Federation wi-fi

[Tennessee Smith]

So the topic has come up on numerous threads about removing the wire in the Akubra Federation. I have a Regular, I know it's not the grand Deluxe version, but it serves its purpose (and quite nicely I might add). I've searched mine throughout for a wire but to no avail. Is the wire only on the Deluxe or is it on the Regular? So, anyone with a Regular here's your time to settle this...


...do we have a wire or are we the “have not’s” in this case?

Marie Antionette needs to know if she needs to serve cake or not.

[Indycop]

Erin have you tried emailing hats direct and asking them? It was about this time last night that they emailed about my order.

[Tennessee Smith]

Thanks Indycop, 1 caveat to all who read: I am the lone remaining Deadhead Republican in America I have to say this wire does not exist in a regular Federation. It's a myth, like the Yeti and the Lochness Monster.

Granted I have been wrong before

[McFly]

No, there's a wire alright. I have a regular federation, and I've been detained at LAX for setting off the metal detector multiple times, with them not being able to figure out what it was. Once I was put into an isolated area, the used a baton to find out that it was my hat. The wire is right at the bottom of the sweatband, just where the sweatband turns into the brim.

Actually... pictures speak louder than words, do they not?



[Below] NOTE: Green? Could it be rust deposits? Is the wire copper?


Good luck gettin' that thing out.

In Christ,
Shane

[Tennessee Smith]

You are awesome McFly!!!!!!

I've twisted my hat so many times if it's there it's made of the weakest metal imaginable because it has not held a form yet. I'll clip my piece to see if it's in mine if not I'll post it just so everyone can see.

Thanks a lot for the info!!!!

[fatwoul]

What should I use my invisibility powers for?

[Tennessee Smith]

Good One, I didn't read that before....

...invisibility uses....hmmmm.


.... any good women's undergarment stores around?


(I know I am going to hear about this one)

[indy89]

Good One, I didn't read that before....

...invisibility uses....hmmmm.


.... any good women's undergarment stores around?


(I know I am going to hear about this one)

I always wanted invisibility powers (for that reason)!!

[fatwoul]

Perverts.

Anyway, I was just posting an idea on FL about the Akubra wire. No idea if it's been done before, but if you could figure out a way to attach the end of some fishing line to the wire before you removed it, you could pull the wire out from the other end with pliers, and draw the fishing line through the hem to replace it. Then, you could tie the line off at the back with a very small loop. You'd then have an underside attachment point, to attach a wind trolley, without it having to pass over the brim to the top. Or you could use one of those hat crocodile clip things without clipping it onto the felt.

Best of all, the loop would be barely visible, even when in used, because it would be at the back of your head.

It seemed to me like it makes more sense to pull something through the hem while the chance is there, because once the wire is pulled out, it will take a miracle to work anything all the way around the hem.

[indy89]

Perverts

Hey, we're guys

[Indycop]

I guess we will see the loch ness monster on the news tommorrow! Mythbusters strikes again!

Too bad the wire is not on the edge of the brim, then you could sharpen and use like the guy from the james bond movies!

[Jaredraptor]

I guess we will see the loch ness monster on the news tommorrow! Mythbusters strikes again!

Too bad the wire is not on the edge of the brim, then you could sharpen and use like the guy from the james bond movies!

Ah, you mean Odd Job! I always thought his hat was cool.

[Indycop]

Oddjob!! Yes that's him!
I wonder if jersey can give that option in my camptown while he's making it?!

That would also be a cool username for somebody!

[Jaredraptor]

Oddjob!! Yes that's him!
I wonder if jersey can give that option in my camptown while he's making it?!

That would also be a cool username for somebody!

Yes it would. Hm..........perhaps I should hop onto the "change your username" Bandwagon....

Wait a tick.......when did I become a dig leader?

[indy89]

Maybe when you posted here 400 times or some number

That wire gives the hat character. I want one. I would've gotten me a federation if I knew that I would be waiting forever for my AB. Just to hold me up 'til the AB arrives.

[Indycop]

Oddjob jones!?

[Tennessee Smith]

His name is Harold Sakarta and he is the dead spit of a mate of mine the ugly git...

Dude, seriously... what, um.... you like totally lost me after....

What language was that?

[Indycop]

no oddjob on the memberlist. Hmmnn.

[Indiana]

I removed my wire very easily. After 5 years, the thing had jabbed my head one time too many. So I just took my needlenose pliers and pulled it out. At first it looked like it was going to distort the sweatband, but it didn't do a thing to the hat. Now, what the longterm effects of this are, I don't know. All I need is for this hat to last me another few months until my AB comes in. It has served me well since 2002.

[Indycop]

now I gotta rent james bond!

[fatwoul]

Interestingly, now that my headband has shrunk, the wire has dobled over itself at the back, and become inaccessible. It no longer sticks out at all, and unless the leather of the band gives way, the wire will remain safely tucked away inside its pipe.

[Tennessee Smith]

ErinJones!!! Dont you speak Liverpudlian or what!?

Unless singing songs from the White Album counts , no .... but thanks for the translation

[enigmata_wood]

I removed my wire very easily. After 5 years, the thing had jabbed my head one time too many. So I just took my needlenose pliers and pulled it out. At first it looked like it was going to distort the sweatband, but it didn't do a thing to the hat. Now, what the longterm effects of this are, I don't know. All I need is for this hat to last me another few months until my AB comes in. It has served me well since 2002.

how did removing the wire work out? my Fed is starting to kink and I'd apreciate feedback before I start removing bits of it.
Regards
Enigmata

[BendingOak]

The wire that they use has a purpose. It's to keep the bell of the sweatband. This way there isn't a gap in-between felt and sweatband and helps to seat the sweatband into the hat. If you remove the wire this will happen but most couldn't tell the deference. The higher end sweats use plastic tubing. No real chance of having a kink happen with the plastic tube like you do the wire.

I would say if you don't have a kink, leave it in. If you get a kink, you have very little cjoice but to remove it. You can replace it with a plastic tube but you will need to sacrfise a much better sweatband then they akubra.

John

[IndianaSean]

My fed has no wire. Never did. And no I never purchased the hat used. It was brand new out of the box. Hmm..

[enigmata_wood]

The wire that they use has a purpose. It's to keep the bell of the sweatband. This way there isn't a gap in-between felt and sweatband and helps to seat the sweatband into the hat. If you remove the wire this will happen but most couldn't tell the deference. The higher end sweats use plastic tubing. No real chance of having a kink happen with the plastic tube like you do the wire.

I would say if you don't have a kink, leave it in. If you get a kink, you have very little cjoice but to remove it. You can replace it with a plastic tube but you will need to sacrfise a much better sweatband then they akubra.

John

Would a heavy gauge nylon line - such as you find in strimmers - make a good substitute?

[BendingOak]

I'm not sure.

[enigmata_wood]

I'm not sure.

if the kinking gets worse I'll try the nylon substitute and let y'all know how it goes. I never thought wearing a classic hat could lead to kinkiness!

[Russian Raider]

Regular Fed has the wire, thats for sure. And i had a problem with it, wire was so bent on the front that it left a mark on felt, later that mark turned into a hole. So "be careful"

[fenris]

Does the Deluxe have this wire?

[gi_canuck]

Does the Deluxe have this wire?

Yup it does. You can see it kind of sticking out in the back of the sweat band...

[Indiana G]

The wire that they use has a purpose. It's to keep the bell of the sweatband. This way there isn't a gap in-between felt and sweatband and helps to seat the sweatband into the hat. If you remove the wire this will happen but most couldn't tell the deference. The higher end sweats use plastic tubing. No real chance of having a kink happen with the plastic tube like you do the wire.

I would say if you don't have a kink, leave it in. If you get a kink, you have very little cjoice but to remove it. You can replace it with a plastic tube but you will need to sacrfise a much better sweatband then they akubra.

John

Would a heavy gauge nylon line - such as you find in strimmers - make a good substitute?

it depends if it is robust enough to bell out the sweatband when the reed/wire is in compression (ie - it won't buckle in on itself when inside the sweatband tape sleeve).

i wonder why they went with wire on akubras......

[Luke Warmwater]

The wire that they use has a purpose. It's to keep the bell of the sweatband. This way there isn't a gap in-between felt and sweatband and helps to seat the sweatband into the hat. If you remove the wire this will happen but most couldn't tell the deference. The higher end sweats use plastic tubing. No real chance of having a kink happen with the plastic tube like you do the wire.

I would say if you don't have a kink, leave it in. If you get a kink, you have very little cjoice but to remove it. You can replace it with a plastic tube but you will need to sacrfise a much better sweatband then they akubra.

John

John, what did you do with my F4's wire when you reblocked it?

[BendingOak]

The wire that they use has a purpose. It's to keep the bell of the sweatband. This way there isn't a gap in-between felt and sweatband and helps to seat the sweatband into the hat. If you remove the wire this will happen but most couldn't tell the deference. The higher end sweats use plastic tubing. No real chance of having a kink happen with the plastic tube like you do the wire.

I would say if you don't have a kink, leave it in. If you get a kink, you have very little cjoice but to remove it. You can replace it with a plastic tube but you will need to sacrfise a much better sweatband then they akubra.

John

John, what did you do with my F4's wire when you reblocked it?

If it had a kink in it I replaced it with a plastic one. If it had no kick in it I left it alone.

[Yojimbo Jones]

i wonder why they went with wire on akubras......

At a guess I'd say it's tradition - and that Aussies would be against the idea of turning something that "should" be metal into plastic.

But something I found interesting - The tannery that has made the Akubra sweats for many years is not far from me - when I was speaking to one of the guys there he mentioned that they are supplied to Akubra perfectly smooth. Akubra emboss the sheep hides themselves to give them the pinpricked "hair follicle" pattern (as well as the groove, obviously) - but it's not natural.

[BendingOak]

If you like kinks and rust I would say use a metal wire. I rather have the philiment that is in the sweats I use. Sometimes they do make improvements to things.

[Yojimbo Jones]

Oh, don't get me wrong - I don't like the wire. One of the first things I did with my old Akubra was rip the thing out. I'm just saying a big chunk of metal wire is heaps more "Aussie" than plastic.

[BendingOak]

I don't understand the statement????

[RCSignals]

I think he's just trying to explain the wire in Akubra's saying an Aussie is less likely to buck tradition and just stick with what they see as 'good old wire in a hat sweat' than go with new fangled modern plastic filament.
Just like many of the old-timers I know around here. 'go with what you know (and and don't learn what you don't know)' 'if aint broke don't fix it' 'it's always been that way' 'I do it this way, I never heard of that'

[Yojimbo Jones]

Many Aussies are also more likely to fix stuff themselves, with or come up with crazy solutions. A couple of radio guys here, Merrick and Rosso, had a spot called "Grouse Aussie Shearer" where people phoned in with the most outlandish solutions that summed up "Aussie-ness." Almost impossible to explain to a non-Aussie, apart from saying, to people like my family, who come from out west (ie the Outback), wire is like gaffer tape. It could be used to fix ANYTHING!

[RCSignals]

Kind of like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9XAC-BvUyo

[Yojimbo Jones]

Not far off it my friend!

[whipcracker]

Many Aussies are also more likely to fix stuff themselves, with or come up with crazy solutions. A couple of radio guys here, Merrick and Rosso, had a spot called "Grouse Aussie Shearer" where people phoned in with the most outlandish solutions that summed up "Aussie-ness." Almost impossible to explain to a non-Aussie, apart from saying, to people like my family, who come from out west (ie the Outback), wire is like gaffer tape. It could be used to fix ANYTHING!

Where I come from in Arizona we used to fix everything with bailing wire. We would save it from the hay bails...then everybody started to use twine, not nearly as good...That was about the time that gas and water lines got out to us. I guess that's progress.

So I get what you're saying Yojimbo...

[BendingOak]

I get it. They rather stay in the stone ages than make an improvement.

[Yojimbo Jones]

No, no. Kind of the opposite, actually. Aussies are kind of resourceful, but in a sometimes warped way. Like our culture will affect it (as Duncan's video showed). The idea of Akubra (which has an image of Australia's outback history and tradition) and plastic is just ...wrong. Imagine barbed wire, horses, cattle stations, rough unforgiving country, tough stockmen ...and rubbery plastic rods? Just doesn't go together, does it.

[BendingOak]

We aren't talking fences, we are talking hats and for reeds they bare just poor. Period.

[BendingOak]

We aren't talking fences, we are talking hats and for reeds they are just poor. Period.

[RCSignals]

I think we here all agree on that Oak.

Did you watch that video I posted?

[BendingOak]

I think we here all agree on that Oak.

Did you watch that video I posted?

Yes I did and I still have my super 7 and don't need the devise to hear a great engine.

[Yojimbo Jones]

That's ok mate, I don't think Duncan's the sales rep.