Custom hat or Akubra?

[avedwards]

I want to get a new hat which will last a few decades hopefully. I want something like a dress hat (think Bogart) which is durable and can be worn in the rain (think Indiana Jones).

I have been recommended to get a custom hat from Art Fawcett. I have emailed Art and he was very helpful. The problem is that the custom option is about $375 with shipping to the UK. An Akubra is only about $130ish with shipping.

So is an Abubra good enough to last a few decades? I will be using the hat on a nearly daily basis and while I will take care of it, I will want to use it in all sorts of conditions. So is an Akubra good enough to perform as good as a custom hat from Art? I am not interested in having a custom hat for how it looks, I only care that the quality is good enough.

Any advice?

Thanks
Alan

 

[Lefty]

Are you also considering vintage, or is this strictly a new hat purchase? A high quality hat that's been around for 50-70 years certainly has a good chance of making it through another 20.

 

[nickn5]

Also in England (well, Wales, close) and have a similar dilemma - my wallet thinks Akubra is by far a better choice, but I do like, no, love, the Art hats. But would I want to risk a $350 hat in all weather? Nope I think not, so an Akubra Fed IV Deluxe might be the best choice, many posters here have testified that they stand up well to the elements.

The Akubra prices have dropped even more (exchange rate) in the last couple of days, a Deluxe Fed IV now $109.11 plus shipping.

N.

 

[UWS Cowboy]

I'm also wondering how long Akubras last after years of rain etc., when compared to a custom/vintage. Just how good are Akubras?

 

[JohnnyB53]

I'm also wondering how long Akubras last after years of rain etc., when compared to a custom/vintage. Just how good are Akubras?

You might find the answer in this thread about a 43-year-old Akubra David Morgan Bushman. Some interesting passages:

My ol’ Akubra Bushman is finally ready to retire. It’s been my solid go to hat for heavy working in rain and snow since the day I got it from one of them new fangled upstart mail order houses called David Morgan in Bothell, WA back in 1965. It’s been a fine friend. Earned its peg on the Great Wall-O-Hats but begs to be replaced in kind.
...
Through windswept Montana wilderness rains and driving Alaskan snow on the Chilkoot Pass trail that Akubra Bushman and Filson clothes helped me blaze a trail and always kept me dry warm, and well dressed.

At 43 years old the Bushman doesn’t look a day over 15. Just doesn’t fit as well as it used to. It’s a 57 I now wear 58s (head fattening?)

 

[UWS Cowboy]

You might find the answer in this thread about a 43-year-old Akubra David Morgan Bushman. Some interesting passages:

That is amazing.

 

[gtdean48]

My 2 cents worth. No way I'm leaving the house in a downpour donning a custom lid north of $300. I don't hesitate using one if caught in the rain. If it is ugly when I head out, an Akubra is most likely on my head if not a not so vintage Stetson 4X is getting the call to duty for that day. My custom lids will ride the day out on the hook. With Georgia weather, there are enough times when I have been out in the custom & a thunderstorm has come up. The customs perform as their cost demands. A custom is a treat to me & a beater is utility item. Get a custom & get a beater. At $75 delivered, a new Akubra CEO or Campdraft are VERY nice starts for the beater assignment!

 

[avedwards]

I am not very good at expressing my thoughts in writing, but what I meant to ask was if the price difference between a custom hat and an Akubra is durability or the price of a hatter making a hat to specifications. If it is durability, then I will go custom, otherwise I would rather save money.

And I would not want to go vintage, for two reasons: one would have to baby it for fear of destroying a piece of history, and two I could be looking for the rest of my life until I find one the right size and style.

 

[Thwack]

To be honest, I've been kicking something like this around lately. I really want a custom hat but I don't want to pay all that and not wear it. I'm thinking of getting one and wearing it as my "beater" hat, with the exception of actual outdoor work (shoveling or mowing the lawn) and probably things like camping (I'll have my akubra for those things). [huh]

 

[avedwards]

So are Akubra dress hats good at holding up in the rain?

 

[Stoney]

It's like apples and oranges

Durability is relative to the punishment a lid endures.
For all practical purposes a custom lid can't be compared to a production hat
in any way. When Art makes a hat for you he makes it...

A) By hand as opposed to stamped out of a machine.

B) To your specifications ie color, texture, crease and ribbon treatment.

C) To fit your head exactly.

D) With quality and workmanship that you won't find in a production hat.


My advise is simple.

If you want something to wear that you don't have to worry about ruining, buy a production hat, or even better a cheap vintage hat.

If you want a special lid that you'll be proud to own for years to come, buy a custom hat.

 

[Lefty]

what I meant to ask was if the price difference between a custom hat and an Akubra is durability or the price of a hatter making a hat to specifications. If it is durability, then I will go custom, otherwise I would rather save money.

With durability and price as your sole considerations, I say go with the Akurbra. A 100% beaver hat for a bit over $300 will not be 3x more durable than than a $100 (or 75, or whatever they're going for today) hare felt Akubra.

The beaver is more durable, and a hat from Art is certainly worth the difference in style - and the intrinsic value it holds by being your bespoke (not run of the mill, off the rack) perfect hat. Strictly comparing durability to price, however, you won't beat a decent mass production hat.

Edit: Put me down for a :arated: on what Stoney said.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

Hi Alan. Rain euh?

With all due respect, but you sound as if you would buy ONE hat and expect to wear it the whole rest of your life. Mind you, my mindset is very similar: everything I buy is "for keeps". Twenty years ago, I bought a sturdy 386 in a metal box, thinking it would last forever...see?

Why don't you go right out and buy yourself your favorite Akubra. Of course you got rain! Wear it... They're very good hats.

I do however suspect (unless you are very economically tight, which is nothing to be ashamed of), that you will (sooner than you think) buy a hat from Art or from another of these exquisite hatmakers in the USA.

But, frankly, I do not think you would buy a hat from Art to wear it, "next week" come rain or come shine. Especially since that "shine", in your part of the world, permit me, Dear Sir, extreme scepticism.

The day before yesterday, I walked twice (morning and evening) 20+ minutes through, especially in the evening, rather hard rain. I wore my xxxxxxx Stetson. It got p.....retty wet. I let it dry on a hat block I have, in a cool veranda. This excellent quality hat had it's brim curled upwards somewhat, I believe due to the rim-binding shrinking. I gave it some steam, and the brim's pretty much back in form.

So, well, rain...better be a bit careful and try to avoid too much of it.

Paul

 

[MattJH]

So are Akubra dress hats good at holding up in the rain?

Extremely good. Both of my Federation IV Standards (Carbon Grey & Dark Brown) have been thoroughly soaked in downpours and are no worse for wear. If Akubra durability is something you're worried about, you can relax - it's not something to take into consideration.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

I would not want to go vintage...one would have to baby it for fear of destroying a piece of history

(sorry for double-post)
Alan - permit me - if you were to buy a hat from Art, it would be exactly the same as a valuable vintage: "for fear of destroying a piece of history". I think Art's hats are..will be..pieces of history.

Pablo

 

[JohnnyB53]

I am not very good at expressing my thoughts in writing, but what I meant to ask was if the price difference between a custom hat and an Akubra is durability or the price of a hatter making a hat to specifications. If it is durability, then I will go custom, otherwise I would rather save money.

In all cases, the cost of a custom hat goes to custom fitting, custom styling, a high quality of felt, and a finer hand-finish than you could possibly get from a mass-manufactured machine-finished hat.

In general, custom hats are going to have a high level of durability because of the quality of the felt used, but even then, durability will vary according to the purpose that particular felt was made for.

Akubra makes its hats for utility first. The greater part of Australia is arid desert and grasslands. At the northern end in the torrid zone is rainforest. Even the suburban and city dwellers subject their hats to a more brutal sun than most of us in the US. A temperate city like Sydney is about the same distance from the equator as Atlanta and Phoenix.

Akubra sells to a tough primary market--Australian cowboys, sheepherders, ranchers, farmers, and prospectors who don't have a lot of discretionary income. If these customers don't get full value for their purchases, they won't generate any repeat business. That's evidently not a problem as Akubra is in its fourth generation of family ownership.

The two Australian iconic items of clothing that characterize the weather extremes of the outback are the Drizabone oilskin slicker and the Akubra hat. If Akubra hats didn't stand up to the weather, they wouldn't still be in business.

One more thing: There are many FLoungers who have both VS Art Fawcett custom hats AND Akubras. So as good as the Fawcetts are, it doesn't spoil them for grabbing an Akubra when conditions warrant.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I'm not the type to turn people away from Art's hats, even when discussing durability. They can handle it. Trust me, I know (but not on purpose)! But I also understand not wanting to endanger a high-price item. I find, for me, that a really good hat like Art's and my AB's (also in that price range) are now the ones I trust in bad weather. Except my really light colored mojave! I'm just afraid it will blow off my head and land in mud.

The simple fact is, Art's hats may be expensive, but with an occasional cleaning and reblock, it could last for a few generations. As long as the felt never gets ripped or something like that.

With all that in mind, if a "lesser hat" will satisfy you, then Akubra is the top shelf for durability and quality for a factory hat. And I don't think anyone would think poorly of you for buying one to spare the life of an Art Fawcett!! lol

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Do the math. If you're not absolutely sure and not absolutely compelled that you want to spend the money on a custom hat, consider this...

From the initial post, you said that a custom would run about $375 delivered to the UK, and the Akubra is about $130 delivered to the UK. You wondered if the Akubra would last a few decades...and that's going to be determined by what kind of wear & tear & care it receives.

But...I think anyone would agree an even moderately-cared-for Akubra is going to easily last a decade. Lets say it only last a decade, or that by then, you're tired of it. Buy another. And in another decade, buy another. You end up with three hats over thirty years for only $15 more than buying the one custom hat now.

It would also be something of a "training hat" if you're not used to having one. You may find you don't like the color you originally selected, the brim or the crown's not to your liking after a period of time, and what you'd really like or dislike in a custom hat. That's when you go for a custom - when you know exactly what you want, and you'll also have learned how to care for a hat, how to rebash it, and undoubtedly learned from a few "Man, I wish I had NOT have done THAT" experiences. Better to get all through those learning experiences and get the custom when you know exactly what you want.

Think back on your first car - when you bought it, was it exactly what you wanted? Or were there things you learned over the years that you wish you'd known then?

 

[Thwack]

Ok, so let me toss this question out to the crowd.

Is there a custom hat you would be willing to use as an all-weather anytime hat?

 

[avedwards]

Thank you for all the advice so far.

Someone mentioned my first car. Again, I have to confess that I am only sixteen, and already into proper hats. Therefore, my budget is limited so if I get a custom, I need it to last. Plus, I like getting used to one hat and using it all the time. So am I right in assuming that Art's hats will be waterproof (if I ask him for that) and will last a few decades, considering the worst abuse they are likely to get is some rain?