THE SUNBODY ASSOCIATION

[Monavillecowboy]

Thanks for the fast shipping. It was a nice surprise to find out it was here already.

You're welcome!

 

[Scooterz]

Ok could not resist bashing. Put a horse hair band on it and lowered crown to about 4.25" at pinch. Made a diamond crease, could have easily made it much sharper points on the diamond but slightly worried about how it would hold up as it dried. Probably would do fine. Deepened side dents and made some slight rear side dents.

 

[Zombie_61]

Ok the hat showed up 3 days early...

Nice! It looks good "off the rack", but even better after your modifications. The crown is less tapered than I was expecting after seeing the photos on Sunbody's website, and you've helped me decide which hat to choose. Now I just have to figure out which size.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Ok the hat showed up 3 days early. First thoughts: The crown is high 4.5" at pinch 4.75" at high point on side. Looks taller. Makes the 2.5 inch brim look almost stingy. Came with a thin black band, which was not glued on (hooray). It slipped off easy. Here are some quick pics in not great light. There is little red streak that is either something on the camera lens or some dead pixels in the camera. It is not something actually on the hat. It is oak colored and it is a nice light golden tan color. It appears lighter in the photos but they are outside. Came with a decent amount of sizing tape. I could probably have gone with a 58cm but the 59 will be ok with some sizing tape and after wetting and letting it fit to my head I think. I will be reshaping this and seeing if I can get the crown just a tad lower.

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Scooterz, I like it on you & don't think the crown is too tall for you at all. The 4.5/4.75" measurements you have given are pretty average or normal. It may be that you are just not used to it yet. Maybe play with the pinches a bit but take some time first to see if you come to like it, before trying to lower the crown.

PS: just saw your followup...please ignore my advice.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I could probably have gone with a 58cm but the 59 will be ok with some sizing tape and after wetting and letting it fit to my head I think...

I forgot to ask, did you order the larger size because it was suggested/recommended, or because you're normally between sizes? And did your reshaping affect the fit?

 

[RJR]

Ok could not resist bashing. Put a horse hair band on it and lowered crown to about 4.25" at pinch. Made a diamond crease, could have easily made it much sharper points on the diamond but slightly worried about how it would hold up as it dried. Probably would do fine. Deepened side dents and made some slight rear side dents.

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Nice job.

 

[tropicalbob]

Ok the hat showed up 3 days early. First thoughts: The crown is high 4.5" at pinch 4.75" at high point on side. Looks taller. Makes the 2.5 inch brim look almost stingy. Came with a thin black band, which was not glued on (hooray). It slipped off easy. Here are some quick pics in not great light. There is little red streak that is either something on the camera lens or some dead pixels in the camera. It is not something actually on the hat. It is oak colored and it is a nice light golden tan color. It appears lighter in the photos but they are outside. Came with a decent amount of sizing tape. I could probably have gone with a 58cm but the 59 will be ok with some sizing tape and after wetting and letting it fit to my head I think. I will be reshaping this and seeing if I can get the crown just a tad lower.

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That looks great on you. Give it a little time and I'll bet the color of the straw just gets better and better. If I could get them to do that hat with just a little more brim I'd be a happy man. Cheers.

 

[tropicalbob]

I forgot to ask, did you order the larger size because it was suggested/recommended, or because you're normally between sizes? And did your reshaping affect the fit?

I just ordered the oak-colored hat with a 2 3/4 brim. They're going to take one of their 4" brims and cut it down and bind it. I also requested a diamond bash. It's going to take a week or so because they're waiting for a shipment of the larger sizes next week, but that's fine. Price was about $50.00, with $12.00 shipping. I'll definitely post some shots when it arrives.

 

[tropicalbob]

I just added the Old West leather hatband. Kind of a splurge, but what the hell.

 

[Scooterz]

Scooterz, I like it on you & don't think the crown is too tall for you at all. The 4.5/4.75" measurements you have given are pretty average or normal. It may be that you are just not used to it yet. Maybe play with the pinches a bit but take some time first to see if you come to like it, before trying to lower the crown.

PS: just saw your followup...please ignore my advice.

Is easy to change the crease when they are wet. Could change it back in just a few minutes, but I will keep it like this for a while. I think the original crease looks better in photos than it did looking in the mirror.

 

[Scooterz]

I forgot to ask, did you order the larger size because it was suggested/recommended, or because you're normally between sizes? And did your reshaping affect the fit?

I ordered the 7 3/8 (59) because I bought another 1.8 inch brimmed fedora sunbody in a shop on vacation last summer and trying them on in person it was the best fit. Can't really remember if they actually had a 7 1/4(58) there at the time. The shop put a little sizing tape (about 4 inches long) in when I bought it. After wetting it a few times and wearing it the fit is really good. I left the sizing tape in the first hat so I maybe have a smidgeon of room to play with if it ever gets too tight. I really can't say if that was the best way to go. I can't remember if they have advice on Sunbody's website about what size to order. You might check there.

 

[Scooterz]

Oh yes forgot to add that the side dents in front and rear on the 2.5" brim new hat did make it fit better along with conforming some to my head. I can probably still put some sizing tape in to make it fit just perfect.

 

[Michael R.]

I've been sporting this 5 1/2" Crown Creased (medium crown , where's the Tall Crowns ?), 4" Brim Gus in my mind for 2-3 years , just haven't pulled the trigger . Inexpensive , and Comfortable , I'm sure , but I'm not keen on clothe sweatbands (I've had them before , they're okay) ...

It needs something more , maybe a horse hair Hatband . But for a Jack Around the Yard Hat ? You know how that goes , you'll think of something and run to town , and forget to swop Hats . But it looks good . I've probably got a Hatband that would work already . I think it comes in Oak , too . I think they used to call these the Old West Texas Ranger Style .

 

[Monavillecowboy]

Ok could not resist bashing. Put a horse hair band on it and lowered crown to about 4.25" at pinch. Made a diamond crease, could have easily made it much sharper points on the diamond but slightly worried about how it would hold up as it dried. Probably would do fine. Deepened side dents and made some slight rear side dents.

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Looks good!

 

[Monavillecowboy]

I've been sporting this 5 1/2" Crown Creased (medium crown , where's the Tall Crowns ?), 4" Brim Gus in my mind for 2-3 years , just haven't pulled the trigger . Inexpensive , and Comfortable , I'm sure , but I'm not keen on clothe sweatbands (I've had them before , they're okay) ...

It needs something more , maybe a horse hair Hatband . But for a Jack Around the Yard Hat ? You know how that goes , you'll think of something and run to town , and forget to swop Hats . But it looks good . I've probably got a Hatband that would work already . I think it comes in Oak , too . I think they used to call these the Old West Texas Ranger Style .

The band is just a piece of polyester that slips on and off.
I use my stampede strap as the band.

 

[Zombie_61]

I ordered the 7 3/8 (59) because I bought another 1.8 inch brimmed fedora sunbody in a shop on vacation last summer and trying them on in person it was the best fit. Can't really remember if they actually had a 7 1/4(58) there at the time. The shop put a little sizing tape (about 4 inches long) in when I bought it. After wetting it a few times and wearing it the fit is really good. I left the sizing tape in the first hat so I maybe have a smidgeon of room to play with if it ever gets too tight. I really can't say if that was the best way to go. I can't remember if they have advice on Sunbody's website about what size to order. You might check there.

This is what Sunbody's website has to say about sizing: "We sell two types of hats: Guatemalan palm leaf and Mexican palm leaf. The Guatemalan hat (most of the hats on our website) have a foam-padded cotton twill sweatband that tends to shrink about 1% with heat and moisture. This is about 1/2 of a hat size (1/16" diameter). If you are buying a GUATEMEALAN hat, we recommend buying a hat that is just a little bit loose to allow for this shrinkage. This usually means buying one size larger than you normally wear."

My Akubras are all size 60 (7-1/2), but having measured them after the "shrink to fit" period I've found they actually average 59.5 cm--about 1/2 size small--and noticed they've been fitting a little looser after my last haircut; a little loose is okay with me, but a full size just isn't comfortable. So even if Sunbody's cotton twill sweatband shrinks 1% I think I'll be okay ordering a size 7-1/2. Besides, I can always try to carefully stretch it out a little with my hat jack if I find it's too tight. And if not, maybe it'll fit my wife.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

It needs something more , maybe a horse hair Hatband .

Mine originally had a bandana as I recall. But I changed it out for something I had in my parts box. Since I use it as an outdoor work hat the cloth sweat doesn't bother me. When it is really hot out & I dunk it in the rain barrel the cloth sweat has a cooling effect. There seems to always be plenty of work to be done out on the hill & dale here at Hurricane Manor.

 

[Redfokker]

Ok could not resist bashing. Put a horse hair band on it and lowered crown to about 4.25" at pinch. Made a diamond crease, could have easily made it much sharper points on the diamond but slightly worried about how it would hold up as it dried. Probably would do fine. Deepened side dents and made some slight rear side dents.

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It turned out great! I would agree that sharp points would be asking for trouble with a straw bash.

 

[Zombie_61]

This being my first real straw hat, I have two more rookie questions for anyone who has reshaped their Sunbody.

First, what length of time constitutes a "dunk"? In other words, how long should I let it soak in the water to soften the Guatemalan straw? Seconds? Minutes? Go out and get a sandwich while I wait?

Second, whenever I've recreased my fur felt hats I've always popped the crown out to it's original "open" position first and eliminated as much evidence of the previous crease as possible before trying to give it a new crease. Should I do the same with a straw hat, or just go ahead and modify the factory shape? Based on the photos of the hat Scooterz' received I'm planning on tightening the pinch and maybe try to give it more rake, but I won't know for sure until I have the hat in-hand.

 

[Michael R.]

This being my first real straw hat, I have two more rookie questions for anyone who has reshaped their Sunbody.

First, what length of time constitutes a "dunk"? In other words, how long should I let it soak in the water to soften the Guatemalan straw? Seconds? Minutes? Go out and get a sandwich while I wait?

Second, whenever I've recreased my fur felt hats I've always popped the crown out to it's original "open" position first and eliminated as much evidence of the previous crease as possible before trying to give it a new crease. Should I do the same with a straw hat, or just go ahead and modify the factory shape? Based on the photos of the hat Scooterz' received I'm planning on tightening the pinch and maybe try to give it more rake, but I won't know for sure until I have the hat in-hand.

Al , check this out ...

Pretty simple . Hope it helps .