Akubra Conversion

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Posted by Austin Powers from dialupU197.mpls.uswest.net on December 23, 1999 at 01:50:25:

I didn't believe it 'til I tried it. I heard other dudes talkin' about how they bought an Akubra open crowned hat and molded it into an 'Indy'. They claimed they created an exact likeness of Indy's hat. I figured they were full of it. So I ordered one and gave it a shot. I sat down and started bashing it and creasing it where I felt necessary and 15 minutes later, in the words of Chuhnandaler Bong, "Oh....my...Gawd!" I was starin' at the damn hat from 'Raiders'. Then I got really daring and decided to cut the brim down myself, which was ALMOST a mistake. I marked of little tick marks on the underside of the hat. The first two were at 2.75" in the center of the front and back. The second two were at 2.5" on both sides. Then I kept halving the marks. I guess the best way to describe it is like a clock. The first marks were at 12, 3, 6, and 9. Then I filled in the 1, 2, 4, 5, and so on until eventually I had almost a whole circle drawn in pencil. I connected the dots and cut the bastard with a scissors. This was extremely easy as long as ya got a steady hand. Now the only thing I kicked myself about was the fact that I measured the width from the inside of the hat, rather than from the outside. This shortened the brim by about 1/8". So my brim's actual measurements are now 2 5/8" in front and back, and 2 3/8" on the sides. Not a huge deal, but still if you cut your own brim MEASURE FROM THE OUTSIDE. This was the first dimensionally cut hat I'd seen and I couldn't believe what a difference it made in the overall 'look' of the hat. It made the downward/upward curl of the back of the hat very easy. So other than the color, I got an EXACT duplicate of the Herbert Johnson shown on 'IndyGear'. The color of mine is very close to the hat Indy had during the bridge scene in 'Temple'. I reckon I'll take some pictures as soon as I can and post them sons of bitches here. So if you're thinkin' about gettin' a Herbert Johnson, consider tryin' an Akubra. You'd be surprised at how lame the hat looks when it comes, all stiff and round. The stiffness is actually an advantage though. You won't need to steam this hat at all, the dents just pop into place. But when you're all done, if you really know what Indy's hat looks like, you'll have somethin' pretty damn close.


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