Akubra makes shopping hard!

[Paravians]

I live in Europe so I buy from Australia, because Aussie sellers ‘help’ with local customs duties (USA sellers are more strict which means awful VAT + customs taxes).

Anyway speaking of AU sellers, AFAIK there are three major suppliers:
1) australiangear.com (hatsbythe100s)
2) everythingaustralian.com.au
3) hatsdirect.com (thehattery)

So for my second Akubra I’d been keeping an eye for quite some time on the Angler, now seller 1 (my favorite from previous purchases) has always had the Regency Fawn in stock, seller 2 is always a three months wait for this color (why?). Eventually I got it from seller 1 (and seller 3 doesn't even list it!). Anyway okay, happy with the purchase.

The other week I was shopping for a Campdraft in Bluegrass Green. Seller 1 doesn’t even stock it (why!?) and the colors they have cost 101 euro. Seller 2 does have BGG in stock, and quite strangely the price is nearly 20% less i.e. 85 euro, so satisfied I placed the order. (although found out after that they do not provide a tracking number so I have no idea when I will get the hat, won’t be using this seller again).
Anyway, sadly AFTER ordering I discovered that seller 3 has the Campdraft Deluxe (which I didn’t even know existed, 'exclusive to them!' apparently) but the other two don’t (why!?), so right now I am still waiting for the hat and already regretting not having purchased the heritage version.

Anyway my point is, Akubra being an Australian manufacturer, shouldn't all the Aussie sellers have at least _similar_ stock levels and colors/variations (?).
To make a comparison - e.g. for a British - it’d be like you can get a brown Barbour jacket in London, but in Liverpool they only stock green, or in Manchester it costs 20% more, or it's a 3 month wait in Glasgow etc.... absurd, and a bit silly and very confusing to me!
(Obviously this gets even more confusing when considering American Akubra sellers also, but the point of my post is Aussie sellers which work in the very same country as the manufacturer).

 

[Zoukatron]

It would be so sensible if all colours of all models were sold through all the different distributors wouldn't it. :/ My understanding is that some colour/model combinations are made specifically for specific retailers. Happens all the time with so many products. Christy's for example, make some fur felt porkpie just to be sold through hatsandcaps.com - not sold anywhere else, even by Christy's themselves.

 

[jlee562]

IIRC, The Bluegrass green started as a special request from Everything Australian. Akubra will produce such variants if there's a large enough order. Such was the case with the Bluegrass Green. Likewise, the Fed IV is exclusive to The Hattery.

Having special products for certain vendors certainly isn't unique to Akubra.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Think cars too. I'm the UK you have all sorts of cars that aren't available in the states and we have models that you don't. Add to that that some of the cars with the same model name are made to very different specs in the various markets.

Also, some vendors don't order the complete product line and focus on what they think they can move the most of and don't bother with the others. Sometimes smaller vendors wait until they have large enough orders before they place an order with the manufacturer in order to buy them at a lower price for volume sales. Manufacturers also don't continuously make all models and no one wants to have dead stock sitting around so when your out of a production run you have to wait until that model comes back around on the schedule.

It can be a pain and a lot of us don't like the long waits for the best prices. It also can be a pain having to deal with a particular vender for a specific model/color, but that's how it is with lots of consumer goods.

 

[Seb Lucas]

You have to remember that not all that many people buy Akubra hats in Australia and only a few styles and fewer colours are popular. A dealer may only sell 4 bluegrass green hats in a certain style each year. As we know, very few people will pay over $120 for a hat when they can buy a canvas bucket hat or fabric fedora for $25.

So the answer to the original question is why would a dealer stock a particular hat (and remember you generally have to stock several in all popular sizes) that only sell three a year?

 

[Paravians]

I understand what you say but the hats that I have purchased are popular best sellers! Plus, it's not just a matter of stock: for example, two sellers (as well as the manufacturer, Akubra AU) state that there are only three hats in the Heritage collection (Banjo, Lawson and a third one I forgot), so I purchased the standard Campdraft, with confidence that there was not a 'better' version. Turns out that it's not true since The Hattery has it in Heritage!

 

[jlee562]

Everything Australian has no incentive to drive customers to The Hattery for a heritage campdraft. Caveat emptor.

 

[Chamuco]

Sand Snowy River today

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[Paravians]

@ Chamuco: nice selfies but totally off-topic (?)
@ jlee562: I think you're missing my points? One of them was: 'the Akubra AU official website has no Campdraft in Heritage, it's not in their catalogue, so one assumes that it does not exist, that they don't make it.
So I order an Imperial and the day after, bang I see Campdrafts Heritage aplenty from one Akubra australian reseller (but not from others). Crazy IMO -- and nothing to do with Everything Australian having no incentive to promote TheHattery (obviously).

 

[jlee562]

No, I mean, I get it, you're upset that you found a product that is a retailer exclusive after you bought something else.

Retailer exclusives aren't new, and aren't unique to Akubra. Hatco used to produce an iteration of the Stetson Playboy for Hats in The Belfry, that was never listed on the Stetson site or catalogue. They currently offer an "R Wood" hat that likewise doesn't appear in any Stetson marketing material. DelMonico hatter likewise has an exclusive Stetson "Elm Street" hat. The hat I'm wearing in my avatar was made especially for JJ Hat Center in NYC, who is currently offering an exclusive Knox Homburg. Hatco doesn't even have a website up for the Knox brand, much less a catalog.

That's just the way the it works. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Paravians]

I am surprised, it must be because I live in Europe where retailers exclusives are not very common, at least I don't think so (?!). I will definitely be more careful with my next purchases (although I think I am all set now, with a Stylemaster, an Angler and a Campdraft -- plus a bunch of seldom worn & less valuable hats
Anyway just watched a video from 'Anthony' (I think) where he shows that the Campdraft Imperial is better (softer) than Heritage so I think I am not disappointed, also saved over 50% from EA compared to the hattery.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I'm in the same boat as Paravians, new to all of this, befuddled and dismayed by the inconsistencies seen in the very few Akubra products I've been looking at (Campdraft, Stylemaster, and Bushman).

One thing is the varying nomenclature regarding colours. Since I don't have a shop nearby to see everything in person, and I don't have a collection of Akubras to hand, I can't be sure, but it seems that various shops might be calling the same colour by different names, and perhaps using the same name for different colours. This seems especially true of the half-dozen or more different "fawn" colours (or names). Even on Akubra's own site there's not a consistent 1:1 relationship between colour-names and the colours as they appear.

So I threw out all of that and bought a vintage/used Akubra on Ebay. I love it, the shape, the fit, the colour. What is it called? It doesn't matter.

 

[jlee562]

Radical suggestion: don't buy an Akubra.

Akubra makes nice hats. I have a Fed IV. It's a nice hat, that I will happily sing the virtues of. It's weathered many a heavy rain and still keeps its shape. The trimmings are well done, certainly neater than Stetson. They're a great value too.

But no Akubra I've seen or felt in hand would I call especially soft or smooth. Even just between other rabbit felts, but especially so when it comes to beaver felts.

OR style hats are all over ebay too.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yes it's rather stiff.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I understand what you say but the hats that I have purchased are popular best sellers! Plus, it's not just a matter of stock: for example, two sellers (as well as the manufacturer, Akubra AU) state that there are only three hats in the Heritage collection (Banjo, Lawson and a third one I forgot), so I purchased the standard Campdraft, with confidence that there was not a 'better' version. Turns out that it's not true since The Hattery has it in Heritage!

I think you're missing the point about how retail works. Akubra do different versions of the same hat for different stores - they are not generally available. They make various combinations in small batches often with very small sales.

Akubra hats have been made from a pretty bland felt for some years now. They used to be a dense, soft felt. Forty years ago, the hat I saw everywhere, especially in the bush ,was the Squatter. The Snowy River hat is a 1980's creation from the popular movie of the same name. The Banjo and Lawson (named after famous authors) are from the 1980's too - I think many of these hats are bought by tourists rather than Australians.

 

[Edward]

It's not uncommon with brands to have a style or colour that is exclusive to a specific vendor. Sometimes that's becasue that vendor puts big orders their way and haing an exclusive keeps them sweet, sometimes it's because that vendor can sell something nobody else is intersted in. As memory serves, the Federation exists specifically because that retailer approach Akubra with a design idea that they compiled after speaking to a lot of Indy fans, wanting an Indy style fedora. Somebody else in the US did much the same - I believe theirs is called an Adventurer. It's just the way of the world. The lesson learned here, of course, is to next time perhaps dig around a little more to check what s available where before you put money down. You will find that some vendors are better for some models and others for others.

In terms of quality, the difference between Imperial and Heritage felt is that while the standard Imperial felt is 100% rabbit, the Heritage is something like 25% Hare / 75% rabbit. Having owned both, I would be reluctant to conclude that either is qualitatively better, they are simple different. If memory serves (going back ten years to when I bought my first Akubras and bought one of each at the same time), the Imperial was somewhat softer to begin with, but they quickly evened out. The HEritage is, I think, slightly smoother from new. I now have three or four Akubras that are around 8-10 years old; as with any hat, they will soften over time. I wouldn't compare a new hat to a seventy year old one and then pronounce negatively that the new is too stiff: it's simply not had that time to break in. It's like saying a new Aero is rubbish because it isn't as broken in as an original A2.

Sand Snowy River today

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Looks good. I've had so much wear out of my Akubra Riverina which I 'Safarised' with a hand-wound puggaree, that I'm tempted to pick up a Snowy River in an olive green and do the same to it.

Anyway just watched a video from 'Anthony' (I think) where he shows that the Campdraft Imperial is better (softer) than Heritage so I think I am not disappointed, also saved over 50% from EA compared to the hattery.

The diferent types of felt are just that: different. Not better than each other just different. The proportion of hare in the heritage makes it morte expensive in the same way as beaver is more expensive and has different properties, without being objectively "better" than rabbit. Same as with leather jackets - goat vs cow vs horse....

 

[Chamuco]

It's not uncommon with brands to have a style or colour that is exclusive to a specific vendor. Sometimes that's becasue that vendor puts big orders their way and haing an exclusive keeps them sweet, sometimes it's because that vendor can sell something nobody else is intersted in. As memory serves, the Federation exists specifically because that retailer approach Akubra with a design idea that they compiled after speaking to a lot of Indy fans, wanting an Indy style fedora. Somebody else in the US did much the same - I believe theirs is called an Adventurer. It's just the way of the world. The lesson learned here, of course, is to next time perhaps dig around a little more to check what s available where before you put money down. You will find that some vendors are better for some models and others for others.

In terms of quality, the difference between Imperial and Heritage felt is that while the standard Imperial felt is 100% rabbit, the Heritage is something like 25% Hare / 75% rabbit. Having owned both, I would be reluctant to conclude that either is qualitatively better, they are simple different. If memory serves (going back ten years to when I bought my first Akubras and bought one of each at the same time), the Imperial was somewhat softer to begin with, but they quickly evened out. The HEritage is, I think, slightly smoother from new. I now have three or four Akubras that are around 8-10 years old; as with any hat, they will soften over time. I wouldn't compare a new hat to a seventy year old one and then pronounce negatively that the new is too stiff: it's simply not had that time to break in. It's like saying a new Aero is rubbish because it isn't as broken in as an original A2.



Looks good. I've had so much wear out of my Akubra Riverina which I 'Safarised' with a hand-wound puggaree, that I'm tempted to pick up a Snowy River in an olive green and do the same to it.



The diferent types of felt are just that: different. Not better than each other just different. The proportion of hare in the heritage makes it morte expensive in the same way as beaver is more expensive and has different properties, without being objectively "better" than rabbit. Same as with leather jackets - goat vs cow vs horse....

Hi Edward,

I have most of the available Akubra styles and, IMHO, I won't work right, I have turned into a Safari bash both a Slouch and a Cattleman, both turned real nice, but the Slouch looks way better, I think an Olive Tablelands will make a great Safari hat considering brim and crown sizes !!

Have a great week

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Edward]

Hi Edward,

I have most of the available Akubra styles and, IMHO, I won't work right, I have turned into a Safari bash both a Slouch and a Cattleman, both turned real nice, but the Slouch looks way better, I think an Olive Tablelands will make a great Safari hat considering brim and crown sizes !!

Have a great week

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Thanks, useful to know! I did spot looking again that the Snowy doesn't have any venting; that's something I've very much appreciated on the Riverina when wearing it in hot climes.

 

[Doc Glockster]

In terms of quality, the difference between Imperial and Heritage felt is that while the standard Imperial felt is 100% rabbit, the Heritage is something like 25% Hare / 75% rabbit. Having owned both, I would be reluctant to conclude that either is qualitatively better, they are simple different. If memory serves (going back ten years to when I bought my first Akubras and bought one of each at the same time), the Imperial was somewhat softer to begin with, but they quickly evened out. The HEritage is, I think, slightly smoother from new. I now have three or four Akubras that are around 8-10 years old; as with any hat, they will soften over time.

The diferent types of felt are just that: different. Not better than each other just different. The proportion of hare in the heritage makes it morte expensive in the same way as beaver is more expensive and has different properties, without being objectively "better" than rabbit. Same as with leather jackets - goat vs cow vs horse....

What do you know of the "Superfine" fur quality? AFAIK the slouch hat is the only Akubra listed with this type. I'm assuming it must have something to do with durability since it's a military hat, but I don't know anything about it.

Looks good. I've had so much wear out of my Akubra Riverina which I 'Safarised' with a hand-wound puggaree, that I'm tempted to pick up a Snowy River in an olive green and do the same to it.

Interesting. I didn't know the Snowy River existed in an olive green. I've been tempted to order a Territory in British Khaki, but the brim is a tad too wide for my tastes.

 

[Seb Lucas]

40 years ago Akubra made many hats in superfine quality. In fact a Squatter I bought in 1985 had that label. It simply refers to a light weigh felt.

The Snowy River hat came in yellow and red in some stores in the 1980's (for women and dandies I guess).