Akubra Overload

[jazzncocktails]

Great looking Campdraft, IC, and a very class act, BobC. :eusa_clap

My Silverbelly Campdraft is in the mail and should arrive in California in the next week or so...these images of the Glen Gray are making me itchy to finally have the Campdraft on my head! I like the bash, IC--looks like a dry teardrop, to me.

 

[Colby Jack]

There is something about a Camp Draft! It conforms so well to the wearers' head...:eusa_clap

 

[gtdean48]

Great looking Campdraft, IC, and a very class act, BobC. :eusa_clap

My Silverbelly Campdraft is in the mail and should arrive in California in the next week or so...these images of the Glen Gray are making me itchy to finally have the Campdraft on my head! ....

The Campdraft Confederacy grows! Looking forward to the photos JnC. I'm checking on my mid-brown, should've been here by now!

 

[BobC]

Great looking Campdraft, IC, and a very class act, BobC. :eusa_clap

My Silverbelly Campdraft is in the mail and should arrive in California in the next week or so...these images of the Glen Gray are making me itchy to finally have the Campdraft on my head! I like the bash, IC--looks like a dry teardrop, to me.

You're gonna love the Campdraft, JnC. I'm finding that tawny Fed to be tempting too. You have a good look going there in your avatar.

 

[Doublegun]

I am just about ready to pull the trigger an oder a Campdraft and a Fed IV from Hats Direct but I keep getting hung up on how stiff the new Akubra hats feel. My current hat is a Como, which I realize is exceptionally soft, but how do the Akubra hats compare in stiffness to traditional fedora's?

Thanks

 

[G MAN]

I just received my Tawny Fed IV and it is stiff but I don't mind it that way and I really like this color.

 

[Doublegun]

Great looking hat, indeed. I like how far down you have the crown. Did you do it yourself? If it is not too much trouble would you post a photo of the inside?

Thanks

 

[jazzncocktails]

I just received my Tawny Fed IV and it is stiff but I don't mind it that way and I really like this color.

Congrats, G Man...you'll love it, and the stiffness works out with wear and use. Good start on your bash. One recommendation that I received from experienced Loungers when I received my Fed IV that I'll pass on to you. Consider a "tugboat" effect on your Fed. This raises the front crown higher than the rear crown. With a rise just past the front peak. So, my Fed (which originally began as a center dent) now has a front peak of 4 1/2" which slopes up to about 4 3/4", and then slopes down to 3 1/2" at the rear. This downward slope looks great in the finished product--even better than the center dent I originally went with.

Here's one of many threads that feature that shape:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=39868

Thought I'd pass that on as you play with bash possibilities. Have fun!

 

[Doublegun]

I really like the "tug boat" look. That's what I have in my Como and probably what I'll do to my Fed IV and Campdraft.

How much will the hats soften-up when they get broken in?

 

[gtdean48]

How much will the hats soften-up when they get broken in?

Are asking about crown, brim or both? My Campdrafts are much softer after working them that when they came out of the box. I soaked both with distilled water to do my creasing. I also did additional "pouncing" to knock of a lot of the fuzz on them. I didn't do this before creasing but definitely will on my next one. I used a fine grit sponge sander that I found at Ace Hardware & both hats are very smooth now. I may hit them again. HTH...

 

[Doublegun]

Good question. I was thinking primarily of the brim. So you sprayed them with distilled water then you used one of those sponges that are green on one side and a regular sponge on the other side?

Will a professional steam job also loosen/soften up the hat and brim?

 

[Goose.]

G-Man...nice hat!! Never really considered Tawny Fawn, or any Fawn, before. That is until I received my plasticohato (Capricorn) and started noticing the beauty of the felts in that color range posted here.

Hey, I like the lower crown gig too. But I tugboat mine (2 Fed D's...think I'll do the Sydney too).

My Fed pictured is 4.25" at the front. 3.25" rear. Can you post your height? Also, a pic of the top of the hat. And a cheeseburger with fries if it's not too much trouble.

Hey DoubleGun...My Feds have softened with wear in my lid rotation. I did use water on my Dark Brown more than I did on my Moonie (just some water on the pinch). The Dark Brown is softer, but I've had it at least a month longer. Best way to soften it is to wear it and fondle it....

 

[Doublegun]

Goose,

Great looking hat. I love the proportions - perfect. That's EXACTLY what I am going for.

 

[gtdean48]

Good question. I was thinking primarily of the brim. So you sprayed them with distilled water then you used one of those sponges that are green on one side and a regular sponge on the other side?

Will a professional steam job also loosen/soften up the hat and brim?

Nope, it is not green on one side/sponge on the other. It is sandpaper type on one side bonded to a very thin sponge. It comes in a 3 pack, coarse, medium & fine, sold right next to sandpaper sheets at local ACE hardware.

Soaking & drying seems to soften up the felt where steaming loosens it to let you shape it but when it cools, it is about as stiff as before you started. Steaming seems to reactivate the stiffeners. IMHO....

 

[BobC]

I am just about ready to pull the trigger an oder a Campdraft and a Fed IV from Hats Direct but I keep getting hung up on how stiff the new Akubra hats feel. My current hat is a Como, which I realize is exceptionally soft, but how do the Akubra hats compare in stiffness to traditional fedora's?

Thanks

I wet my Akubras to crease them. That softens them very quickly.

 

[G MAN]

Great looking hat, indeed. I like how far down you have the crown. Did you do it yourself? If it is not too much trouble would you post a photo of the inside?

Thanks

I was in a hurry when I bashed this hat and just did it by eye with no measuring or fussing with it like I would usually.

 

[G MAN]

Thanks for the comments guy's, I like the tugboat look and will make some changes this week
I don't know if I could get away with 3.25 in the rear, my head is always touching the top of the hat. I can't wear any hat with a centre dent no matter how shallow because my head hits the top. I need the room to get the hat down to where it sits comfortably.

As it is now the front is 4'' and the rear is 3.75" I didn't realize that I had bashed it so low in the front but now I have time to play with it some.
Here's a pic from the top.

 

[Goose.]

G Man...that bash looks fantastic! Impressive. :eusa_clap

Goose,

Great looking hat. I love the proportions - perfect. That's EXACTLY what I am going for.

Thank you Doublegun. I like 'em that way too

 

[jazzncocktails]

Thanks for the comments guy's, I like the tugboat look and will make some changes this week
I don't know if I could get away with 3.25 in the rear, my head is always touching the top of the hat. I can't wear any hat with a centre dent no matter how shallow because my head hits the top. I need the room to get the hat down to where it sits comfortably.

I have that problem too, G Man. Even with my 3 1/2" at the back, my cranium touches the lining...I've used a bowl to shape the crown so that my c-crown/teardrop (which is it?) creates a dome in the middle of the crown...but my head still hits part of the top. Even so, I like the way the lid looks much better than with my center dent, which featured a higher crown in front and back.

 

[Daoud]

It's all about personal preference- but there's nothing at all wrong with the top of your head touching the hat- that would be why the top of most hats' lining is plastic-covered, because that part of the hat is subject to a lot of head contact. Too, that's where the center dent comes from, at least in the majority of my hats- if I want the crown as low as I like to have it, my head WILL be pushing the felt up somewhat, even on a hat as roomily crowned as my Fed IV.