Real Deal bush-hats made from Brazilian truck-tarps
I just got a review unit from Real Deal Brazil, a company that makes bush hats from recycled Brazilian truck tarps (the brims are wired with heavy wire pulled from worn-out truck tires).
This thing's just great. The manufacturer goes to some length to show you how indestructible it is, and after giving it a good working-over here, I believe it. It was a little hard to get the brim back into shape after crumpling it up, but not impossible, and short of actually incinerating this thing, I'm willing to believe it'll stand up to anything. The canvas is worn as soft as felt, the stitching's strong, and the thing's lightweight.
I don't know that I'd wear it in London winter, but once the sun's out again (2011, I think?), you damn betcha.
Real Deal Brazil
The Real Deal is made in Brazil of recycled canvas tarpaulins from cargo trucks used for transporting goods. Every hat is truly one of a kind as no two are the same. Each hat has its own unique character. Made from various colors of tarp, these hats may have patches, seams, holes, or even Portuguese writing. These hats are hand sewn by Brazilian villagers and reflect the true craftsmanship of the locals. Because the tarpaulins were designed to protect its contents from the rough elements in Brazil, they make perfect covers to shield your cabeça (that's head in Portuguese) from the hot summer sun. Every characteristic of The Real Deal tells a story of its prior life lived as a lonely truck tarp and reveals its journeys through the harsh elements in equatorial Brazil. Here are some examples of the characteristics you could find in your own Real Deal Brazil.
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I have been wearing fedoras for about 30 years now and, although this is a nice 'roughing it' hat, it doesn't stand up to a well made fedora.
A well made felt fedor will take a great amount of abuse and still look classy.
Man, that site got Boinged in a hurry!
I agree with the poster from earlier in the week. Curse you Boing Boing for enabling me to order all this crazy stuff from week to week. Ball cap on the way.
"Every hat is truly one of a kind as no two are the same. Each hat has its own unique character."
X is X because not X is not X. X is X and not not X.
So it's what, a knock-off Tilley hat?
I have one of these and after some years of abussive use its finnaly tearing apart!!!
Oh, anda I have a jacket made of the same material. It is heavy, kind of ugly, but very strong, warm, and confortable.
When I use it, I think about it´s past life in the back of a truck, hehehe
They all have those logos on them real big don't they?
Hm. Looks like a good winter alternative for the Panamanian straw hat I wear in summer. (Which is not crushable, but is wonderfully rain-tolerant.)
@ #4 -
No, it's a knock-off Frietag hat.
the big ugly logo is a deal breaker. If they insist on a logo inside that hat, that's just fine.
I wonder what toxic cargoes those tarps may be impregnated with.
I got one of these for Christmas, and was pretty impressed. I'm not real big on wearing hats, but I like this one - it looks good, seems durable, and should keep the FAA from bugging me about blinding pilots with my newly-reflective scalp.
I could do without the logo on the side, but if it gets really annoying I'll sew a piece of some other tarp over it.
Of course, now that Cory has blogged about these everybody will have one.
Or not.
Similar to Freitag bags made from European truck tarps, which seem more plasticized than these canvas hats. Nice, but not as cool as being able to pick the exact pattern of tarp you wnat your bag made from:
http://www.freitag.ch/shop/FREITAG/page/frontpage/detail.jsf
Sigh.
My first thought was that I didn't know that Bush was known for wearing hats.
.
yeah, the logo, bleh
but i like the hat
checking etsy for something custom first
then might get one of these
before upcoming El Yunque expedition
if so, will just iron on a patch, easy enough
.
Not bad for the price, but I'll stick with my Tilly.
I would like to know why Brazilian truck tarps are such a trendy material for the wealthy bohemian set. Did the Council of Hipsters bribe all the Brazilian truckers switch to plastic tarps so they could have some "unique and one of a kind" material to work with?
What about Peruvian truck tarps? Siberian truck tarps? There is a huge untapped tarp market out there, I can sense it.
Brazilians also use radial cables for the string in the berimbau, a musical instrument primarily used in the martial art, capoeira.
I don't understand why "hand sewn by villagers" is a good thing. The same people who buy these hats denounce sweatshops, but then love it when something is sewn by Brazilians?
I believe this magical tarp material from Brazil is called canvas in English.
Anonymous @ 19,
'Hand sewn by villagers' is the antithesis of sweat shop factory production.
buy the damned hat already.
can I get mine without the dang logo on the side?
These look great! 30 bucks is too steep for me though, unfortunately.
$30 Dollars around £20. A Tilley hat about £40 here so around $60 Dollars.
Problem is. I lose hats, so I try not to pay any more than a fiver for them. Having said that most of my hats have been free...
...because it's not just me that loses hats :)
Sorry to be redundant, but they totally lost me with the garish logo. Indestructible is cool; walking yuppie billboard is repugnant.
Can anyone comment further on the labor conditions under which these hats are produced? I couldn't find anything on the website to expand beyond them being "hand sewn by Brazilian villagers."
Anonymous @ 19,
Because Brazil has labour laws, a job in the garment industry pays a decent salary for an unskilled worker here in Brazil.
I have been looking for a new hat to replace the canvas panama hat I bought at Anza Borega and lost after 5 years of loving use. Not sure this one is it...yes the logo bugs me. But also, I don't want a metal ring around the brim. I want to be able to crush it up and put it in my luggage etc. Perhaps it's back out to the desert. I think I paid $15 or so for mine.
So... a hat made with recycled wire in the brim? To quote: "You'll put an eye out with that thing."
Look out Luke, It's a TARP!
The Real Deal Brazil hat is making its Hollywood debut atop actor Woody Harrelson's head in the Columbia Pictures horror-comedy "Zombieland," due out Oct. 2. The original recycled-tarp hat is now the original zombie-killing hat as well!