How Have You Personalized Your Lid?

[Neophyte]

I'm probably going to keep them, except maybe for the Sydney and the Federation (I just don't like the dark brown color).

Once I get a job and a source of income, I'll send the hats off to be reblocked. I don't quite have the skills to fix them right now. It's not that I've "ruined" them, as I've said, but more like I've managed to put them into a shape that I don't have the skills to undo lol.

I know that we have Major Moore in Tennessee, so I'm good for now. Right now I'm just blowing off some of the cash I made selling my instruments and gaming systems.
I've actually decided to wait until the beginning of next month to purchase another hat, maybe longer. The event for which I'd like to have a black or dark grey hat isn't until the beginning of October, so I've got time lol.

 

[AlterEgo]

Neo,

I Got that Panama from Eddie Bauer back in 1996, shortly after I moved to a small town in Deep East Texas, where a straw hat is almost essential in summer.

Originally $45, it was marked down to a mere $15, so, since I was getting a bunch of clothes from EB's catalogue anyway, I went ahead and ordered it, too. The khakis were too large, and back in those days EB had retail stores in most major malls, so on my next trip down to Houston, I switched them out for smaller sizes in person.

As soon as I walked in the door, I saw the same hat--only with a nicer, leather hatband--on clearance for five bucks! Though I had the receipt with me, I'd left the Panama a hundred miles away at home, so I ended up keeping it for the comparatively "exhorbitant" price of $15.

I didn't know much about Panamas back then, but I now know it's a grade 8 Brisa pattern made Ecuador, with a nifty Cool-Max sweat (then a new fabric), and was fairly priced at around $50.

I haven't seen such hats in the EB catalogue in years. Like LL Bean that once carried a few Akubras, it's dropped many of the interesting accessories in favor of higher-margin, faster-moving "soft goods"--apparel.

I know what you mean about stuff from David Morgan: If you're getting a more expensive item, like a hat, given that its shipping and handling is so cheap and fixed no matter what the order total, why not get a few inexpensive things, too? Precisely my reasoning to get that pug and first feather set several years ago when I got the Sydney hat.

 

[Neophyte]

Not to mention that great shot of the Sydney with a pug they have on their website!

I myself have a Fedora, but I find it's dimensions too small. I thought I had a small head, but apparently I don't lol!

 

[Mr E Train]

Not to mention that great shot of the Sydney with a pug they have on their website!

I dunno, it doesn't look bad, but to me that doesn't look like an improvement over the usual ribbon/bow complement on that hat. I like pugs on Panamas and other straw hats, mainly. On felt hats they seem more suited for the rugged "outback" style of hat, not a city fedora, but that may be what you're going for. By the way, I used a pug to infinitely improve one of my hats a while back.

 

[Neophyte]

lol. Looks nice!
With the original ribbon it looked like a stereotypical boater, but I like what you did with it!

 

[BlackBrim]

I'd like to start a thread here about hat/lid personalization, specifically focusing on add-ons. Puggarees (whatever that is), bands, pins, new ribbons, feathers, reblocking, brim trims, whatever...

I removed the grosgrain band from one of my Stetson hats and put on a burmese python hat band.I got the band from http://www.snakepit-enterprises.com/Hatbands.html

 

[Neophyte]

That, sir, may be one of the coolest hat-related items I've ever seen! I especially like the Western Diamondback.

 

[BlackBrim]

That, sir, may be one of the coolest hat-related items I've ever seen! I especially like the Western Diamondback.

You might want to take a look at this website that has eastern diamondback and timber rattlesnake hat bands
http://www.alabamarattlesnakes.com/catalog/item/2335241/4746440.htm

 

[Neophyte]

Thanks, as cool as these are, I don't think they'd work on my fedoras.


...Although, the Akubra Campdraft does resemble the Open Road. I might be able to get away with some kind of snake band lol.

 

[Mr E Train]

...Although, the Akubra Campdraft does resemble the Open Road.

Yes, I guess you could say that.

 

[BlackBrim]

Thanks, as cool as these are, I don't think they'd work on my fedoras.


...Although, the Akubra Campdraft does resemble the Open Road. I might be able to get away with some kind of snake band lol.

How do you think the band with the"2+" MONSTER HEAD AND 11 BUTTON RATTLE" would look?lol Those fangs are quite a site to behold.

 

[AlterEgo]

Speaking of snakes...

When I was a kid, I was walking through the woods with my dad and Granddad. Grand had warned us to look out for snakes, and, sure enough, a big rattler crossed and blocked our path, assuming a striking stance and rattling like crazy.

I have no idea why the snake was so pissed, but not only would it not slither away, it was actually inching towards us. It wasn't as though we could turn back because we were on the way back to the car, and the path was the only way to get there.

Grand, who was in his late 60s at the time, picked up a forked stick, broke it just so, and in one deft motion, pinned the snake's head to the ground. As if that were not impressive enough, he then grabbed the snake by the tail and snapped the long reptile like a bullwhip, breaking its neck!

My dad, a tough son of a gun himself, was simply amazed, as was I, of course. Grand acted like no big deal, only saying not to try that myself until I got a little older, when he'd teach me how.

Saying not to tell grandmother or my mother what happened, he calmly coiled up the about four-foot snake we "found" and used the skin to make me a belt, which has a beautiful pattern and even incorporates the head and fangs. On the sly, we even grilled some of the meat and ate it. With the consistency of chicken, it didn't really have much flavor, but plain old salt and pepper on anything barbecued over charcoal is delicious.

I still have the belt, way too small for me now, of course, but there's plenty to make into a hat band, and I'm trying it on my Akubra Lawson right now. It looks great and fits a tad too tight by wrapping it around the crown over the thick leather band it came with and then pushing the pin through the last belt hole. It looks like if I remove that braided Kangaroo leather band--which I actually love--the snake band would be a perfect fit.

I'm thinking I need a new hat to devote the rattleskin hatband to, don't you? A good excuse to get an Akubra Bushman, eh? I could even leave the thin, narrow ribbon that comes with it on. Should I?

That brings us full circle back to customizing one's lid. What a terrific modification my rattlesnake belt would make!

 

[BlackBrim]

Speaking of snakes...
On the sly, we even grilled some of the meat and ate it. With the consistency of chicken, it didn't really have much flavor, but plain old salt and pepper on anything barbecued over charcoal is delicious.

You're right,it doesn't have much flavor.There's a steak restaurant I like called Rawhide. http://rawhide.com/dining.html
They serve rattlesnake.To give it some flavor they serve it deep fried with a heavy batter.

I'm thinking I need a new hat to devote the rattleskin hatband to, don't you? A good excuse to get an Akubra Bushman, eh? I could even leave the thin, narrow ribbon that comes with it on. Should I?

Sure,an Akubra Bushman with a snakeskin band would look great.And if you could leave the ribbon that comes with it on that would be even better.Then you would be able to take off the snakeskin and switch to the ribbon.You'd have one hat with two very different looks.

 

[Neophyte]

I myself was interested in an Akubra Bushman, if only too make a ridiculously wide-brim fedora a part of my rotation. Unfortunately, I've already got the tan Campdraft, so I think another tan hat would be boring.

Maybe in the future I'll get a bushman, and I would DEFINITELY purchase one of those snake belts. Then I'll start a gallery thread called The Snake Pit or Why'd It Have To Be Snakes lol.

 

[AlterEgo]

Actually I wouldn't characterize the Bushman's brim, at 3 1/4 inches, as all THAT wide; it's only a 1/4-inch broader than my Lawson's brim and far narrower than most Westerns or the Akubra Territory; slimmer even than its Boss and Pilbara; same as its Snowy River, Cattleman, and Coober Peedy.

I've a friend with a Bushman, and I really like the snappiness of that bound-edge brim, really turns up in back and down in front jauntily. The hat has not changed at all in over a hundred years. In fact, you could go almost as far as saying this shape is the original Aussie Outback hat, basically a tall, straight-sided crown old-fashioned European fedora, only with a wider brim.

As for the color, Nullarbor tan, I absolutely love it--never seen another hat with that tone. Being open crown is another positive. I've pics of the Bushman bashed in dozens of ways. I'll probably try them all before I settle on one; on second thought, I'll probably change it up from time to time.

I've come so close so many times to getting this hat but always chose another one. Perhaps my lonely old snakeskin belt will convince me to finally pull the trigger on the Bushman.