Akubra Overload

[SnowyViking]

Today I got my Akubra FEderation IV Deluxe in Moonstone color

 

[jeffgarf]

Today I got my Akubra FEderation IV Deluxe in Moonstone color
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Love these hats. Wear in the best of health.

 

[SnowyViking]

Love these hats. Wear in the best of health.

Thanks I will

 

[CRH]

Today I got my Akubra FEderation IV Deluxe in Moonstone color
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Well done. I should probably get me Fed. Lol

 

[CRH]

I had my heart set on a Cattleman in sand. I got it in the new branding! It's my first Cattleman. Most of my hats are city hats, but I like this one a lot.

Note the new color of the sweatband. It feels softer than the old ones. New tags for the size and care instructions. Feels great on the head and has that new Akubra smell!

This new, more durable and focused tagging sceme is sending me positive signals that Akubra has come into good business hands under the sale to Tattarang. Just feel bad for the dealers that weren't under Akubra ownership before the sale.

Business is brutal

 

[One Drop]

Darned if I didn't just pull the trigger an a second vintage Snowy River, this time in grey. I was looking at eBay sales to find one similar to my brown one for a female friend, and made a very low offer for one in great shape, with my preferred thin ribbon instead of the leather hatband.

 

[Ent]

It was only fitting that I got my Fern Cattleman from Brisbane Hatters because it was at this very store where I really saw an Akubra for the first time back in August of 2024. I wanted to get a hat from there at that time but circumstances prevented me from buying one that day. That's another story.

At any rate, now I had a bit of a problem on my hands. I had two Cattlemans in Brisbane, but only one head. So, how was I supposed to get both of them back to Japan on the plane? Well, I begged my wife to wear one back, and she agreed! View attachment 692865

The better looking one wearing Loden Green?

 

[Ent]

Agreed. I've been ordering my last few Akubras a size large and using a shim because I know they will shrink - and not just the sweatband, the whole hat.

My Sombrero, on the other hand, is running a little large. Gotta get it broke in and ready for mushroom season!

I agree.

 

[Jw1799]

My latest purchase a Banjo Patterson.

 

[rogueclimber]

Akubra Traveller was my constant companion for the last 10 days in Japan

 

[Randall Renshaw]

Akubra Traveller was my constant companion for the last 10 days in Japan

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PERFECT!

 

[One Drop]

My new to me vintage Snowy River arrived a few day ago, I love this shade of dark grey, which is more of a slate grey than the brownish tint that appears in the photos. The hat is in great condition, save for a very dry headband which I treated to a few applications of Hesalin, an excellent Swiss conditioning cream for Aniline leathers that resembles Pecards. I ripped out the glued-in cream coloured satin and plastic liner, and pulled the shape into a long oval before leaving it on a stretcher for a few days, it's almost perfect now after wearing for a few hours and just needs a bit more wear to fit perfectly.

The brim is heavily stiffened, I'm leaving it as is with the incline on the front of the brim, I might adjust my other light brown one's brim to incorporate the same tilt for better sun protection.

 

[Frontporchcharlie]

Doing a little fishing in my Campdraft. I call it a working man's Open Road.

 

[Edward]

I see Hats Direct has the same on their website.... that's concerning. I have a Fed IV in Moonstone to be set aside for me when the new stock comes in in February. They offered to do that for me when I emailed asking when they'd be next in a few months ago; I hope they're still able to honour that. I won't blame if they can't. but it'll be a real wrench with the Federation being exclusive to them...



I was afraid this might happen when they established an Akubra UK site a year or two ago. I did look at it at one point, but aside from them obviously not having the Federation, by far my favourite Akubra and the only one I've bought several of to date, they're also very significantly more expensive (well, it is rip-off Britain, after all). If I can't buy a Fed again going forward, well.... rather reminds me of the guitar company many years ago that lost my business because they refused to sell to me from the US site... obviously protecting their UK distributor (who was then charging double the US price), but in the process definitively shutting me out because the UK supplier didn't carry the sole left handed model in the range....

Feds aside, I can understand them wanting to avoid their international suppliers being undercut by grey imports, however I can't help feeling that better international pricing structures so we're not being gouged here would be a more effective way of doing that.

Eh, well. Looks like I'll have to look for a new hat brand of choice. I already have a good alternative for a standard fedora, one that rivals even my much-loved Feds in my affections, but the several Cattlemen and other Western style hats I had in mind are probably out the window now. I could doubtless just buy fewer of them at the UK price, but I can't say as I feel particularly well disposed towards the idea of paying out £60 or £70 more than they cost me coming direct from Aus (including the shipping). I need to start working those professional contacts in Aus to get somebody to pay me to go down there and do a few lectures some August...

THis post popped up in my notifications today, which prompted me to update.

So, Hats Direct contacted me when the new hats came in; they sent me a link to pay, all sorted very easily. The only shame was I got caught out for import taxes this time. This is the first time I've ever been charged for bringing a hat in from Aus - I think in the past they may have come in under the minimum for tax (import plus VAT), but it did catch me by surprise. Naively, perhaps, I'd been expecting this to be a non-issue with the much-publicised UK -Aus trade deal of recent years. Perhaps hats are not included in that.

Bottom line, though, my Moonstone Fed DLX came in at the same price as a Cattleman from the UK supplier, but it's a model you can't buy up here. All done and said, as long as they keep balancing out, the import is still worth it if you want a model or colour unavailable in the very sparse UK supplier's range of offerings.

Currently waiting on a Fed IV Heritage Deluxe in granite from the Hattery. Pulled the trigger before taking a chance on the Deluxe not being available. I got the last Camp Draft Deluxe in my size that was sold. They are great to do business with. They even sent a note stating it was their last Camp Draft of the Heritage quality.

Look forward to photos. I like the look of the new colour, though already having one in Carbon grey, I think it's a bit too close for me to justify.