More Akubra advice please

Doc Glockster said:

Here are some beat up Akubra's in this thread:

http://www.4wdadventurers.com/showthread.php?4652-Lets-talk-Akubra-s

In the first post the guy shows off his battered collection. Sounds like he gets an average of 6 years out of each one.

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Those hats were "rode hard and put away wet". In Australia Akubras are working hats that get all kinds of abuse that most of us wouldn't think of putting our hats through, so they're going to fall apart far sooner. Also, most of us have more than one or two hats, so they get worn in some form of rotation rather than every day. That being said, Akubra's hats have earned their reputation for being durable for a reason. Everything wears out eventually, but the better you/we care for them the longer they'll last.

I don't have a picture of my longest lasting Akubra but am happy to tell you its story.

For 20+ years we lived in the Cascade foot hills. 80 inches of rain per year was typical. I found David Morgan early on and bought his 2nds at half price. One hat in particular i would use as a work hat. When working outside clearing our acreage my work day was limited to as long at my hat wasn't soaked through. It soaked through many a time....but seldom before a full work day was done.

I had several Akubra that I abused in that time frame. Only the "work hat" needed anything special. I had rotted out the sewing on the sweat band...twice and had the original sweat sewn back in. Rottted or ripped....not sure which if they are nylon or not.

20 years later we moved to a sunnier climate. Always liked a bigger brimmed hat. So I took three well worn Akubra (that all looked pretty darn good) to the local thrift store and offered them up to a new life. I'd have bought any one of them, as is, to use for daily wear, city or country living.

For the most part now I build my own hats now from 100% beaver blanks but have to think the standard Akubra's are one of the best buys available in a felt hat. Their sweat bands are seldom equaled for quality. The combo makes an exceptionally long lasting hat. Most folks will never wear one out in a life time.

But I think you have already named the hat killer. Water/rain won't hurt a nice felt hat much. Sun and heat will. Bright sun, which we have a lot of and 100+ temps will kill any felt hat eventually. Just part of life here, where rain was prior. I'll take the sun and sweat. And get a new hat (or get the hat cleaned and rebuilt) when it is required.

I'll add this for content and comparison. The oldest hat I have in the house now is 30+ yeasr old. It is an outstanding 7x Bailey from that time period. I'd put it up against any Resistol or Stetson from back in the mid '60s to date for durability. Had and wore all those hats to make the comparison.

Akubra felt is obviously different than beaver. And we don't see that kind of felting here in the US from what I have had/seen. But it is exceptional none the less. Only in my childhood not knowing any better and more recently working in a hat every day would I put a hat through the abuse I did my Akubras in the rain. Doubt in my mind anything i have owned, custom or production would have held up as well as the Akubras did.

All that said I was not impressed with the Akubra 30x beaver. Had one for a short while before trading it off. It was not up to what I expect for the Akubra standard or a nice beaver hat.

Sounds like he gets an average of 6 years out of each one.

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Which means nothing unless your use/weather conditions/head are the same as his.

Here is my Angler again. It is soaking wet, it shrunk so I'm resizing by wearing it a couple hours. As stated before this is 4 years old with a lot of wear.

My oldest Akubra is my brown Fed IV. It's 9 years old. It's been through rain, snow, heat, sweat, reblocks, etc, and still going strong.

As time has passed and I have acquired more hats, it naturally gets less head time, though.

I have a 20 year old Akubra Madison. Never abused as I used as a dress hat but it still looks as good as it did brand new.

Let's do an "apples to apples" comparison. This is my oldest Akubra; I've had it roughly 9.5 years:



The minor color differences between the "then" and "now" photos are due to the different backgrounds and different cameras used. No, I haven't worn it every day during those 9.5 years, but it's in my regular rotation so I think it's a more reasonable expectation for most of the members here who wear different hats daily. It has been subjected to summer heat and humidity and the accompanying perspiration, winter damp and cold weather, and everything in-between except snow. It has been soaked thoroughly by rain two or three times and has obviously been re-creased a few times over the years, but shows no ill effects from any of those "treatments". Actually, I think it looks better now.

Zombie_61 said:

Let's do an "apples to apples" comparison. This is my oldest Akubra; I've had it roughly 9.5 years:

The minor color differences between the "then" and "now" photos are due to the different backgrounds and different cameras used. No, I haven't worn it every day during those 9.5 years, but it's in my regular rotation so I think it's a more reasonable expectation for most of the members here who wear different hats daily. It has been subjected to summer heat and humidity and the accompanying perspiration, winter damp and cold weather, and everything in-between except snow. It has been soaked thoroughly by rain two or three times and has obviously been re-creased a few times over the years, but shows no ill effects from any of those "treatments". Actually, I think it looks better now.

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Couldn't agree more. All of mine are beautifully "broken-in" and just seem to get nicer with age. My BGCD, which I got first, is that rare hat that's incredibly soft but still maintains its shape. Love these hats.

Zombie_61 said:

I think it looks better now.

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Definitely.

Zombie. I think that's the same
t-shirt to.

Willybob said:

Zombie. I think that's the same t-shirt to.

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If I hadn't cropped out the logo on the chest of that tee shirt when I edited those photos back in 2008 I'd know whether or not I still have it. But no, I've only had the shirt in the 2018 photos for a year at most. I still have the 2008 sunglasses though.

I own only one Akruba that I purchased 3 years ago in Savannah, GA. So far it looks great just like the day I bought it. However of course I baby it like nobodies business! Hey just sayin'.....

My profile picture has my 40 year old akubra issued by the army when I joined in 1979, still wear it out bushwalking and hunting, it's done serious miles. My snowy river bought in 1982 lasted about 10 years but lost so much shape it was unusable. My son recently bought a Fisherman(?) In 2017 and while it has held its shape the crown folds have already worn through. I just picked up a Silver Spur from around the late 60s looks like which is in great shape though the leather band has suffered. I dont think the latest versions are as tough as they were..

Not an Akubra but a couple of Stetsons. The oldest is 45 years old, and was a copy of one of the Clint Eastwood specials in one of the spaghetti westerns.. My dad and I were in a local clothing store and I spotted this one, kind of an olive brown color, telescope bash, and an imitation leather tooled hatband. I picked it up, bought it and wore it some for a couple of years Dad liked it so well I gave it to him and he wore it quite a bit for about 25 years, had it cleaned, new liner and sweatband. I got it back along with the same model in black after he died. By that time those imitation hatbands were getting rather brittle, so I had them replaced with a more standard ribbon and I am still wearing them.

My oldest fedora is an Akubra from the late 1990's. A Madison that is similar to the present day Stylemaster. The felt has a wonderful soft hand to it. It is now used as a travelling hat as it takes the beating airline travel dishes out very well. Have not abused it all that much over the years so cannot claim it is super robust but has held up very nicely so that I can still use it as a dress hat.