Akubra campdraft shaped as Zito’s King of the PCH

[meathead]

Hey all. I really love the shape of the King of the PCH as done by Zito and his team. I couldn’t afford their stuff so I got a Camp Draft and made my own! What do you guys think?

Also, does anyone have experience with the wrinkling on the sand color of Akubra when shaped? Not sure if that will go away when i decide to change shape in the future.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Hey all. I really love the shape of the King of the PCH as done by Zito and his team. I couldn’t afford their stuff so I got a Camp Draft and made my own! What do you guys think?

Also, does anyone have experience with the wrinkling on the sand color of Akubra when shaped? Not sure if that will go away when i decide to change shape in the future.

Man that looks great!

The "wrinkling" is called "spidering" by a lot of folks. You can do a TFL search for the term. There is a lot of discussion about it, particularly in reference to Akubras.

 

[meathead]

Man that looks great!

The "wrinkling" is called "spidering" by a lot of folks. You can do a TFL search for the term. There is a lot of discussion about it, particularly in reference to Akubras.

Thank you! From what I’ve read so far, it’s something that happens due to felt quality. Any idea how to get rid of it?

 

[jlee562]

Thank you! From what I’ve read so far, it’s something that happens due to felt quality. Any idea how to get rid of it?

Buy a better quality hat.

 

[rogueclimber]

Any idea how to get rid of it?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

The term “spidering” comes from vintage felt hats. It’s the weakening & breakdown of the felt from the stress of continually pinching the felt together on the crease front while taking the felt hat on & off. The spidering radiates out as the felt weakens, where there will eventually be a hole form.

 

[meathead]

The term “spidering” comes from vintage felt hats. It’s the weakening & breakdown of the felt from the stress of continually pinching the felt together on the crease front while taking the felt hat on & off. The spidering radiates out as the felt weakens, where there will eventually be a hole form.

View attachment 821918

Thanks. Thing is, this is a brand new hat and this is the first shape I’ve ever done on it

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Thanks. Thing is, this is a brand new hat and this is the first shape I’ve ever done on it

I never said you have a vintage hat. Never said you have spidering.

 

[meathead]

I never said you have a vintage hat. Never said you have spidering.

Any tips for what I can do on my hat then?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Any tips for what I can do on my hat then?

On a beer budget with a champagne appetite you will probably just have to live with it if steam & some smoothing won’t take care of it. Next time take Jared’s advice above. You probably did your hand work dry. It won’t be noticeable driving by at 20mph or greater.

 

[meathead]

On a beer budget with a champagne appetite you will probably just have to live with it if steam & some smoothing won’t take care of it. Next time take Jared’s advice above. You probably did your hand work dry. It won’t be noticeable driving by at 20mph or greater.

I did use steam, but I suspect I should have saturated the hat more before touching it. The felt on this one feels very dense

 

[jlee562]

I did use steam, but I suspect I should have saturated the hat more before touching it. The felt on this one feels very dense

No, it's not dense, that's the issue. Think about what's happening and the nature of felt. It's a bunch of individual fibers that interlock together. Well, those little ridges indicate that the fibers are not as tightly interlocked as they could be, otherwise they wouldn't be raising up off the surface and creating those tiny peaks and valleys.

Because (more expensive) beaver felts tighter by its nature, and because vintage felt was processed in a superior manner, both types of felt are less prone to this when creasing.

 

[meathead]

I s

No, it's not dense, that's the issue. Think about what's happening and the nature of felt. It's a bunch of individual fibers that interlock together. Well, those little ridges indicate that the fibers are not as tightly interlocked as they could be, otherwise they wouldn't be raising up off the surface and creating those tiny peaks and valleys.

Because (more expensive) beaver felts tighter by its nature, and because vintage felt was processed in a superior manner, both types of felt are less prone to this when creasing.

I did use steam, but I suspect I should have saturated the hat more before touching it. The felt on this one feels very dense

I see. Maybe I meant to say stiff

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I s



I see. Maybe I meant to say stiff

Stiff comes on a beer budget. They are sometimes called “thumpers” because they are so stiff & heavy.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

The term “spidering” comes from vintage felt hats. It’s the weakening & breakdown of the felt from the stress of continually pinching the felt together on the crease front while taking the felt hat on & off. The spidering radiates out as the felt weakens, where there will eventually be a hole form.

View attachment 821918

Spidering is used to refer to both phenomena, the one you describe and the one the poster describes. Whether the term should be used for both or only for one, I have no idea and have no idea how to even judge that, but that's what it's called by many people.

As I say, a TFL search for the term will bring back detailed discussions of the wrinkling type of spidering.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Thank you! From what I’ve read so far, it’s something that happens due to felt quality. Any idea how to get rid of it?

If it bothers you too much, you can try ********* (seriously, "s.quirting" is censored????) the wrinkled section with distilled water then maybe massage the wrinkles out. That might help (though it might not).

I just live with it, personally. The more you wear the hat and the more character it gets, the less noticeable this will be.

IMO, Akubras are at their best when they are used as work horses rather than show hats. For a show hat, get something vintage or bespoke (which nowadays you can get a heck of a nice vintage hat for the same money you pay for a new Akubra. Really, the only reason I have Akubras is to wear them hard).