Akubra Riverina safari-ized

[Bald1]

All I get on that link is `The page cannot be found`!

Steve they moved it. Try this link:
http://www.lawranceordnance.com/khaki-and-green/images/Folding%20a%20Puggaree.pdf

 

[Naltak]

Add another Riverina

Well everybody, I kept looking at this Riverina and ordered me one too. I just liked the looks of it as soon as I saw it. I'm not sure if I want to change it at all...at least not for a while. I'm looking out the window.....waiting for the UPS truck.

 

[Steve27752]

Steve they moved it. Try this link:
http://www.lawranceordnance.com/khaki-and-green/images/Folding%20a%20Puggaree.pdf

Thanks that is just what I needed.

 

[Bald1]

Well for me the Riverina customization is a work in progress. Here's my first hat reflecting my newbie attempt to extend and deepen the side bashes. My head pushes back against the lower part of the modification accounting for the unrefined look sadly. That and I just took off my eyeglasses for this picture which left marks on either side of my nose. hahahaha I have received a second Riverina but it hasn't been touched pending receipt of some 1" cotton twill tape.

--Bob

 

[Edward]

Mine should be on its way soon! I've decided to go for it and try to wind my own pugaree when it gets here as well.

 

[Mike K.]

Best of luck to all you gents on your new safari hats!
I'm pleased to have inspired everyone.

 

[AlanC]

Here's the Riverina in 'action' (well, you know) from a couple of weeks back:

I know Mike went for Bwana as a name, but I'm more after Sahib, which is what I guess I'll call mine.

 

[Donato]

Here's the Riverina in 'action' (well, you know) from a couple of weeks back:

I know Mike went for Bwana as a name, but I'm more after Sahib, which is what I guess I'll call mine.

Nice! Did you use your own tape or did you buy the pugaree from LawrenceOrdnance?

 

[Mojave Jack]

Here's the Riverina in 'action' (well, you know) from a couple of weeks back:

I know Mike went for Bwana as a name, but I'm more after Sahib, which is what I guess I'll call mine.

Alan, great shot! Looks like a Rhinohide jacket, perhaps? An excellent addition. What is that in the background?

It also seems that your hat is browner than mine. I thought that when you posted pictures several pages ago, but unless your camera is significantly different than mine, the shades don't match on my monitor. Interesting.

Here's my Riverina in action yesterday, while I was out recording a few sites. Cool day in the desert, so I had on my Cabela's Deer Island shirt, my Orvis canvas front vest, and my LL Bean barn jacket.

That artifacts I'm holding in front of my field book is quite possibly the biggest decortication flake I've ever seen! Someone had knocked the cortex off a quartzite cobble with incredible skill. The flakes are huge, but thin, and only take the cortex off with very little interior material removed.

Not really action shots, but then again, archeology is never really as exciting as IJ and O'Connell make it out to be anyway! Still rough on clothes, though! lol

Here's the sort of stuff I was recording. Not the best example, but we have some really great toolstone quality jasper that was highly prized by Native Americans.

The ole Riverina is really up to the job! It may be the most comfortable hat I've ever had to wear for 8 hours straight!

 

[AlanC]

Alan, great shot! Looks like a Rhinohide jacket, perhaps? An excellent addition. What is that in the background?

Thanks! And it is a Rhinohide, good eye. The locals called that thing behind me the Taj Mahal.

Donato, I wrapped that pug myself from twill tape following Mike K.'s lead.

 

[Mike K.]

Ahh, how I love to see a great hat actually put to use "in the field."
AlanC & Mojave Jack - those are terrific photos! I hope to one day make it to see the Taj Mahal, as well as some of those Native American sites. John, I firmly believe that this hat takes on entirely different personalities in different light. At times it appears more tan, while at other times more green. I've photographed mine with similar results. Some pics show a darker brownish hat, others a lighter greenish one. Makes me think of that new Multicam camouflage. After seeing Mojave's pug from Lawrance Ordnance, I'm seriously thinking about getting one for my second safari hat. Speaking of safari hat, we've been toying with the idea of a new name (e.g. bwana or sahib). How 'bout we just call it the safari hat. Safari being a journey, and that's what this hat is meant for (or at least what we've turned it into).

 

[NewMexExpat]

Cool Pictures!

Nice Pics, Jack. I especially like this one with the silhouette:

My Dad worked as a surveyor in southern New Mexico for 20 years, and had quite a collection of arrowheads. Your pictures make me think of home.

Regards,

- Mark

 

[Mojave Jack]

Thanks! And it is a Rhinohide, good eye. The locals called that thing behind me the Taj Mahal.

Donato, I wrapped that pug myself from twill tape following Mike K.'s lead.

Whoops! That's the Taj Mahal! How embarrassing! I didn't know you were traveling so recently, and I assumed it was something modeled in the style! :eusa_doh: How telling that I can identify the jacket, but missed one of the architectural wonders of the world! lol

Mike, this hat gets used so much I'm seriously considering following your lead again, and getting a backup while I can. One note, though, that is actually the pug from my Eddie Bauer Akubra. It is a more linen-like material than the issue pug, and actually looks like it was tea dyed. I'm not sure if that is due to age or if it was that way originally, but it is a lot more subdued than the brand new pugs. I'll get a shot of them side by side, and a close up to show the difference in texture if my camera can handle it.

NewMexExpat, thanks! I love being out in the desert, and a bad day int he field is far better than a good day in the office!

 

[NonEntity]

Mohave Jack,

That's a great-looking pug. I'm curious, the Eddie Bauer Akubra that it came off, was that hat a special one made just for EB or an Akubra we'd know by one of its standard names? It would be great if you'd post a pic of it.

I have a Panama I got from EB years ago that's been a terrific straw hat. I've never seen that hat elsewhere, but then again, I really don't know much about Panamas. At any rate, I'd love to find out what company actually made it for them.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Mohave Jack,

That's a great-looking pug. I'm curious, the Eddie Bauer Akubra that it came off, was that hat a special one made just for EB or an Akubra we'd know by one of its standard names? It would be great if you'd post a pic of it.

I have a Panama I got from EB years ago that's been a terrific straw hat. I've never seen that hat elsewhere, but then again, I really don't know much about Panamas. At any rate, I'd love to find out what company actually made it for them.

Thanks!

I think Akubra just did a special version of their standard military bush hat for Eddie Bauer at some point, and they just keep showing up. For all intents and purposes, it is identical to the military hat, but the pug is just slightly different and the sweatband is stamped with the Eddie Bauer logo. I don't have a photo of mine handy, but here is Rooster in his EB:

MMy EB has the hook on the left side of the crown, and the small brass square on the edge of the brim that snaps into the hook to turn the brim up. The mechanism is identical to the hook and square on my Australian-issue bush hat made by Newcastle, too, though the quality of the Akubra felt is much, much higher. I suspect that any Akubra bush hat would be of the same quality felt, though. The EB versions show up on OFAS pretty often, but I think the only advantage might be that slightly more distinctive pug.

 

[Bald1]

Jack,

I must admit your hat/pug combo looks great I just received the 9 yards of 1" natural cotton twill. I find it too "bright" as is and intend to "antique" it with either tea dying like Mike did or with coffee. I've never done either so I've been doing some googling on line to learn more. Two sites I've found of interest thusfar are:
http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Fabric/FabricDyeing.htm
http://www.marthabeth.com/dye.html
Once I get through this I'll try a few wraps. In addition to the military puggaree with its front and back twist, I'm considering an evenly spaced wrap with a single side twist. I also have an discarded Akubra tan braided hatband being sent to me by a generous forumite here. If I decide the Bwana Jim look is a bit too much for me it'll be pressed into service. It may also replace the stock dual lariat band on my first Riverina...dunno yet.

I also want to share something else. Earlier today I went grocery shopping and somehow brushed my pen against the underside of the Riverina brim. When I got home I began kicking myself as the blue ink was quite noticeable. I decided I needed to do something about it. I took the edge of a Mr. Clean magic eraser and lightly traced it against the ink line. It worked completely removing the ink without either leaving any kind of trace or otherwise damaging the felt. Score one for the good guys!

--Bob

 

[Mike K.]

I took the edge of a Mr. Clean magic eraser and lightly traced it against the ink line. It worked completely removing the ink without either leaving any kind of trace or otherwise damaging the felt. Score one for the good guys!

Now that's a great tip!! I'll have to go out and find one of those erasers before I make any hat blunders.

 

[Bald1]

Now that's a great tip!! I'll have to go out and find one of those erasers before I make any hat blunders.

Mike,

I learned about the Mr Clean magic eraser, believe it or not, on a vinyl forum. Folks there were using small pieces of the eraser as a stylus cleaner for the needles that play vinyl records. Certainly proper direction and judicious pressure are keys to successful use in that application. I now use it on my stylii Picture is of my vintage Merrill modified AR turntable with a Denon MC cartridge mounted in an Orsonics headshell.

I reasoned that if it worked to remove tiny residue without damage to very fragile stylii that it might just work on delicate hat fur-felt. It did

--Bob

 

[Mojave Jack]

As promised, here are photos of my two puggarees, side by side. I'll just post links so that the photo is as large as possible to see the textures. The top one is the issue pug, which is not from Lawrance Ordnance, but is very similar to it. The bottom is my Eddie Bauer Akubra pug.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/MojaveJack/Pugs.jpg

Here is a close up of the material. What is not as evident in the photo is how much thinner the EB material is, and how much more it resembles linen than does the issue pug. The issue pug holds its shape much better, but the EB pug gives the hat a much more relaxed air.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/MojaveJack/Puggarees.jpg

You can also see the staining to the EB pug. I'm not sure if that's how it came, or just from age and use. The hat shows nothing like this degree of staining or use, though.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/MojaveJack/EBPug.jpg

 

[Edward]

My Riverina arrived over the weekend.... great hat. Unlike my other two Akubras (both Federations - one reg, one deluxe), it's a good fit out of the box - maybe this one is a closer shape to my head to begin with? They're all 57s. [huh] I'm looking forward to finding the time to put a pugareee on this - ordering the tape later. I was planning to wear my Raiders bash Fed to China in May/ June, but I think now I'll go with the Riverina. I imagine i'll appreciate those ventilation holes when it's hot out there!