This is an update to the original review posted on the 5th of August 2016. It includes all the original text and fixes the broken image link issues that the original post had.
The Akubra Zephyr in Fawn:
I purchased this hat as an alternative to my 15 year old Panama which was starting to show some wear and tear. I considered both the Zephyr and its natural hemp cousin the Balmoral, and in the end decided on the former to try something different. Having worn it for a couple of months now I can say it has some very useful attributes that set it apart from natural straw hats:
First of all this hat is completely immune to water damage - I wore it in a downpour the other day and it shrugged off 95% of the raindrops. The weave of the polypropylene on the top and brim of the hat is very dense and as a result the rain doesn't get through, unlike with a Panama where it seems like every third raindrop penetrates. Because it's synthetic straw, the hat dries almost immediately and doesn't soften or lose its shape in the rain. This is very useful for where I live, where we will often have intense sun followed by thundery showers and then intense sun again.
Secondly, this hat gives good sun coverage without looking like a sun hat - the brim at 70mm is the same size as the Adventurer/CEO brim and bigger than the Bogart/Stylemaster brim. It's right on the boundary between town and country hat and can do both pretty well.
The crown shape on this hat is what I would call a streamlined teardrop - right in between the cigar-style crease crown of the Bogart and the teardrop of the Stylemaster/CEO/Cattleman. The built-in bash (which is most definitely NOT user-adjustable) is quite subtle and the relatively subtle taper means there is a lot of room in the crown for air to circulate, making for a very airy and comfortable hat. The weave on the lower part of the sides of the crown is more open to facilitate this - you can actually see through this part of the hat when you hold it close to your eye - this is not possible with the brim or top of the crown. Works much better than vent holes in my experience!
The polypropylene material is another interesting aspect of this hat. In terms of colour it's darker than a natural straw hat but the exact colour is very hard to define - there is some brown in there and some yellow and some green... 'fawn' is a fair attempt but if you know hats you will probably not mistake this for a natural material. That's not a bad thing, just something to be aware of.
In terms of feel the hat is very stiff indeed, especially the crown, and rather 'crunchy' if you manhandle it. It's important to note that there is almost no give to these hats - if you order a size too small they CANNOT be jacked out to fit like a felt hat. So the standard Akubra sizing advice is even more critical when dealing with these models: if you are in between sizes, order the larger size. If like me you are right on a size, go up one, unless you like a very snug fit!
The hat is incredibly well-made: the whole thing is stitched together with what appears to be several kilometers of monofilament line and there is also glue holding everything in place. The leather inside and outside bands are traditional Akubra quality, the outside band being a hefty 3mm thick with a nice low key Akubra badge. The edge is bound with dark brown ribbon which is overlapped and stitched at the back so well that it's very difficult to see where the join is. The inside stamp says 'Australian Assembly' because the spinning is done in Taiwan, but the whole package is flawlessly executed. Well done Akubra!
The sizing appears to run just very slightly smaller than the felt hats - I have a Bogart in the same size that is a slightly looser fit - but it could also be due to the unyielding nature of the polypropylene.
All in all this hat is very versatile and an ideal hot-weather companion especially if rain is expected. How the material holds up over time remains to be seen but I'm sure it will be far more durable than any straw or hemp equivalent.
Update August 18th 2016: I have decided to return this hat because the size I ordered felt too small. My head measures exactly 58cm and the Zephyr in 58 was too snug a fit for my liking. Nothing at all wrong with the hat! I will probably order a Country Club in cream to replace it at some point - for now am continuing to wear my long-suffering 15 year-old Panama
The Akubra Zephyr in Fawn:
I purchased this hat as an alternative to my 15 year old Panama which was starting to show some wear and tear. I considered both the Zephyr and its natural hemp cousin the Balmoral, and in the end decided on the former to try something different. Having worn it for a couple of months now I can say it has some very useful attributes that set it apart from natural straw hats:
First of all this hat is completely immune to water damage - I wore it in a downpour the other day and it shrugged off 95% of the raindrops. The weave of the polypropylene on the top and brim of the hat is very dense and as a result the rain doesn't get through, unlike with a Panama where it seems like every third raindrop penetrates. Because it's synthetic straw, the hat dries almost immediately and doesn't soften or lose its shape in the rain. This is very useful for where I live, where we will often have intense sun followed by thundery showers and then intense sun again.
Secondly, this hat gives good sun coverage without looking like a sun hat - the brim at 70mm is the same size as the Adventurer/CEO brim and bigger than the Bogart/Stylemaster brim. It's right on the boundary between town and country hat and can do both pretty well.
The crown shape on this hat is what I would call a streamlined teardrop - right in between the cigar-style crease crown of the Bogart and the teardrop of the Stylemaster/CEO/Cattleman. The built-in bash (which is most definitely NOT user-adjustable) is quite subtle and the relatively subtle taper means there is a lot of room in the crown for air to circulate, making for a very airy and comfortable hat. The weave on the lower part of the sides of the crown is more open to facilitate this - you can actually see through this part of the hat when you hold it close to your eye - this is not possible with the brim or top of the crown. Works much better than vent holes in my experience!
The polypropylene material is another interesting aspect of this hat. In terms of colour it's darker than a natural straw hat but the exact colour is very hard to define - there is some brown in there and some yellow and some green... 'fawn' is a fair attempt but if you know hats you will probably not mistake this for a natural material. That's not a bad thing, just something to be aware of.
In terms of feel the hat is very stiff indeed, especially the crown, and rather 'crunchy' if you manhandle it. It's important to note that there is almost no give to these hats - if you order a size too small they CANNOT be jacked out to fit like a felt hat. So the standard Akubra sizing advice is even more critical when dealing with these models: if you are in between sizes, order the larger size. If like me you are right on a size, go up one, unless you like a very snug fit!
The hat is incredibly well-made: the whole thing is stitched together with what appears to be several kilometers of monofilament line and there is also glue holding everything in place. The leather inside and outside bands are traditional Akubra quality, the outside band being a hefty 3mm thick with a nice low key Akubra badge. The edge is bound with dark brown ribbon which is overlapped and stitched at the back so well that it's very difficult to see where the join is. The inside stamp says 'Australian Assembly' because the spinning is done in Taiwan, but the whole package is flawlessly executed. Well done Akubra!
The sizing appears to run just very slightly smaller than the felt hats - I have a Bogart in the same size that is a slightly looser fit - but it could also be due to the unyielding nature of the polypropylene.
All in all this hat is very versatile and an ideal hot-weather companion especially if rain is expected. How the material holds up over time remains to be seen but I'm sure it will be far more durable than any straw or hemp equivalent.
Update August 18th 2016: I have decided to return this hat because the size I ordered felt too small. My head measures exactly 58cm and the Zephyr in 58 was too snug a fit for my liking. Nothing at all wrong with the hat! I will probably order a Country Club in cream to replace it at some point - for now am continuing to wear my long-suffering 15 year-old Panama
