Most hats can be shaped either by bending and manipulating wire built into the outer edge of the brim, or by steaming the hat and changing curves up or down a little. (Sometimes even radically!) Akubra hats are made from the highest quality wild rabbit furs. Fur hats use the best felting of the animals. This felting, under a microscope, would look like a thick blackberry bramble patch. Steam loosens the tiny barbs so the felt hat can be shaped, and so that once the hat is removed from the steam, the hat keeps the new shape. The felt rejoins against itself and maintains the new shape. Pretty neat, huh!  

In our store, we have these really nice steam machines and for a while, bought a lot of forms too. After a bout with those forms, we ditched them and went back to hand creasing all the hats. With a little practice, you too can shape or reshape your hats. Our first steam generating machine was a steam kettle on top of a wood stove in our 2nd store building. It worked great, just slow. Although holding the hat over a pot of boiling water works, it is not as much fun as the steam kettle. (Something about the sound of the water whistling through that little hole, and not blistering the skin off your hands over un-concentrated hot boiling water!)

If you need to buy a steamer, we can get them for you. If a little less investment will work, get a nice stream kettle. Anyway, I like to shape a hat brim so that the angle of the brim matches the angle of the jawline of the wearer. This almost always makes a hat look good on people who even think they look bad in a hat. They don't look bad; they just have not gotten the right shape. With almost all felts you can make these little adjustments so that your hat complements your face. 

If you're caught in a downpour, wear your hat. It is here to keep your head dry! When you get out of the rain, carefully take your fingers and shape the hat where you want it and let it dry at room temperature. You might check on it a time or two. It will dry and hold the shape again. A soaking rain will work like steam. Think of it as, if the hat is soaked and the brim edge falls, your hat thinks you are reshaping it. Just put it back as it dries, and you're as good as new! 

The higher the quality of your hat, the more you can endure the elements. It is not unusual to pass this Akubra quality to your grandkids. Remember that good fur felts will breath, and be much more comfortable in the sun, than cheaper felts. Most hat wearers are wearing to protect from sun damage, (or to look good)! 

Need a lower priced hat?  Be sure and study Tassy Crusher Australian Hats.  Crushable Tassy and Outback Adventure hats.

Good wearing, and God Bless,    Cultured Cowboy.

AKUBRA HATS
Choosing Akubra combines good taste and good sense. 

Akubras are among the finest hats being manufactured in the world today.  For over 100 years, Akubra has taken the highest quality, super fine range-rabbit fur, luxurious silk linings, full grain leather sweatbands and handsome trims to create hats that have become part of Australia's heritage.  Akubras offer uncompromising durability that provides superior protection from the sun, wind, rain and snow.  It's then said that an Akubra improves with age, often developing special characteristics worn into it by its owner, be it a rugged range rider or a "city slicker".  

Unless otherwise noted, All Akubra Hats are available in sizes:
54,  55,  56,  57,  58,  59,  60,  61,  62
Akubra is a great hatmaker for hard to find extra large sizing.