Akubra Boss of the Plains vs. Akubra Campdraft

[Jerekson]

Hey fellas -

Word on the street is that Jerekson is thinking about adding Akubra no. 5 to his collection.

I know what I want to do. I want to get a hat with a wide brim and a tall untapered crown (I could block it myself if it comes down to that). My ideal specs are a 5 3/4 in crown and about a 3" even brim. I want to get it in a light tan/off-white color, i.e. silverbelly, and then I want to add my own mid-brown 1 1/8in. ribbon to it. Then I'll beat it super soft and it will be my new custom-fitted lid.

I've seemingly narrowed my options down to the Boss of the Plains and the Campdraft. I'm having trouble deciding between the two however. Here's my list of pros and cons so far:

Campdraft:
Pros:

• Has proper crown dimensions and shape
• Available in ideal color
• Option to order it in Hatsdirect's "Heritage" quality.

Cons:

• I would prefer to go without the brim binding.
• Not entirely convinced that the brim will be wide enough for me (sounds crazy)

Boss of the Plains:
Pros:

• Has proper crown dimensions and shape
• Available in ideal color
• Extra wide brim can be trimmed to my liking
• No brim binding

Cons:

• Not available in Heritage quality
• If I'm too scared or lazy to cut the brim, it might be too wide...

Please...help me.

Akubra's website flat out states that the two hats are virtually the same thing, so with such negligible differences I'm just driving myself crazy here.

Do any members here have anything to say about one or the other? I know we've got a bit of a cult following with the Campdrafts, but I haven't seen much from the BOTP. I know for a fact that Indycop has one but he wears it in sort of a cowboy style so it's hard for me to get a feel for it.

Help me make a decision and there'll be cookies waiting for you for sure.

 

[Yeps]

I think that the Boss of the Plains is a solidly western hat. If that is what you want, go for it, but otherwise I would stick with the campdraft. This said, I have neither, so you probably shouldn't listen to me (although I really want both).

 

[Neophyte]

Member Dundee, if I recall, posted a BotP somewhere in the "Western, Anyone?" thread. He put a telescope crease and a new band on it and it looked great. I'll post a pic of it here later tonight if I can find it.

 

[monbla256]

Since you want a 3" brim and don't like a bound brim it's a no brainer - get the BOTP.

 

[The Good]

I'd kind of like to know how you would wear your hat, how often, intended purposes, and so on, but I think you should try out the Boss of the Plains. Seems to fit your ideal image more closely. It sounds like you don't want a bound edge brim, and you want one that's wider, so that could work. The Boss is a taller crown than the Campdraft though, I think 6 inches high? I personally would not be willing to go with a hat higher than 5 1/2 inches (open crown) to work with, having pretty much established my lower crown preference, but maybe you want a moderate to high crown instead. At your finished crease, where do you intend to stop? 5 inches, 4 1/2?

 

[Jerekson]

The hat's intended purpose is a go-and-grab everyday fedora that I can throw around and wear all the time with anything. Soft, floppy, full of creases - that Indiana Jones kind of look and texture but on a different hat. If that makes any sense. I say boo to the bound edge for two different reasons - 1st, I have a boat load of hats with bound edges and it's just something that I've begun to associate with formality, like a bow tie, and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to pair a bound edged hat to a lot of my outfits. The other reason is that I want the hat to get soft and floppy, and I've never handled a bound edge that was capable of that. Bound edges are good at preserving snaps and keeping lines rigid - and I'm not looking for that on this hat.

I love a tall crown, but 6 in. might be a little excessive even for me. It's hard to tell though - I always have such a difficult time judging measurements on open crown hats, since each hat is always going to be a bit different. I think my Fed IV is a 5 1/2, and I could probably stand for it to have another 1/2" of room. What's the difference in height between the Boss and the Campdraft, anyone know? If it's really only a 1/2", I think I might like that.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

 

[The Good]

The hat's intended purpose is a go-and-grab everyday fedora that I can throw around and wear all the time with anything. Soft, floppy, full of creases - that Indiana Jones kind of look and texture but on a different hat. If that makes any sense. I say boo to the bound edge for two different reasons - 1st, I have a boat load of hats with bound edges and it's just something that I've begun to associate with formality, like a bow tie, and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to pair a bound edged hat to a lot of my outfits. The other reason is that I want the hat to get soft and floppy, and I've never handled a bound edge that was capable of that. Bound edges are good at preserving snaps and keeping lines rigid - and I'm not looking for that on this hat.

I love a tall crown, but 6 in. might be a little excessive even for me. It's hard to tell though - I always have such a difficult time judging measurements on open crown hats, since each hat is always going to be a bit different. I think my Fed IV is a 5 1/2, and I could probably stand for it to have another 1/2" of room. What's the difference in height between the Boss and the Campdraft, anyone know? If it's really only a 1/2", I think I might like that.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

I hate to break it to you, but I'm wrong. It's not just 6 inches in height, it's 6.25 or 6 1/4, according to Everything Australian:

http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=36


What do you think, would you still be up to something that high?

 

[Jerekson]

I don't know 0_0.

May be too much of a good thing. I almost always find a way to complain about a crown being too short, but...that's one heck of a skyscraper.

Did any hats in the 30's ever reach that height? As if somehow historical connotation will make it look less wonky on my head, right?

 

[indycop]

BoTP on the bottom Camp draft on top

 

[Jerekson]

Wow Indycop, I think you pretty much just sealed this thread. No more questions from me!

Are you a wizard? 0_0

Thanks to everyone for the help and replies. Judging from these photos I think the BOTP wins. When creased the crown does not seem too excessive as I feared. I'll probably trim the brim down to 3" even which would make it only slightly larger than the Campdraft. Good deal.

 

[indycop]

Wow Indycop, I think you pretty much just sealed this thread. No more questions from me!

Are you a wizard? 0_0

Thanks to everyone for the help and replies. Judging from these photos I think the BOTP wins. When creased the crown does not seem too excessive as I feared. I'll probably trim the brim down to 3" even which would make it only slightly larger than the Campdraft. Good deal.

Now about those cookies.... lol

 

[Jerekson]

Sure thing, I'll just 12.99 from you for shipping

 

[Neophyte]

Hey Jerekson, I finally found that photo of Dundee's Akubra BotP. I like what he did with it:

 

[Jerekson]

Another great photo showing the crown height when creased. Thanks Neophyte.

Definitely think the BOTP is the one!