Akubra Overload

[Sam Craig]

Monbla convinced me and I haven't looked back. The Bushman is THE hat. I now have a Bushman, a Campdraft and a Squatter. They are all terrific hats. I can't say anything bad about them. But the best of them all is the Bushman, if you have any size at all.
I just wish the Bushman came in other colors!

I may have to break down and get a Cattleman eventually, but I got a great vintage Stetson Gun Club that looks just like the Cattleman in this pic.

Anyway ... Go Bushman!

Sam

 

[monbla256]

This is really helpful. Is the Bushman crown significantly taller than the Campdraft when both open?

The Bushman's I have measures in at a solid 5 1/2" which I believe is the hight of the CD crown. The Bushman has a brim width of a solid 3 1/4" all around and I believe the CD is a solid 2 3/4" ALL AROUND. The CD is the made to the dimensions and shape as the Open Road was back in the '50s when it was made by Akubra under license as a Stetson for sale in Australia at that time ( import tax stuff) . Akubra now makes it as their own hat under the model name of the Campdraft.
Because of the brim width, the Bushman has a "bigger" appearance than the CD when on the head.

 

[frussell]

Every Campdraft I've hat was between 5 3/4" and 5 7/8" tall in the crown, unbashed, and 2 7/8" on the brim. Not a big difference, but a difference nonetheless. Good Luck, Frank

 

[gtdean48]

:arated:

Every Campdraft I've hat was between 5 3/4" and 5 7/8" tall in the crown, unbashed, and 2 7/8" on the brim. Not a big difference, but a difference nonetheless. Good Luck, Frank

 

[Orangegrad]

Fed IV and Campdraft

I'm enjoying the Stylemaster I got a while back. Now I want to try something with a bit more crown and brim. Since I'll be purchasing from Australia, at first I had decided to buy two hats (shipping is a bit expensive, so might as well combine). But since I don't know if I'm going to really like a larger hat, I think I'll purchase just one for now.

So I'm deciding between the Fed IV or Campdraft. Different looks, but both have crowns with very little or no taper, and brims of at least 2.75 inches or larger. If I go with the Campdraft, I'm thinking silverbelly. If the Fed IV, either moonstone and dark brown. My question, for those of you who have both models, is which hat is more versatile? Or would you recommend one over the other for a person buying his first larger hat?

Also, is it worth the extra money to go for EMS shipping, or is standard international shipping satisfactory?

Thanks.

 

[Quixote]

Me and my brim-trimmed Federation IV at the British Museum.

 

[Neophyte]

Absolutely Fantastic! Great photo, Quixote.

OrangeGrad, the FedIV is only 2.75'' at the front and back. It is the same width as the Stylemaster at the sides. It will look bigger mostly due to a straight, full crown.
If you want versatile, a thin-ribbon Campdraft in Silverbelly is about as versatile as you can get. However, both are fantastic choices for most situations. Some will say that the FedIV is more of a dress hat, but that, of course, is relative.

 

[Orangegrad]

Me and my brim-trimmed Federation IV at the British Museum.

Nice photo. Hopefully in two years I'll have the opportunity to make it to the UK and some good museums when I visit friends in Europe.

As I'm considering purchasing a Fed, I'd be interested to know why you trimmed the brim.

 

[Neophyte]

I'm guessing that he trimmed the front and back to even out the dimensional brim.

 

[KyleK]

I'm enjoying the Stylemaster I got a while back. Now I want to try something with a bit more crown and brim. Since I'll be purchasing from Australia, at first I had decided to buy two hats (shipping is a bit expensive, so might as well combine). But since I don't know if I'm going to really like a larger hat, I think I'll purchase just one for now.

So I'm deciding between the Fed IV or Campdraft. Different looks, but both have crowns with very little or no taper, and brims of at least 2.75 inches or larger. If I go with the Campdraft, I'm thinking silverbelly. If the Fed IV, either moonstone and dark brown. My question, for those of you who have both models, is which hat is more versatile? Or would you recommend one over the other for a person buying his first larger hat?

Also, is it worth the extra money to go for EMS shipping, or is standard international shipping satisfactory?

Thanks.

Good idea to order one at a time. If for no other reason than this - I ordered two Campdraft's at the same time and they were shipped in the same box. A taupe fawn was placed inside a glen grey. The GG was perfect, the TF had indents in the sides of the crown that in it's entirety was not perpendicular to the brim. So, all kinds of wonky. Had to work it for awhile to get it into acceptable shape. Funny though, after wearing it regularly (and one complete soaking during a long walk in a downpour) the TF CD is the most comfortable and well fitting hat I own.

 

[Quixote]

Thanks for the compliments!

Nice photo. Hopefully in two years I'll have the opportunity to make it to the UK and some good museums when I visit friends in Europe.

As I'm considering purchasing a Fed, I'd be interested to know why you trimmed the brim.

I just wasn't used to wide brimmed hats, so I took 1cm off all edges (I didn't even out the dimensional brim, even though the front looks very short in that image). I think I could handle a full brim nowadays, as I don't wear exclusively trilbies.

 

[gtdean48]

...
. My question, for those of you who have both models, is which hat is more versatile? Or would you recommend one over the other for a person buying his first larger hat?

Also, is it worth the extra money to go for EMS shipping, or is standard international shipping satisfactory?

Thanks.

Andy,
I have both, a Heritage Campdraft Deluxe in Silverbelly & an Imperial Fed4 in Moonstone. Now I have modified that Fed4 up some but considering both hats in their OEM state, I'd go with the Campdraft as more versatile. It has a larger brim & a larger crown. The Fed4 has only about a 5.5" open crown where the CD is closer to 5.75". The CD brim is 2 7/8" all the way around where the Fed4 is a dimensional cut.
I like the thin ribbons because they can go easily casual where the wider ribbons seem dressier to me. I wear mostly blue jeans & boots so the "country" style of the CD suits me mostly although it can go dressy with a suit & tie. It just doesn't swing up to the formal wear but then you'd need a homburg for that.

 

[Orangegrad]

Andy,
I have both, a Heritage Campdraft Deluxe in Silverbelly & an Imperial Fed4 in Moonstone. Now I have modified that Fed4 up some but considering both hats in their OEM state, I'd go with the Campdraft as more versatile. It has a larger brim & a larger crown. The Fed4 has only about a 5.5" open crown where the CD is closer to 5.75". The CD brim is 2 7/8" all the way around where the Fed4 is a dimensional cut.
I like the thin ribbons because they can go easily casual where the wider ribbons seem dressier to me. I wear mostly blue jeans & boots so the "country" style of the CD suits me mostly although it can go dressy with a suit & tie. It just doesn't swing up to the formal wear but then you'd need a homburg for that.

Thanks for the post. Looks like the consensus is the Campdraft is more versatile. My one concern with either Campdraft or Fed is that they're both fairly large.

I emailed a photo of myself to Jenny at hatsdirect, to see which hats she thought would look good on me. The one thing she did say was "Keep the beard" if I plan to purchase a tall crown hat. Jenny suggested that the beard fills out my very long, narrow face. Well, I'd already shaved the beard. Not sure I want to grow a beard just to fit into a hat. Of course, if I don't like a hat, I suspect that either a FedIV or Campdraft would be fairly easy to trade or sell.

 

[danofarlington]

I emailed a photo of myself to Jenny at hatsdirect, to see which hats she thought would look good on me. The one thing she did say was "Keep the beard" if I plan to purchase a tall crown hat. Jenny suggested that the beard fills out my very long, narrow face. Well, I'd already shaved the beard. Not sure I want to grow a beard just to fit into a hat. Of course, if I don't like a hat, I suspect that either a FedIV or Campdraft would be fairly easy to trade or sell.

I look at it this way. Starting out with Borsalinos, my eye became used to me in a lower-crowned hat, and in fact I think those work better on me. Then it occurred to me that if left to my own devices, including specifying custom hats, I might just get all wrapped up in my own parochial ideas on what works on me and keep doing more of same, over and over. Having worn a vintage Stetson Open Road a lot, which is a high-crown hat, I knew that high crowns sometimes can work on me also. Then I purposely bought a high-crown custom hat from the hatter who cannot be named, which is a beautiful hat, so that I can get that style imprinted in my thoughts. Long story short, one can fit into a number of hat styles and have them all look good, but you have to get your eye used to you in them. If you do that, you can carry them off. The result is that you end up with a wider range of hats in your stable.

 

[gtdean48]

.... The one thing she did say was "Keep the beard" if I plan to purchase a tall crown hat. Jenny suggested that the beard fills out my very long, narrow face. Well, I'd already shaved the beard. Not sure I want to grow a beard just to fit into a hat. Of course, if I don't like a hat, I suspect that either a FedIV or Campdraft would be fairly easy to trade or sell.

How you crease either hat will either flatter or exaggerate your facial features. The brim will also take some getting used to as well. Some feel like the CD brim makes their "thinness" more noticeable at first but after a while get used to the look. Do some searches here on creases = lots of good info to be found.
The CD gives you a lot of crown to work with but that can be a challenge in itself.

 

[Panda Moanium]

Received two new additions to my rapidly expanding Akubra collection today courtesy of Everything Australian.

Firstly a Banjo Paterson in Graphite Grey. It's a very hard colour to photograph - it looks black under many lighting conditions, but this is the closest I could get today.

[URL=http://pix.sparky-s.ie/] [/URL]

The Banjo in Heritage Fawn was my first Akubra just over a year ago, and remains a firm favourite. When I tried on the charcoal version today I wasn't convinced it suited me, but I think it's a case of making sure to wear it with the right clothing. With a black outfit it could present quite a striking appearance.

[URL=http://pix.sparky-s.ie/] [/URL]

It's from the Heritage collection so very smooth felt and great sweatband. Interesting though to compare it with its year old sibling. The felt of the Fawn Banjo feels much softer and pliable, but the biggest difference is the sweatband, which in the older hat is much softer than the new one. Goes to show what a few good sweats can do!

Size wise it fits perfectly whereas with the first one I had to put padding in initially.


My second acquisition is a Jackaroo in Santone. This was bought as a cooler weather everyday work hat alternative to my Cattleman - unlike the Cattleman it doesn't have eyelet vents and is lined. The dimensions are similar to the Cattleman apart from a smaller brim which I actually prefer - I do occasionally feel lost inside the 83mm brimmed Cattleman. Incidentally I measure the brim of the Jackaroo to be 76mm as per Hats Direct website - not 79mm that EA quote.

[URL=http://pix.sparky-s.ie/] [/URL]

The Santone colour isn't too far from a lot of the Akubra Fawn colours, but there is a definite hint of green. It's probably not as obvious a lot of the time as it shows in this photo next to the Heritage Fawn Banjo Paterson and an Acorn Fawn Stylemaster, but is certainly there.

[URL=http://pix.sparky-s.ie/] [/URL]

I've had to put some padding on the sides of this hat as it's a little loose as of now, but a good wearing or two out in a shower should see it right. Overall very happy with both purchases.

[URL=http://pix.sparky-s.ie/] [/URL]

 

[Neophyte]

Fantastic photos of some great hats, Panda!

Seems like EverythingAustralian finally started carrying the Akubra 30X Beaver line!!!
Akubra Pro 30X

They also started carrying the Akubra Saddle Bronc!

All with 3-month wait, of course lol.

 

[Orangegrad]

Very nice. The Jackaroo looks even better than it does in the photos from the vendors. I didn't realize it's lined. Was that a three month wait from EA?

 

[Panda Moanium]

Thanks guys. Yes, had the three month wait for both hats. The nice thing though when you pay up front is that it is almost like getting a hat for free when it eventually arrives.

Which must be why I spent hours reading the Akubra Campdraft thread today. Thinking of getting my first open crown. Thing is.....Imperial quality Bluegrass Green from EA or Heritage quality Silverbelly from HD? Both in stock. Decisions, decisions........

 

[James71]

The heritage felt is very nice indeed....