said.

 

[navarre_au]

Akubra - A Life Saver

Found on the Akubra Web site - News Section

http://akubra.com.au/news/?p=1413#top

AKUBRA HELPS SAVE LUKE’S LIFE
March 26th, 2013

The wife and sons of Queensland fencing contractor Luke White say their father owes his life to his sturdy Akubra with, they claim, some help from God.

Luke and his sons Matthew and Dan and another worker, Ted Monighan, were installing a barbed wire fence across the Bilpa clay pan between Birdsville and Bedourie just a few days before Christmas.

They were straining up three strands of wire with a piece of railway line when it broke, flew back and hit Luke in the head. “The impact of the line punched a hole in his Akubra, through the felt lining and the hat band,” his wife, Lyn, said. “It drove him into the ground and he lay there unconscious for about three minutes with his eyes open, in front of our boys. “Matthew raced over, looked down and thought he was dead.

“Eventually Luke regained consciousness and was wandering around the camp as though nothing had happened while we were packing up. “His eyes were open but no one was at home. “It was a two hour drive to the nearest clinic at Bedourie and the nurse stitched a 10cm wound.”

The Royal Flying Doctor then flew Luke to Mount Isa where a scan found no fracture, no swelling of the brain and very little bruising. “The Akubra must have spread the impact with the help from God,” Lyn said. “Luke is fully functioning now.” The next day Matthew, Dan and Ted went back to complete the job but kept their Akubras firmly in place, just in case.

************************************

And here I was thinking that wearing a hat was about it being a buffer for the sun\rain\wind\other elements.

 

[Blackthorn]

Wow! See? It pays to wear quality.

 

[howardeye]

And to put your trust in in the one and only God!!

 

[fun size]

Here's an article from the Australian news today talking about some of the challenges (and opportunities) facing Akubra at the moment. I guess we did too well at controlling feral pests!

 

[job]

Thanks for the post.

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

 

[bh2001]

There may be problems with farmed rabbits but there are still loads of wild rabbits around country Victoria. There is a family of them under the building I work in and that is in a rural city school.

 

[TheDane]

I guess we did too well at controlling feral pests!

Hopefully the person, who got the idea to spread Calicivirus as a remedy for pest control, is not breeding as fast as rodents. That would be a severe disaster! :eusa_doh:

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

[video]http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/7pm/qld/video/201405/7PMb_RecutRabbits_2405_512k.mp4[/video]

Good video with the story

 

[Gromulus]

[video]http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/7pm/qld/video/201405/7PMb_RecutRabbits_2405_512k.mp4[/video]

Good video with the story

Interesting, thanks for the link! I hope this doesn't hamper their growth or sustainability in the future.

(I also really like the Aussie accent and never tire of hearing it )

 

[The Fedorable]

That must be why the prices have been going up. This is interesting to see and read considering I'm ordering one later today...

 

[fedoracentric]

Interesting. One always associates Australia with too many rabbits. Now there's a shortage. Seems counter intuitive. Thanks for the story.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Interesting. One always associates Australia with too many rabbits. Now there's a shortage. Seems counter intuitive. Thanks for the story.

Counter intuitive? Not at all. The whole point of this narrative is that we had a plague of rabbits which we dealt with by wiping them out. The last fact is a consequence of the first.

 

[ingineer]

Anyone notice that the farm raised bunny's were all white, rather than natural.
Skips a step in making pastel hats.
Richard

 

[TAutry]

[video]http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/7pm/qld/video/201405/7PMb_RecutRabbits_2405_512k.mp4[/video]

Good video with the story

Pretty even-handled report. I sort of expected Akubra to get bashed.

I'm glad I got my new Stylemaster. I have only had it a couple of weeks and really like it.

 

[tonyb]

Stephen Keir posits that "rabbit fur is the best fur" for hats. Well, okay. I'd expect him to say that. And it isn't that a case can't be made for that proposition. It all depends on what is meant by "best." Perhaps rabbit has certain attributes that beaver and nutria don't. Me, I'll stick with beaver.

 

[CRH]

Now we know the real reason Putin lusts for the Ukraine.

 

[CRH]

Stephen Keir posits that "rabbit fur is the best fur" for hats. Well, okay. I'd expect him to say that. And it isn't that a case can't be made for that proposition. It all depends on what is meant by "best." Perhaps rabbit has certain attributes that beaver and nutria don't. Me, I'll stick with beaver.

Best available? I wonder what Koala felt could do.

.......... Sorry for that............

 

[Zombie_61]

Stephen Keir posits that "rabbit fur is the best fur" for hats. Well, okay. I'd expect him to say that. And it isn't that a case can't be made for that proposition. It all depends on what is meant by "best." Perhaps rabbit has certain attributes that beaver and nutria don't. Me, I'll stick with beaver.

Actually, he was quoted as saying "Rabbit fur is the best fur to make our hats out of...", so he was speaking specifically about Akubra's hats and not about hats in general.

I like my Akubras a lot, so I hope they'll be able to sort out their supply issues without having to compromise the quality of their hats.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

I too like my Akubra Sombrero. Maybe rabbit is a easier felt to work than beaver?
Also Koala fur hats doesn't sound that bad.