The Hattery to the rescue! A few years ago I started my search for a Western/Country style hat. The interest was created after having watched episodes of Justified admiring the hats worn by the character Raylan Givens. I spent a lot of time on the Fedora Lounge Forums. The folks there were very knowledgeable and helpful. From a price vs performance point of view we narrowed the choice down to the Akubra brand.
The Hattery
Akubra is represented in the US but with all of the different models, colors and size variations not all of them are imported by the distributor. Luckily there are Australian stores with online sales who are very efficient. I emailed the folks at The Hattery who were very responsive and they had the model I had narrowed it down to. I purchased the Akubra Tablelands hat from them. A model that’s not imported into the US.
I have enjoyed wearing the hat so much and with the great experience dealing with the folks at The Hattery I Decided it was time to get another Akubra. This time I wanted a hat with a slightly larger brim to give that bit more protection from the sun. The brims on the Territory and the Riverina were just a bit too big for my shaped head. In the standard Akubra range there was nothing in-between my Tablelands and the Riverina. Fortunately The Hattery have a model exclusive to them called the Blue Mountains named after the area in which they are located. It’s brim size at 96mm falls exactly where I wanted it to be right in-between the 83mm of the Tablelands and the 102mm of the Territory/Riverina.
I placed the order online on the 15th November and received shipping notification with tracking number the same day. On the 17th it was cleared for international departure. It took a few days to actually leave Australia but eventually departed on the 21st November. Arrived for clearance in the US on the 24th and was delivered to my door by USPS on the 26th. So about 10 days door to door even with the current disruptions is pretty remarkable. This was all by regular airmail, not by courier.
As you can see in this photo the underside of the box got a bit damaged in transit however due to the protected way the hat is packaged in the box it was not affected at all. I have given this feedback to The Hattery so that they can reinforce the underside a bit better. UPDATE – they emailed to say “Our latest delivery of boxes are slightly stronger card”.
The hat has a firm cardboard insert inside the hat as well as one over the crown all on a false base. Also notice the included foam strips in case the hat is slightly too big. I found that the hat does starts a little large a does need the strips. However once it conforms to the shape of your head and the hatband shrinks slightly these strips can then be removed. A very nice touch was the personalized and hand written note from the team at The Hattery.
I have only had the hat for a day but I have worn it already and look forward to enjoying it as much as my Tablelands model.
So, if you’re in the market for an Akubra hat and your local stockists do not carry the one you are after then there are other options. Stores like Hats Direct (The Hattery) and others based in Australia are geared up to service the international market. While the USPS in the USA do have their problems from time to time both shipments from Australia arrived without a hitch.
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