Akubra Snowy River that seems to have a storied past...

[great white]

I was cruising eBay looking for a decent "knock around" hat.

Something robust, able to handle poor weather and give decent sun protection. I also didn't want to spend much dough.

I wanted a fur felt and my search was further complicated by my larger size (7 5/8, thanks Dad).

I ran across an Akubra Snowy River and it seemed to fill the bill: robust, casual, wide brim, fur felt and low price (36 bucks).

So I snapped it up even though it had some irregularities.

First: the size. It had a "53" tag on the inside on an older tag. At least, from what I can gather it's an older style tag:

But it also had a hand written "63" tag:

Compounding the confusion is the seller listed inside measurements of 7 1/2" x 8 1/4". He listed the auction as 7 1/2 size based on (I'm guessing) his ruler measurement. A quick and dirty ellipse calculation came out to 23 1/4", which is right in the ball park for my cranium. Hopefully close enough to shrink or stretch a bit to get the fit juuuust right.

Is it even possible to rework a hat from "53" to "63"? That seems like too much of a change.

I also can't seem to find much on the thin ribbon or the feathering. I suppose if it has been altered from a 53 to a 63 then a ribbon and feather are an easy change for such a person to do.

Here's some more pics from the auction:

I do know I want to rework it a bit to be a touch less "cowboy looking". something along these lines maybe with a bit less "upturn" on the sides:

It's in the mail and on it's way. I guess we'll see what's up once it gets here.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what's happened in this old soldier's past or even how old it might be?

 

[Atticus Finch]

I'd love to know too. I have a "linerless" Snowy River as well. Looks almost exactly like yours and is a generous size 7 3/4, but is marked "61".

AF

 

[TheDane]

Is it even possible to rework a hat from "53" to "63"? That seems like too much of a change.

No, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you - that hat will never get even close to your size. You can stretch a hat a centimetre or two in circumference, which equals a size or two. 10 sizes is absolutely impossible [huh]

 

[great white]

No, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you - that hat will never get even close to your size. You can stretch a hat a centimetre or two in circumference, which equals a size or two. 10 sizes is absolutely impossible [huh]

Those were my thoughts as well, but it was only 36 bucks so no worries either way.

I guess I'll see the "tale of the tape" once it gets here.

 

[TheDane]

Maybe you know a youngster with a 6 5/8 head. Then you could strengthen your skills on brushing, steaming and shaping the hat(?)

 

[Historyteach24]

I was about to buy this hat as well! LOL but the HUGE difference in sizes scared me off

 

[great white]

Maybe you know a youngster with a 6 5/8 head. Then you could strengthen your skills on brushing, steaming and shaping the hat(?)

Or maybe it will fit?

who knows?

It's all part of the adventure....

 

[great white]

I was about to buy this hat as well! LOL but the HUGE difference in sizes scared me off

I figured it was cheap enough to take the risk. I found it with about 15 mins left in the auction so I did what research and figuring I could and then tossed caution to the wind with 2 mins left.

It could turn out to be a good ol' hat, or it could be a total bust.

Worse comes to worse, I'll use it to practice some "hat work" skills.

I'm kind of a tinkerer in everything I do anyways....

 

[Historyteach24]

Great White that is a great idea! I just recently started learning how to work on hats thanks to my buddy Tim aka the Cane Rod Maker so that is a great way to look at it!

 

[great white]

Great White that is a great idea! I just recently started learning how to work on hats thanks to my buddy Tim aka the Cane Rod Maker so that is a great way to look at it!

I try to find the "upside" whenever I can.

It doesn't always work, but I try.....nobility is in the effort, not the result.

 

[great white]

Well, I did a little more fooling around today with measurements.

The ellipse calculators say the 7.5X8.25 measurement works out to just over 24" circumference, 24.768 to be precise.

Then I took a pair of out side calipers and measured 7.5 and 8.25. Both measurements slide over my skull with a little room to spare. Not and accurate measurement for something as round as a head, but a good sign.

Then, I laid out the two measurements on a piece of paper and free-handed an oval (since and ellipse is not exactly the same as an oval) and measured the circumference: 24 1/2".

I used a fabric tape measure, set it at 24 1/2" and slipped it over my noggin.

Slipped down over my head to the ears, but really close.

Oddly enough, all these measurements pretty much transfer over to a hat measurement of "63" or 7 3/4 -ish, depending on which charts you look at.

Assuming the seller wasn't totally inept with the straight ruler, I might be in the clear.

I can't explain the "53" tag though. Maybe it was a re-banding and the wrong tag was installed? seems it would be easy to mix up a 53 and 63 on a small tag if you weren't paying close attention. Or perhaps a factory defect from the beginning?

Dunno. It will be interesting to see what happens when the hat gets here.....kinda like Christmas!

 

[great white]

So the Akubra showed up today.

Either the seller or that "pitney bowes" business dis a rotten job packaging it. The crown was crushed down about 2".

Luckily, it's an Akubra so it takes abuse in stride.

But it turns out it actually is a 63, not a 53 as on the tag. No idea how it happened, but it is for sure a 63. It's way loose on my 7 5/8 head.

So I first steamed it and reshaped teh crown in to the fedora style. It's memory comes right back.

But it's still too big. Much too big.

Time for drastic measures.

Into the sink of steaming hot water the whole thing goes.

Once it's soaked through, into the oven it goes. I heated the oven up to 350 (lowest setting) and turned it off before putting the hat in.

I shuffle it in and out ever 2 minutes, fitting it to my head.

After about a half hour of this, the hat and band have shrunken down enough that the hat is a snug fit on my head and right now it's sitting on my noggin. Cooling off and achieving final fit.

I"m not going to say it's the best way to do it, but it's a nice firm form fit to my bumpy noodle. Most hat "purists" would probably say I've ruined it (IE: sweatband) but I'm ok with it.

Shaping has become nice and clean, and the smoke smell that was in the hat seems to have mostly dissipated.

The only real negative is the sweat band has shrunk enough that it has about half of the normal contact area as it's had to come in so much to fill the space. Pretty much pulled away from the felt except where it's sewn. The hat ribbon has also come a bit loose around the base since the hat has shrunk so much.

It's not perfect, but it works well enough for something I'm going to use for hiking and working in the yard. Looks decent too.

 

[Brian Niebuhr]

And I thought my hot car method was extreme!! You don't mess around! I've considered using the oven on a hat that was way too big but it was summer and the car seemed a better choice. You could try a hat stretcher to bring the sweat band back a little. Maybe condition the leather first. Stretch it just enough to get the sweat band so that it's not too snug if that bothers you any now or sometime down the road. Glad you now have a usable hat. Enjoy it!

 

[great white]

Well, I got greedy.

I needed to tweak it a bit more and gave it another round of heating and shrinking.

It was on my head and near perfect, had cooled and felt nice and dry so I took it off and went to bed.

Woke up this morning and the sweatband had turned into a well cooked piece of crispy bacon.

Maybe I should have conditioned the leather before I put it down, maybe I should have worn it for a couple more hours.....Meh, moot point now.

So, I went to my old Biltmore western (picked it up for 5 bucks at thrift store) that I've been hacking on to build up some skills and pulled the perfect 7 5/8" sweat band out of it. I'll shrink the felt down a little more in the Akubra and stitch the new sweatband in.

Good as new. Maybe better since it will be custom fit.

I'll probably do something with the hat band also. It's the narrow "western style" strip that just doesn't appeal to me that much. It's too large for the hat now as it is anyways.



Cool thing is; I'm getting to the point where I can rework most hats that are close to my size to work.

Still need to build some tooling and build a few more skills, but getting there......

 

[gtdean48]

Once sweatband is added, water & extreme heat, oven temps, should be avoided for the leather....

 

[great white]

Once sweatband is added, water & extreme heat, oven temps, should be avoided for the leather....

Yup, I know it. I was pushing my luck and the luck ran out....