New Akubra Squatter

[Jerekson]

As it happens, my DeSina and Squatter arrived within two days of each other! How lucky am I, huh? The Squatter is a beaut. I ordered it from AussieBushHats in black (I needed to add a black hat to my collection). It came pre-shaped with a deep porkpie crease (hand creased by the staff) so I popped it to open.
It was sort of difficult to get the crown into a shape I liked, but I got it after a good amount of water was applied. After my signature brim treatment, I think I've got it just about down. Definitely not as easy to shape as the DeSina - the felt is very stiff.

It's the featherweight model.

Those are dog hairs on the crown, sorry.

 

[indycop]

Very nice Jerekson!:eusa_clap.

 

[NonEntity]

The Squatter looks great on you; you made an excellent choice. Oooh, a 57, my size. Being an "Akubra-file," I have a bunch of questions. One of your photos would not load, so some of my inquiries may have been answered by seeing it, but please bear with me.

Until now, I never heard of AussieBushHats. Where are they physically located? What's the full web addy?

What did you pay, how much was S & H, and how long did it take to arrive?

You say it is the featherweight model. I never knew there was such a Squatter model. What makes it different from the regular Squatter?

I see from the label inside that it is made from Akubra's Superfine Quality felt; that's at least one difference from the regular's Imperial Quality. My Sydney is also made of that grade of felt, and it was my understanding that Superfine Quality was specifically designed for it. While you say your Squatter is stiff, my Sydney is very soft and pliable, really easy to shape. This question is for anyone here who knows--if they are both made of the same felt, why are they so different?

The photo is too dark to tell for sure, but it appears to be unlined. Is that the case?

Does it have chin strap hooks?

The regular Squatter has a 5 1/4-inch opencrown and a 3-inch brim. What does yours measure in these two key dimensions?

You say it came handshaped by the staff in a "deep porkpie crease." I take it you mean a telescope bash. Is this the bash AussieBushHats puts in all its Squatters?

Is there enough "snap" to the brim to wear it fedora-style, so that it stays turned up in back and down in front?

Finally, the color. It's difficult to to tell from the 'puter pics, but it appears to be more of a charcoal black than a dark jet black. How would you describe the color?

 

[surely]

whew....:eusa_doh:

 

[Jerekson]

Oh boy

The Squatter looks great on you; you made an excellent choice. Oooh, a 57, my size. Being an "Akubra-file," I have a bunch of questions. One of your photos would not load, so some of my inquiries may have been answered by seeing it, but please bear with me.

Until now, I never heard of AussieBushHats. Where are they physically located? What's the full web addy?

What did you pay, how much was S & H, and how long did it take to arrive?

You say it is the featherweight model. I never knew there was such a Squatter model. What makes it different from the regular Squatter?

I see from the label inside that it is made from Akubra's Superfine Quality felt; that's at least one difference from the regular's Imperial Quality. My Sydney is also made of that grade of felt, and it was my understanding that Superfine Quality was specifically designed for it. While you say your Squatter is stiff, my Sydney is very soft and pliable, really easy to shape. This question is for anyone here who knows--if they are both made of the same felt, why are they so different?

The photo is too dark to tell for sure, but it appears to be unlined. Is that the case?

Does it have chin strap hooks?

The regular Squatter has a 5 1/4-inch opencrown and a 3-inch brim. What does yours measure in these two key dimensions?

You say it came handshaped by the staff in a "deep porkpie crease." I take it you mean a telescope bash. Is this the bash AussieBushHats puts in all its Squatters?

Is there enough "snap" to the brim to wear it fedora-style, so that it stays turned up in back and down in front?

Finally, the color. It's difficult to to tell from the 'puter pics, but it appears to be more of a charcoal black than a dark jet black. How would you describe the color?

Okay! Aussiebushhats is located in Holloway Beach, in Australia.

The hat rounded out to a little over $100 with shipping to U.S., it was about $90 I think with $20 shipping. This was a long time ago, because it took about 10 weeks for delievery (ONLY because the hat was out of stock, as I was told).

That being said, very friendly people who like to keep you informed.

Featherweight...well, honestly the only difference I can see is that it just is lighter. Also, it is unlined.

There are no strap hooks on my hat, but I find this odd because I received a chin strap along with it.

It's not necessarily stiff, it was just hard to manipulate.

Mine has a 3 in. brim and a 5ish crown. I personally would round it to about 5 1/2 in., but that's just from eyeballing it.

I would assume that if you asked the staff to leave it unshaped, they would do so.

Yes, the brim is perfectly snap-flanged upon arrival. It just didn't suit me.

I would probably classify the color as such. It's most definitely black, but it's light enough that I'm able to see the details (which I like).

Hope I helped. Whew.

Jer

 

[Doctor Strange]

FYI, I bought two hats from Aussie Bush Hats & Oilskins last year, and they sent chin straps with both... but neither hat had the grommets for them. I ended up giving the straps to my daughter to use as belts/chokers.

Very nice people to deal with. My Stockman was a non-stock color, so it took about 2-1/2 months. But my Cattleman was a stock color, and it arrived in about 10 days.

 

[Mustang]

It came pre-shaped with a deep porkpie crease (hand creased by the staff) so I popped it to open.
It was sort of difficult to get the crown into a shape I liked, but I got it after a good amount of water was applied. After my signature brim treatment, I think I've got it just about down. Definitely not as easy to shape as the DeSina - the felt is very stiff.

Nice work! You did a great job reshaping it. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Tone]

Great looking hat, Jerekson! Really nice work on the Squatter. :eusa_clap

 

[Bull Moose]

Great looking lid.

 

[Spellflower]

That is a nice looking lid! I've admired the Squatter before, but I wasn't aware of this lightweight model. I'm a big fan of the aesthetics of liners, but I have to say, I quite like the label in this one.

NonEntity, to my understanding, stiffness has more to do with the amount of stiffener used than anything else, so it could be the same felt, just treated differently, although from the sound of it, this hat isn't that stiff, just hard to crease, which is how I'd describe my Fedora, also made of this line of felt.

 

[RBH]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[bolthead]

Am I Missing Something?

Is it me or, shouldn't this be under the new hat sticky thread? [huh]

 

[Colby Jack]

Beauty

That squatter is a beauty!:eusa_clap
I was bopping around a couple Aussie hat sites...and (I think it was Yates) that had 3 versions of the squatter. I think it was a standard/handful of colors and something they had in stock...another that came in different colors, but they had to be special ordered and the superfine in different colors also....[huh] It's amazing what Akubra puts out thats not on their website, but made for different stores...and only they carry that specific kind of Akubra. Sorta like the Adventurer many of us jumped on awhile back.

 

[NonEntity]

Thanks Jer and all the rest, as well. I like to fancy myself something of an Akubra expert, so when I hear of something new, I'm eager to learn all about it ASAP.

So, what we have here from AussieBushHats is the same Squatter we all know and love, only unlined, in a different color, without chin strap hooks, and in Superfine Quality felt, which is stiffer than the same felt in the Sydney probably because of more hat stiffener. Personally, I think those are sufficient differences to give the hat a new name, but no one asked my permission!

As noted above, it is the vendor-specific Akubras that appear only on their own web sites that are difficult to keep up with, but by sharing info here, we can all keep abreast of what's available.