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Akubra Overload

Messages
17,536
Jack, it was never really put away or stored wet. It's always stored on a hat rack stair post in the house. Hmmm, so far it sounds like its just me...
I would give it a naphtha bath then. Whether it shows stained or not, it must be soiled somehow. Animal urine, maybe? There's nothing inherent in the fur blend to be causing this. Similar experiences have never been reported by anyone before.
 

johnnycanuck

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,005
Location
Alberta
Hello everyone! I have a seemingly stupid question, but I am completely serious. I am relatively new to Akubra hats (or any felt hats for that matter) and have two Cattleman hats, one sand and one fawn. Over the past year it has gotten slightly wet with rain a handful of times, but nothing major. It hasn't been overly sweaty either and is pretty clean. About a month ago, my family went camping and it started pouring just as I was hooking up the camper to go home. It got pretty darn wet, but held up well. Here is where my question comes in. As we were driving home I noticed a strong stink that stunk to holy heck (replace that "ck" with "ll". I kept telling my wife that it "stinks like sewage in here", but she couldn't smell it so I thought she was either crazy or that her nose had seized up. Later, when I took my hat off to put it on the dash, it was then that I realized it was my hat. It stunk SO bad. It has gotten very wet once since then and the same stink occurred. Is this normal for an Akubra or fur felt hats in general?? If this is a normal thing for an Akubra, is there any thing I can do to prevent the odor from happening when it gets wet? If it is not normal, I swear to you that I am not a gross, smelly human being with poor hygiene and would like your thoughts on why it might be happening. Thank you all!
It is and isn’t you. I smell wet dog when my hat gets wet. I have asked my wife and she couldn’t smell anything unusual. So I think it just depends on how your nose picks up smells. But I don’t mind a bit of a smelly hat compared to a soaked head. Only thing I can think of to mitigate the smell is hit your hat with scotch guard to help the water bead off the felt so it really doesn’t get wet.
Hope that helps
Johnny
 

dkstott

Practically Family
Messages
715
Location
Connecticut
I've had my Cobalt grey Stylemaster for about a week now. Been wearing it a lot & best of all my wife likes it.

But I'm thinking that it's a little too dressy looking for walking trails, puttering around the house and yard.

I've been reading posts and now I'm looking for some advice.

I'm looking for a light grey or Moonstone Akubra with a brim under 3" preferably with a snap brim like the Stylemaster with a more casual look. Western looking models like the snowy river don't look good on me.

The Adventurer seems to meet my needs. But I tried one on & the higher crown looked way too tall on me. The federation spec's seems to have the same crown height as the Adventurer.

Can I do a teardrop bash on either & get down to the Stylemaster crown height without the top having a huge bowl or banging my head due to excess material??

Any other models to suggest??
 

johnnycanuck

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,005
Location
Alberta
I've had my Cobalt grey Stylemaster for about a week now. Been wearing it a lot & best of all my wife likes it.

But I'm thinking that it's a little too dressy looking for walking trails, puttering around the house and yard.

I've been reading posts and now I'm looking for some advice.

I'm looking for a light grey or Moonstone Akubra with a brim under 3" preferably with a snap brim like the Stylemaster with a more casual look. Western looking models like the snowy river don't look good on me.

The Adventurer seems to meet my needs. But I tried one on & the higher crown looked way too tall on me. The federation spec's seems to have the same crown height as the Adventurer.

Can I do a teardrop bash on either & get down to the Stylemaster crown height without the top having a huge bowl or banging my head due to excess material??

Any other models to suggest??
If you are looking for a less dressy option the campdraft would be what I would look at. Wider brim and can style it as City or country as you like.
Johnny
 
Messages
18,915
Location
Central California
I've had my Cobalt grey Stylemaster for about a week now. Been wearing it a lot & best of all my wife likes it.

But I'm thinking that it's a little too dressy looking for walking trails, puttering around the house and yard.

I've been reading posts and now I'm looking for some advice.

I'm looking for a light grey or Moonstone Akubra with a brim under 3" preferably with a snap brim like the Stylemaster with a more casual look. Western looking models like the snowy river don't look good on me.

The Adventurer seems to meet my needs. But I tried one on & the higher crown looked way too tall on me. The federation spec's seems to have the same crown height as the Adventurer.

Can I do a teardrop bash on either & get down to the Stylemaster crown height without the top having a huge bowl or banging my head due to excess material??

Any other models to suggest??



If you follow a common path, sometime in the future you’ll be looking for a hat(s) with a higher crown. You can adjust the crease a bit and lower the crown without the hat looking odd if causing the center to hit your head. My suggestion is to get the the DM Adventurer or the Fed IV if that is the style you like.

I’d bet that the crown that looks too tall to you today will look fine after you get used to it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

dkstott

Practically Family
Messages
715
Location
Connecticut
This is what I'm concerned about with the adventurer's crown & not being able to get it low enough to look right. [emoji2].
a076385dba92480d14a8fb076ab085b0.jpg


Sent from my LM-V350 using Tapatalk
 

dkstott

Practically Family
Messages
715
Location
Connecticut
I was able to try on an adventurer hat & have decided that it's just too tall for me. Since the Federation is the same height, that's also out of the question for my next hat.

FWIW I contacted Hat's Direct regarding the Adventurer and possibly lowering the crown height after purchasing it.

Here's their response; "The Adventurer is a very nice hat, but it comes pre-shaped from the Akubra factory - and that is done under immense pressure, so reshaping the crown is not a realistic option."

My wife really liked the Stylemaster acorn fawn's appearance on me. So I'm saving my pennies for that or possibly the bluegrass green.
 

dkstott

Practically Family
Messages
715
Location
Connecticut
I just noticed that hats direct has a Stylemaster in Burgundy..

My attempt to search this forum for photos came up with a lot of dead links to pics.

Does anyone own the Stylemaster in burgundy? How does it compare to the Stetson Tawny coloring?
 

BulldogsRBtrThnPeople

New in Town
Messages
14
Hi guys - I have a couple Akubra-specific questions and I figured this would be the best place to ask!
1. I like the Campdraft and I would like to be able to switch up the bash now and then (a cattleman one day, maybe a teardrop the next). I have never held a CD so is this realistic? Is the felt malleable enough or would I need to steam it each time I wanted to change it? If so, would something like a (modern) Stetson Stratoliner or Stetsonian be a better bet?
2. Out of all the hats I have, I have yet to own a Silverbelly. Does that color get dingy easily around the areas that are most often handled?
Thanks so much for your help!
 

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