Thread: Akubra-owning Yank has a question...

Originally Posted by Utemad

This is the Akubra Cattleman.



I have one and it have the front angled down a fair bit. Keeps the sun out of your eyes and the wind won't whip it off.

Mine lives in my car and the heat will flatten nthe brim if left sitting on the seat. So I leave it sitting on the seat so the front of the brim is overhanging the seat base. Then the heat works in your favour and shapes the brim for you.
Although having seen your yard photos in the other thread you might not have the necessary heat to form the brim

Justin,

Yours looks a hell of a lot better than the mess Hiddins made of an old Army Slouch Hat...


Cheers,

Find an old Aussie soldier somewhere and knock off his slouch hat. They were Akubras AND they had a chin strap.
A thing of note is the curled up sides on a hat is a fairly "American cowboy" thing as he used to hold his hat by the brim and the brim curled to fit in his hand, whereas most Aussie hats have the brim pulled down at the front and the "bash" in the front of the crown of the hat was shaped by the fingers which was how aussies usually grabbed their hats.
The American cowboy and the Australian stockmen are very similar in their trades, background, and history, with a few differences: The use of spurs, the use of hand guns (or so we are lead to believe) rather than stockwhips, and items of clothing that were mainly climatic necessities, and I suppose the hats fall into this domain.
You may also note that a lot of the real bushmen of the past ripped the leather strip out of their hats, but they were more interested in protection rather than the shape of the hat. If you were to do this you would end up with a definitely original hat shape, but I wouldnt recommend it till the hat is absolutely soaked through with sweat, body oils, and many other extraneous liquids that have to be mopped up, or wiped off (with the hat). Avoid lubrication grease as it eventually forms hard spots in the felt.
Glen

Originally Posted by RonMcGr

Justin,

Yours looks a hell of a lot better than the mess Hiddins made of an old Army Slouch Hat...

Ron that photo is linked back to the Akubra website. It's not a photo of my actual hat.

Mine is still in good nic but not that good. Although it could do with a clean.

Stick two small holes thru the brim join at either ear, run a length of leather cord thru the holes tieing off under your neck and looping over the back of the hat.
As the guys have advised its YOUR hat do what you want with it, I'll take a photo l8r if you like..?

I use to do a fair bit of jackaroo'in and running about on horses in the wind all day/night you want your hat to stay on your person!!

Originally Posted by Utemad

.

Mine is still in good nic but not that good. Although it could do with a clean.

I don't think I know anyone who has actually cleaned their hat! I usually have a "good" one and an everyday one. When the everyday one is knackered, the good one takes its place, then I buy a new one to be the new good one.

I have a 'good one' and a town one.
When the 'good one' isn't servicable anymore the dress one becomes the 'good one' and I buy a new town hat.

Originally Posted by blu

Stick two small holes thru the brim join at either ear, run a length of leather cord thru the holes tieing off under your neck and looping over the back of the hat.
As the guys have advised its YOUR hat do what you want with it, I'll take a photo l8r if you like..?

I use to do a fair bit of jackaroo'in and running about on horses in the wind all day/night you want your hat to stay on your person!!

I'd like to wear mine in the Jeep, but not if a gust of wind can take it away. I'll consider the idea of putting a strap on it. My son has claimed my old oilskin hat as his own, so I'll probably have to do something!

By all means, post up pictures of your hats!

ZD534, not sure what you mean about "The use of spurs, the use of hand guns (or so we are lead to believe) rather than stockwhips..." Your stockmen didn't use spurs, huh? Our cowboys often carried single-action revolvers, but not in place of stockwhips! More for predators and such. And I have no idea what the general cow-hand had in the way of a handgun anyway. I don't suspect they were paid all that well, or were generally much good at saving up what they were paid, and revolvers were pretty spendy (dear), even back then.

Interesting historical contrast there. And funny that I tended to curl the sides of my hat up. Didn't know why I did that. Just looked more "natural" that way to me. Perhaps due to the American cowboy thing, eh? As for me, I generally put it on and take it off Aussie-style, grabbing the "bash" in the front.

No mate no chinstraps, only chinstrap you will see on an Akubra is an Army Akubra slouch hat there is a trick to keeping your hat on, trick for learners, do not sit your Akubra on the dash board of your car with the windows down its not that people flog them its they get sucked out when you drive, And they do take on a smell all there own, some evil some ok.