Anyone here have the Sydney Model of Akubra here....

[monbla256]

.... I believe it is known as the Fedora in Australia. I have almost always had bound brims and have decided to try an unbound smaller brimmed hat for a change. ajust thought I'd get some other owners impression of it . Am going to get the Regency Fawn color from David Morgan as I don't want to go through all the time hassle from Australia as I can get it within 3/4 days from DM. Not wondering about it's quality as I'm well aquainted with Akubra as i own 5 of 'em, just wanted some owners impressions. thanks

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Neophyte]

I have the Fedora, ordered from HatsDirect, in the grey. It's got a bit of taper to it, but comes open crown and is without question the softest, most comfortable Akubra I own. I would wear it more often if it didn't look so silly on me. I really liked it as an "around town" or "errand" hat, as it is pretty light too.

There is a video on Youtube of Youtube member "Charlz9mm", or something like that, that reviews the Sydney/Fedora. Pretty much everything he says reflects my own experiences. It's also pretty interesting, as he reviews the hat while driving :eeek:! I highly recommend that you view it. It's one of the things that finally pushed me over the edge .

[video=youtube;kzKsuJvShMY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzKsuJvShMY[/video]

 

[monbla256]

Thanks Neo,
It looks like one will be on my hall tree this year for sure ! From the dimensions given, it looks to be a raw edged, open crown Stylemaster which is fine with me as I'm wearing my Mid-Brown Stylemaster a lot these days!

Onward thru the Fog

 

[monbla256]

I have the Fedora, ordered from HatsDirect, in the grey. It's got a bit of taper to it, but comes open crown and is without question the softest, most comfortable Akubra I own. I would wear it more often if it didn't look so silly on me. I really liked it as an "around town" or "errand" hat, as it is pretty light too.

Neo,
I'm curious about your Fedora, is it that light grey as shown on the Akubra site? I'm thinking about the Charcoal Grey that DM sells as I know that most of his hats are lighter in real time than his photos show. Which makes me wonder as to how light grey is yours ?

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Gromulus]

Hi monbla.
I suspect you are leary of ordering a hat from OZ. It's really not a big deal. I ordered twice from Hats Direct and once from EA and had the hats from both within 2 weeks. I even bought a hat from a fellow lounger located in Australia and it in less than two weeks. You are missing out on some great (heck, most) styles and colors by limiting yourself to US only sources.

You can even get a Camp Draft (don't think they are even available in the US) and can be one of "the in Akubra owners" here!

A couple weeks for an in-stock hat is nothing. Much better than the buyers waiting years for the Adventurebilts!



Take care.

 

[monbla256]

Hi monbla.
I suspect you are leary of ordering a hat from OZ. It's really not a big deal. I ordered twice from Hats Direct and once from EA and had the hats from both within 2 weeks. I even bought a hat from a fellow lounger located in Australia and had the hat in less than two weeks. You are mnissing out on some great (heck, most) styles and colors by limiting yourself to US only sources.

You can even get a Camp Draft (don't think they are even available in the US) and can be one of "the in Akubra owners" here!

I'm well aware of ordering from Overseas. have done it for OVER 20+ years in collecting watches and fountain pens from Europe. I've just been amazed at the length of time it takes and the many shipping problems and often stocking problems so many folks seem to encounter. I'm also amazed at how narrowly focused on just one model of Akubra's is evidenced here. I've many friends and working aquintances from OZ and I've not yet seen one CD on any of their heads . Have seen a lot of Cattleman and Territory styles though. Guess it's just an area sort of thing. Besides DM so far has carried (or given me a reference to where I can get, i.e. my recent Mid Brown Stylemaster from John Helmer) what I have needed in the way of Akubra's. I like 'em ALL They are THE BEST new production hat made today

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Bebop]

I have a charcoal grey Fedora that I purchased at David Morgan's store. It's a bit shorter brimmed than most of my other hats and the crown does taper a bit more but it is a great, soft, excellently fitting hat.

 

[Gromulus]

. I've many friends and working aquintances from OZ and I've not yet seen one CD on any of their heads . Have seen a lot of Cattleman and Territory styles though. Onward thru the Fog

Guess I can relate. I own a Toyota 4Runner (one of the best off-road 4WD vehicles ever made). I work and am in contact with many Japanese colleagues. Can't say even one owns or has owned a 4Runner and they are only manufactured in Japan. Then again, Japan is small country and I doubt off-roading is very big there!

Just rattllin' your chain a bit about the Camp Draft, based on some of your previous posts.

As I have indicated before, the Bushman is next up for me.

Enjoy!

 

[monbla256]

No offense taken I'll probably breakdown and get a CD in the future. My real hat passion though is Montecristi Panamas !! Living here in Texas, I wear a Panama for longer periods of time in a year than a felt !!! In fact I just got another of PB's good daily wearer Cuencas in a Cabalero crease for my work hat this summer (he has some left at $9.99 ea !! Shpg. is MORE than the hat )
You will like your Bushman I'm sure Have worn one for over 30 years and am on my second one for the past 3 1/2 years now

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Neophyte]

Neo, I'm curious about your Fedora, is it that light grey as shown on the Akubra site? I'm thinking about the Charcoal Grey that DM sells as I know that most of his hats are lighter in real time than his photos show. Which makes me wonder as to how light grey is yours ?

The Charcoal Grey of DM has been reported multiple times on the Lounge to be very close to black. This first pic, provided by DavidMorgan, shows the Banjo Paterson hat in Charcoal Grey. I would describe the Akubra website's depiction of Carbon Grey most accurate [read: balls-on accurate] in the picture of their Stylemaster, the second pic. Carbon Grey isn't that dark and has great blue undertones. It's a great color, in my opinion.

 

[monbla256]

Thanks Neo, will have to give this some more thought.

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Picker]

I have the grey one (from Noggintops) and the brown one (from Hatsdirect). As others have said, they are the softest Akubras, very light and luxurious. The brown one from Hatsdirect came with a beautiful red liner. They are shorter brimmed (about 2 1/2) maybe with the one-inch ribbon, so I use them more for church wear, playing indoor gigs with my band. In November I flew to New York City wearing the brown one to visit my daughter. It worked well as a city hat there, not cumbersome at all. The grey one is not as dark as Akubra's dark grey Banjo Paterson (I owned one of those, too). They are slightly tapered, but not enough to look bad. It's agood, comfortable hat.

 

[EggHead]

I have a charcoal Sydney from DM. Yes, it is black, the ribbon is also black (slightly blacker than the hat). The open crown is very soft, I was not very successful in making front dents/pinch, it doesn't hold well, but the top bash holds fine, so it is now my black porkpie hat. It is very comfortable. The felt is about twice as thin as Imperial, but still holds rain away. I frequently wear it in drizzly or showery weather and it holds up well to getting wet. I once got caught in a strong downpour, when I reached cover I tilted my head to drain water from the porkpie dent, but no water got thru. But if there is wind with rain 2 1/2 inch brims are a little short IMO, Leisure Time is much better suited for that. In the initial steaming/watering the size shrunk about half size, but it didn't lose shape. I did replace the ribbon to lighter gray color and better quality.

 

[Tone]

Does anyone have actual pics of their own Sydney fedora?

Egghead, the Leisure Time has Akubra grade brim on it but seems to have that same narrow crown as the Stylemaster, CEO, etc.

Can you show a comparison between your Leisure Time and your Sydney? One has more brim but I'm sure some would be interested to see if they have the same CEO type crown going on.

 

[Blackthorn]

I got mine from David Morgan. Here's a pic. Sorry about the background. We were at Disneyland right before Christmas:

 

[Tone]

Hey, what's wrong with Disneyland in the background?

Thanks, Blackthorn. It's good to see examples from actual owners of the hats in question. I can see where the Leisure Time might offer the same shape with a different brim preference.

That's a nice color on that hat.

 

[EggHead]

This bash didn't hold well

 

[EggHead]

And here is the attempted porkpie bash, there is still a little dent in front but it doesn't want to be deeper, sorry can't see the top (it's telescopic) - notice the new ribbon!

 

[Tone]

It doesn't look all that bad, Egghead. There is a blurb about it being designed specifically for a certain crease (I'm guessing kind of like a fold up Trilby where you pop it on and get one sort of look out of it whether you want it or not). But, do you have the Leisure Time up here anywhere? I can see a benefit between seeing the two compared.

*You've since posted the telescope version of the Sydney as I type this, and I have to say it looks pretty good in both. I'd really like to see what you got out of the LT, too. Thanks.

That's not a bad looking hat at all, the more I look at it. Do you not like it, or just that it's not sitting in the crease you'd prefer it be in?

 

[EggHead]

Tone, I will try to take some pics this weekend of both hats (my p&s camera broke recently).
I like Sydney now, it took a while for me to like it though. The first thing that surprised me was how black it was. I was expecting more gray - the Tully picture is the actual correct color. So I changed the ribbon to wider size and less dark color and shortened the crown to remove the blackness. I enjoy wearing it because it's so comfortable.