Akubra Kiandra

[Riot Earp]

I like the looks of this hat and am wondering if anyone out there owns one. If you have a photo, that would be double nice!

If I get one, I will probably reshape the brim and so I hope the felt will hold a curl.

 

[Lucky Luke]

Kiandra

I have one and love it. it is pretty stout and will hold off a Colorado winter pretty well. Out of the box looks like advertised, and is a bit stiff. I wear about a 58 1/2, so got the 59. At first a bit large, but seems to shrink down to size quite nicely. I recommend it, and like the large brim. I will post a photo when I can.

 

[Lucky Luke]

Kiandra Pic

Here is a pic for you.

 

[Woodfluter]

Hi Riot -

Well, I got one on eBay that was bought at the source, the Strand Hatters store in Sydney. I ended up modifying the shape and trimmed the brim down to 2-3/4" all around, so the pictures won't represent what you'd be getting.







I like this hat a lot. Probably just luck, but mine came with a very high-quality sweatband - not wide, but pliable and tough. The felt is Imperial quality, and it has remained fairly stiff despite my efforts to beat it up and soften it. It is softer than when I got it, but it just won't respond to that like my Heritage felt hats do. But nothing wrong with that, just fine for it's purpose. Seems exceptionally tough - what I picked to wear the past two warm-weather trips to Utah, hiked up mountain trails, never babied it, has come through as good as ever.

About size: I'm in between 59 and 60 cm, this is a 59, it was somewhat too tight when I got it, I steamed and stretched it over my head repeatedly. First thorough soaking in a rain, and it shrank a little. Steamed and stretched again. Has gotten equally wet since that, but no longer shrinks - stays put. That's all I know.

- Bill

 

[Riot Earp]

Lucky Luke,

That hat looks great on you. Is yours black or dark fawn? I can't tell from the picture.

I just ordered one in dark fawn, size 61 cm.

I like the semi-Western look. It should work well here in New York, where traditional "cowboy" hats look odd among the ever-expanding horde of baseball caps.

 

[Riot Earp]

Regarding the brim:

David Morgan lists it as three inches. But Everything Australian lists it at 79mm (3.12"), which is almost 3 1/8". The Akubra Angler has a true three-inch brim (76 mm).

 

[Lucky Luke]

Kiandra brim

my brim is 3 1/4, yes 3 and 1/4, none of them are the measurements you cite, but... the color is chocolate brown and I got it from Solano's of New Mexico - they did a horrible job on vent holes, tried to fix it and totally embarrassed themselves by sending it back to me. But, I have the hat, I like the color, the style and the fit. As you see the picture is as the hat came out of the box, brim curl and all.

 

[Riot Earp]

Hmm ... I wonder if the "Dark Fawn" that I ordered is the same color as yours. I hope so, 'cause I like it. That's weird about the brim. I'll have to measure mine when it arrives.

 

[Riot Earp]

My hat arrived. The brim is 3 1/8". The chocolate color is nice but comes off easily with a wet finger. This is disturbing. I am wondering if I should exchange it for the santone (lighter) color, which might not show color loss as badly.

 

[Akubra Man]

My hat arrived. The brim is 3 1/8". The chocolate color is nice but comes off easily with a wet finger. This is disturbing. I am wondering if I should exchange it for the santone (lighter) color, which might not show color loss as badly.

I have never heard of this before. I would return it for a different hat. Who knows what will happen to it if you get caught in the rain?

 

[Woodfluter]

"The chocolate color is nice but comes off easily with a wet finger."

I have never heard of this before. I would return it for a different hat. Who knows what will happen to it if you get caught in the rain?

Egad! I've never heard of that happening with an Akubra either. I had a black Resistol that would bleed dye, or powder, or whatever they added. Which was completely unacceptable in an outdoor hat - really in any quality hat. But my black Akubra Rodeo doesn't do that at all. So yeah, if that is happening, my guess is they didn't properly use a mordant (such as alum) which fixes the dye and keeps it from running. Not typical, and grounds for return. See if they'll pay for the postage.

- Bill

 

[Will Morgan]

Riot I just applied the wet finger test to a size range within our stock of dark fawn Kiandras and some small amount of color indeed appears on my finger with every swipe, but this is colored felt, not dye alone. The color being fast to the felt, if we are looking at the same issue I don't believe this is a problem with the hat that won't resolve itself with brushing and time.

Every fur felt hat is going to shed small amounts of felt over time. When the hats are finished they go through a sanding process, I am not sure if what I am seeing are the remains of that sanding, or shorter fibers already prone to coming loose because of the pressure, but I believe that either way we'd see less shedding over time.

If you don't have a hat brush, try wiping with a damp light towel where you can watch what is going on. I bet you'll see less felt on successive swipes... of course don't use so much pressure so that you are in effect sanding the hat!

Or, are you seeing dye, not dyed felt fibers?

http://davidmorgan.com
http://akubra-usa.com

 

[Woodfluter]

Thank you Will! Glad to see you here.

Riot, if you have a hand lens or other magnifier (I'm a geologist so I assume people have things they don't, ya know...) you might take a closer look re fibers or actual dye staining the water.

In any event, I just did the wet finger wipe thing on a black Akubra Rodeo (Imperial felt) and - nothing. Never saw anything like you described with any of the 7 Akubras I have, and only 2 of them are light-colored.

- Bill

 

[Riot Earp]

The felt's chocolate color actually faded at the spot where I wiped my finger. In other words, the hat had a beige streak where, a few seconds before, it was dark brown. My $400 Texas Hatters hat, also in chocolate, did the exact same thing. Another hat maker whom I spoke with blamed the powder in the felt.

Chocolate is my color but I can't find a chocolate hat that will stay that way.

 

[Lucky Luke]

Mine hasn't done anything of that sort. it has been in both rain and snow and sun, the sun has slightly faded it, but that will happen. i don't know what to say regarding the color coming off... it sounds odd to me

 

[Riot Earp]

I'm proceeding under the assumption that I got a lemon. I will return it and try again.

 

[Akubra Man]

It is a shame you have to go through the return process and wait for a new hat but it is for the best. I am sure that you won't get two hats with the same problem though I wish you well.

In reply to the original topic here are couple of photos of my black Kiandra. It is the most dramatic hat I own because of the silver concho hat band I put on it.

 

[Riot Earp]

I like your hat band. Gives the hat an entirely different look. Assuming my replacement hat is a keeper, I'm going to give it an aggressive cowboy curl, and maybe a twisted rawhide band.