Club Obi Wan

My new Fed Deluxe arrived today, and I have a couple questions.

In a previous thread, I mentioned that another Akubra hat that I owned, a Coober Peedy, was too tight at size 58. I measured my head and it came to 58.5

As such, I ordered my Fed in size 59, but put a note with the order that my head measured at 58.5.

They kindly found a 58 that measured 58.5 and sent it. This hats seems to be too loose! I don't remember how my size 58 Coober Peedy fit when I first got it many years ago. How much should I expect the hat to shrink?

It's not super loose, so a little shrinking might be all that it needs.

Also, it arrived with the brim curved up:

http://www.randysimon.com/hat.jpg

Is this normal? If so, how do I shape it down?

Thanks!

Randy[/url]

Thats totally normal, just shape it down by steaming it the right way, thats pretty easy. I tried to do it without steam and it worked to, but he best and the most secure way is by steaming your Fed. Deluxe

Akubra eh?

Should have come with one of them handy foam inserts to stick behind the sweatband in order to get the hat to fit tighter. That might help give you a better fit. As for the brim, you just put the hat on your head, and pull the front of the brim down so it snaps into place. Nearly all new hats come with the brim flanged so that it is curved up all around like that, getting it to snap down is easy. Getting it to look right if you have a narrow face, on the other hand...

Good luck creasing the hat, can't wait to see some "after" pics.

-GCR

I agree with Max to an extent...but bear in mind that leather sweatbands will start to shrink after they've been worn for a period of time. If your hat was EXTREMELY loose, I'd definitely go along with the steaming, but in this case, you best use the supplied foam tape and place it under the band until that occurs. It WILL occur. If you steam it now, and it shrinks, you'll be stuck with another tight hat.

Ah. My old friend GCR and I were typing at the same time!

Regards! Michaelson

So I shouldn't use steam to shape it then?

Also, why aren't the img tags working?

beware of excessive steam on akubra's....i found that my reg fed did have noticeable shrinkage on them when put over the kettle for too long.

Where in the band should I put the foam tape? About how long should the pieces be?

Where is it loose? All way round, or on the sides? You use the tape to fill in those gaps. Use as much (or as little) as it takes to make the hat fit comfortably on your head.

After time, and the band begins to shrink with wear (and you're between haircuts), you'll know when the time has come to remove the tape.

Regards! Michaelson

Sheepdog wrote:Where in the band should I put the foam tape? About how long should the pieces be?

I found that using four (4) pieces provided a better fit than one long or continuous piece. Two longer pieces for the front and rear, and then two small pieces for the sides (if a gap existed).

Sincerely,

Cold water is safer than steam. Use a spray bottle and soak the brim and bottom of the crown, including sweat band and ribbon, leaving the top of the crown dry (with gradual wet to dry transition if you can manage it). This is to avoid taper. Then set it upside down and hang a desk lamp over it or set it on top of a lamp shade (if you don't mind drips on your lamp which might be potentially dangerous). You can also get some rope or cord and bind the crown tighter to help shrinkage. This is especially good if you need a long oval -- just put some tight knots on both sides of the crown.

With a Federation there is no need to fret if it is too big. A few of mine were so big I could put them on side ways when new (and I'm a long oval) now they are snug.

Some say that this should not work theoretically. But my experience has shown it to be very successful.

Agree, cold-water method works well. I only use it with my hat (but I didn't wach out for the taper...)

I totally agree with Russ. The Federation line is probably one of the most forgiving fedora's out there, in my personal opinion. Just about anything you do to one is reversable to some extent. It not, it's easily fixed in a reblock....a quality only a well made hat will allow you to do. Federations are definitely that, hands down.

Regards! Michaelson

I have to agree as far as quality goes these hats are very nice. I just wish they'd allow you to customize the hat like the crown height and brim dimensions. I will always love my Deluxe but the crown height and the brim was just to big for my face shape. I would gladly buy another Akubra if they'd switch to offering something like that but I don't think they will. So for now that kind of limits my options at getting another high quality rabbit that looks good on my head. Buying a hat from Steve's last line of rabbits has spoiled me.

As far as styling the hat goes please don't use any steam at all. If you do keep it away from the crown and only use a small amount on the brim. Like what was suggested above the best option is to spray some cold water on the parts of your hat that your trying to lock in once you shape it. The best way to do it is by just working the felt with your hands.

I made the mistake of thinking these hats could take anything and bounce back and I was wrong. I drenched the hat with water to shape it. I used way to much steam. Because of my lack of experience and my constant messing with the style I ruined the hat. They are tough hats but any hat can only take so much. It makes me sick to think of the amount of trouble I went through just to get the "Cairo Look" for my hat only to end up not totally satisfied and ruining the hat. When in reality the look is easy to get if you pay attention to a few key steps.

So please learn from my mistakes. You don't have to baby the hat and rabbit felt is pretty touch to work with. It just takes a little time and energy and before you know it you've got one great looking Indy hat.

Sometimes on the Federations, you have to do this to the brims.



Fedora

I have owned probably ten different models of Akubras and every one of them has been "loose" when they arrived. Also they all shrank with wear and exposure to the great outdoors.

My biggest problem with some of them is they can shrink too much! I recommend using a hat stretcher to keep their shape if they are to be stored for any length of time.

jeboat