Modern Silverbelly colored Hats

kaiser · Sep 2, 2008

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a Silverbelly colored Hat in an Open Road, or Stratoliner style. Do any of the mass producers offer something like this ? I really do not want to go the Vintage route on as I am based in Germany and have not found anything Vintage on the market here, and getting a Hat delivered from America could be a bit of a problem with customs and such. I have looked at the Stetson Web site and do not find the coloer Silverbelly listed. Any suggestions on this one ?

duggap · Sep 2, 2008

Stetson Open Road hat

Look futher down this page of threads to one titled "Stetson Open Road" hats. They tell you where you can find the open road today in silver belly.

warbird · Sep 2, 2008

The new Stetson is made in silverbelly and black. I would buy the Akubra Campdraft if I wanted a new OR. You may have to wait to get the silverbelly, but I heard they have them in stock right now.

I will also say that Stetson's sb is really far more tan than silver. It used to be more silver than tan.

suitedcboy · Sep 2, 2008

Totally agree with the state of silver belly color today. On older hats it was a grey tint color but today it is rendered very close to a tan hue.
I have some premium older westerns of the old silvery color and they look a measure or two richer than the tannish color of today.
Are the Campdrafts in silver belly the tannish or grey/silver hue?

RBH · Sep 2, 2008

Cant speak to the silverbelly but I can speak to the Campdraft... you cant go wrong with a Campdrfat in any color.
They really make a super 'vintage' looking fedora.

Colby Jack · Sep 2, 2008

Welcome to the lounge Kaiser!...The Campdraft from Akubra will be a great choice!:eusa_clap

BobC · Sep 3, 2008

The Campdraft silverbelly color is more of a tan. It's similar to Art Fawcett's sand color if you've seen that. I have a silverbelly Campdraft ordered and will post it here when it arrives.

AlanC · Sep 3, 2008

Didn't someone special order a Campdraft in 'Moonstone', I think it was? It turned out to be a classic silverbelly color, at least from my memory of the pictures. I don't believe there was an extra charge, but there was a bit of a wait.

warbird · Sep 3, 2008

Beat on that campdraft a bit and get it in a few rain showers and it will soften up like butter. Same for the Fed. And in time it will fit a LO just fine. It just takes a while.

Oh and I havent checked the new campdraft in a while, but they may have the same wire under the sweat as the fed. If it does, clip and pull that out and it will make finally shaping to your head much easier.

BobC · Sep 3, 2008

warbird said:
Oh and I havent checked the new campdraft in a while, but they may have the same wire under the sweat as the fed. If it does, clip and pull that out and it will make finally shaping to your head much easier.

There's a bit of info I haven't heard before. I have a Fed IV deluxe and have a Campdraft coming. I'll check for a wire under the sweat.

kaiser · Sep 3, 2008

Thanks for all of the good information on the various hats. I will take a look at the Campdraft and see if I can find a supplier somewhere with the EU. I do find the comments about the softness of the Campdraft of concern as I want a hat that is soft. I suspect that the Vintage Open Roads are soft, they look to be soft on the Photos.

Does Anyone here in Europe in Europe have an Open Road in 7 1/8 that they would like to sell ?

Woodfluter · Sep 3, 2008

warbird said:
Beat on that campdraft a bit and get it in a few rain showers and it will soften up like butter. Same for the Fed. And in time it will fit a LO just fine. It just takes a while.

Oh and I havent checked the new campdraft in a while, but they may have the same wire under the sweat as the fed. If it does, clip and pull that out and it will make finally shaping to your head much easier.

Ditto on the softening...but I have a question.

I have four Akubras (Banjo Paterson and Fed IV in Heritage felt, Kiandra and Rodeo in Imperial felt) and they all have a wire. I've been told it really isn't likely to be a wire in the sweatband, rather plastic, but whatever it is, it is magnetic and a strong alnico magnet will grab the sweatband. So apparently steel wire.

So my question is: would removing the wire be a bad thing with regard to fit for a long oval? Does it help to keep the edge of the sweatband away from the felt, and does it actually have a role in keeping the shape? Just wondering, don't have any answers myself. So far figured they had a good reason to go to that trouble and expense.

My impression is that, of all the factors plaguing fit for us long oval types, the sweatband is minor. It seems as though the brim shape (more so than the crown) is what forces the hat back toward rounder ovality. Yes, repeated beating on that hat will eventually subdue it.

- Bill

warbird · Sep 3, 2008

kabuto said:
I noticed that the sweatband says "Camp Draft," but the Akubra Web site says "Campdraft."

One thing I know for sure: It's not "Openroad."

No it isn't called an Open Road. The reason many of us call it the Open Road is because for many years Akubra made the Open Road for Stetson. That was back when the Open Road was "our kind of hat". Obviously the Open Road is probably a trademarked name for hats because of the many years of fame it enjoyed and its history I imagine Stetson could make a good argument for that. So when Akubra stopped making the hat for Stetson they renamed the hat the Campdraft or Camp Draft. But it for intents and purposes is an Open Road of the old style, same dimensions, same open crown.

warbird · Sep 3, 2008

Woodfluter said:
Ditto on the softening...but I have a question.

I have four Akubras (Banjo Paterson and Fed IV in Heritage felt, Kiandra and Rodeo in Imperial felt) and they all have a wire. I've been told it really isn't likely to be a wire in the sweatband, rather plastic, but whatever it is, it is magnetic and a strong alnico magnet will grab the sweatband. So apparently steel wire.

So my question is: would removing the wire be a bad thing with regard to fit for a long oval? Does it help to keep the edge of the sweatband away from the felt, and does it actually have a role in keeping the shape? Just wondering, don't have any answers myself. So far figured they had a good reason to go to that trouble and expense.

My impression is that, of all the factors plaguing fit for us long oval types, the sweatband is minor. It seems as though the brim shape (more so than the crown) is what forces the hat back toward rounder ovality. Yes, repeated beating on that hat will eventually subdue it.

- Bill

Woodfluter I imagine some other folks here will weigh in on this. I always remove the wire. I have seen metal and plastic wires. Essentially it keep the hat from moving too far from its original shape. IT doesn't keep them from shrinking which they can do of course.

Like Kabuto and his experience with his campdraft most of my Akubras were tight at the front and loose on the side. Removing the wire has made the process of making the hat fit right for me much shorter. I don't know if all of the hats eventually would have come around as I just removed them.

Not all hats have these of course, I have never noticed any negative effects from removing the wire. My Fed fits better than any hat I have now. Any of them including old vintage LO hats. I will also say that I do not have a extreme long oval, just a noticeable one. Ask some of these other long oval Akubra wearers like scotrace as well. I also wear a 7 1/8, so I cannot speak for how well a 7 5/8 for instance would stretch. Physics tell me it would be similar.

Just so we are on the same page here, the wire is actually at the base behind the sweatband. There used to be a picture on here in a thread of how to locate and remove it, snipping it at the very back of the hat and simply pulling it out.

Nigel · Sep 3, 2008

kaiser said:
Thanks for all of the good information on the various hats. I will take a look at the Campdraft and see if I can find a supplier somewhere with the EU. I do find the comments about the softness of the Campdraft of concern as I want a hat that is soft. I suspect that the Vintage Open Roads are soft, they look to be soft on the Photos.

Does Anyone here in Europe in Europe have an Open Road in 7 1/8 that they would like to sell ?

I don't know if you will find a Campdraft available in the EU. I am in the UK and ordered my Campdraft from Ron at Hatsdirect it was shipped from Australia to England in short time and no customs fees were due on it's arrival. I can highly recommend them.

warbird · Sep 3, 2008

Nigel said:
I don't know if you will find a Campdraft available in the EU. I am in the UK and ordered my Campdraft from Ron at Hatsdirect it was shipped from Australia to England in short time and no customs fees were due on it's arrival. I can highly recommend them.

I think Edward also ordered his from Hatsdirect. They get there in less than a week. Very fast.

The Outlaw Kyle · Sep 5, 2008

I got a Campdraft in Taupe Fawn from HatsDirect. Great hat, no complaints. Fellow around here, Kevin (Atomic Glee is his handle), got a Campdraft in Silverbelly last year or so. This is the hat. Fine looking color. Good luck with whatever you choose.

P.S. Huzzah for 100 posts!

apipeguy · Sep 6, 2008

hi guys. anybody here have a color chart for the akubra fedoras?

Doctor Strange · Sep 6, 2008

This page covers some of their colors:

http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/sizechart.asp

Unfortunately, there are plenty that still aren't there. In particular, the's no good comparison available of all their grays - Carbon Grey, Glen Grey, Mid-Grey, Steel Grey, Moonstone, etc.

Also look at the nicely lit pictures on the official Akubra site:

http://www.akubra.com.au/products.html

The HatsDirect site:

http://www.hatsdirect.com/cgi-bin/products.cgi?group=Fedora+Hats

And other dealer sites (Everything Australian, David Morgan, Yates, Strand, Valley Country, Noggintops, AustralianGear, etc.) to get some sense... Of course, with all these different, mostly pretty small pictures taken under different lighting conditions (not to mention your own monitor's color accuracy), it's still hard to tell exactly what they will look like in hand...

Custom79 · Sep 7, 2008

Or you could try...

Give Roy Jackson at Jaxonbilt Hats a call or send him an email.

He has custom made three cowboy hats for me. One of them in silverbelly.

I know he would be happy to make you any style you want.

Cheers.

C79

Modern Silverbelly colored Hats

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