Riverbed Glint Caddisfly Trucker Hat
by @dekasso
Wings folded, the river just behind.
A caddisfly perched on wet river cobbles, in umber, ochre, sepia and slate blue with white glints, for days spent on moving water.
A caddisfly rests on a pile of wet river stones, wings folded in a tent, antennae swept forward. The stones shine in umber, ochre and slate blue, with white glints like water still drying on them.
- Caddisfly with tent-folded, veined sepia wing
- Wet river cobbles in umber and ochre
- Slate blue stones for a cool edge
- White glints like fresh water droplets
- Long antennae swept across the stones
The cap
One design, four caps. The front panel is what the paint or the dye sits on, so it changes the hat.
Trucker
The house cap — structured mid profile, foam-and-mesh back, snapback.
Specs
- Profile
- Mid profile
- Build
- 6-panel · Structured — buckram behind the front
- Crown
- 3½ in (8.9 cm)
- Visor
- Pre-curved, 2¾ in (7 cm)
- Closure
- Snapback
- Adjusts to
- 21½–24 in (54.5–61 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Natural cotton twill
- Sublimated on
- White polyester foam
Rope cap
Structured five-panel with a near-flat brim and a cord across it.
Specs
- Profile
- Mid-high profile
- Build
- 5-panel · Structured
- Crown
- 4 in (10.2 cm)
- Visor
- Near-flat, 2⅞ in (7.3 cm), contrast rope
- Closure
- Snapback
- Adjusts to
- 21½–23¾ in (54.5–60.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Stone cotton twill
- Sublimated on
- White polyester twill
Dad hat
Soft, low and unstructured — washed cotton with a strap back.
Specs
- Profile
- Low profile
- Build
- 6-panel · Unstructured — soft front
- Crown
- 3¼ in (8.3 cm)
- Visor
- Curved, 2¾ in (7 cm)
- Closure
- Strap back, brass buckle
- Adjusts to
- 21–23½ in (53.5–59.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Washed khaki cotton
- Sublimated on
- White polyester twill
Five-panel camp
Flat brim, low crown, packs flat in a vest pocket.
Specs
- Profile
- Low profile
- Build
- 5-panel · Unstructured
- Crown
- 3¼ in (8.3 cm)
- Visor
- Flat, 2½ in (6.4 cm)
- Closure
- Strap back, side-release clip
- Adjusts to
- 21½–23½ in (54.5–59.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Field olive nylon-cotton
- Sublimated on
- White polyester
Fit
| Cap | Profile | Crown height | Visor | Adjusts to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trucker | Mid profile | 3½ in (8.9 cm) | Pre-curved, 2¾ in (7 cm) | 21½–24 in (54.5–61 cm) |
| Rope cap | Mid-high profile | 4 in (10.2 cm) | Near-flat, 2⅞ in (7.3 cm), contrast rope | 21½–23¾ in (54.5–60.5 cm) |
| Dad hat | Low profile | 3¼ in (8.3 cm) | Curved, 2¾ in (7 cm) | 21–23½ in (53.5–59.5 cm) |
| Five-panel camp | Low profile | 3¼ in (8.3 cm) | Flat, 2½ in (6.4 cm) | 21½–23½ in (54.5–59.5 cm) |
One size per cap. Run a tape around your head just above the ears, keeping it level — anything inside the range above will close on it.
Two finishes
The same design, made two ways. Pick one in the panel; the cap and the quantity are yours to choose too.
Hand airbrushed
$85 for one hat, on a trucker
Painted to order — would ship in about 2 weeks
How it is made
- How it is made
- Sprayed by hand through this design's own stencils, one layer at a time, each left to dry before the next mask goes down.
- How it looks
- Soft gradients and hand-cut stencil edges. Every cap is a little different.
- What it sits on
- On a natural cotton twill front.
- Durability and care
- Water-based paint, heat set and sealed. It takes rain and a season on a boat; spot clean with cool water, never a washing machine.
Sublimation printed
$32 for one hat, on a trucker
Printed to order — would ship in 5–7 business days
How it is made
- How it is made
- The design is printed in dye onto transfer paper, then pressed with heat so the dye soaks into the polyester fibres.
- How it looks
- Full colour edge to edge, and identical every time.
- What it sits on
- On a white polyester foam front — sublimation only takes on white polyester.
- Durability and care
- The dye is in the fibre, not on it, so it will not crack or peel. Gentle wash, air dry.
The artwork
A single caddisfly sits on rounded river stones. Its sepia wing is folded like a little roof, every vein traced in black. The antennae reach out past the stones, and the cobbles below glow ochre and umber, spotted with bright white glints of water.
Wear it to the riffle, the boat ramp or the coffee line before dawn. From across the bank it reads as a warm patch of riverbed. Up close, people lean in to count the wing veins.
White highlights carry the whole piece. Small, crisp glints placed on the top curve of each stone make them look wet; too many and the cobbles go flat and chalky.
What arrives
- The hat
- A care card
- On a hand airbrushed hat, a numbered tag naming the water it was painted from, when the design names one
Looking after it
Hand airbrushed
- Spot clean with cool water and a soft brush. Never a washing machine.
- Keep it out of a hot car for long stretches — heat-set paint is tough, but a dashboard in July is not a test worth running.
- Reshape the brim by hand while damp.
Sublimation printed
- Spot clean, or gently hand wash in cool water. No bleach.
- Air dry. Do not iron the print.
- Reshape the brim by hand while damp.
- The dye is in the fibre, so the print will not crack or peel.
Details
Airbrush palette
- Colours
- charcoal, umber, ochre, slate blue, sepia, black, white
Details
- Subject
- caddisfly
- Style
- realistic painterly
Make it yourself
The palette
- Charcoal
- Umber
- Ochre
- Slate blue
- Sepia
- Black
- White
The layers
7 layers, in this order. Each mask comes off and the paint has to dry before the next one goes down.
- Shadow ground
- Cobble base
- Warm stones
- Cool stones
- Caddisfly
- Detail
- Highlights
The kit's stencil set is cut from these layers; with the cutter (12 hats and up) you cut your own from this design's layer files.
How to mix each colour
Charcoal
1 part white to 3 parts black, a drop of blue
Umber
Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
Ochre
2 parts yellow, 1 part brown, a drop of black
Slate blue
White with blue and a touch of black, about 4 : 1 : ½
Sepia
Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
Black
Black from the bottle, sprayed in light passes; a heavy coat bleeds
White
Opaque white from the bottle; two thin coats cover better than one thick one
Setup
- Ventilation or a spray booth. Water-based paint still throws a fine mist, and you will be breathing it for hours.
- A half-mask respirator rated for paint mists. A dust mask is not one.
- A compressor with a moisture trap, set and tested on a card before you start: wet air spits water into the paint.
- Reducer and a cleaning pot within reach, so a clog is a ten-second fix instead of a ruined panel.
- Spray a test card for every colour before it touches the cap. Colour reads differently wet, dry and on twill.
Prep
- Lint-roll the front panel. Every fibre left on it prints as a speck in the paint.
- Mask the mesh, any seams you want clean and the whole visor, underside included, with low-tack tape and paper.
- Stretch the crown over the cap jig so the front panel is taut and curved the way it will be worn. Spraying a slack panel flat distorts the design when it is worn.
- Spray one light coat of transparent base so the colour sits on the fabric instead of soaking into it.
Layer by layer
1 · Shadow ground — 0.5 mm · 25–30 PSI
charcoal — the dark gaps and crevices between the stones
Mask None on the panel itself: the mesh and the visor are already masked from the prep.
Colour Charcoal — 1 part white to 3 parts black, a drop of blue
- Needle
- 0.5 mm (a 0.35 mm works, it just takes longer)
- Pressure
- 25–30 PSI
- Distance
- 6–8 in from the panel
- Passes
- 3–4 light passes, building the colour
- Dry
- 10 minutes, or 60–90 seconds with a heat gun on low, before the next mask goes down
Tip Fade wet to dry and never lay one heavy coat: twill wicks paint sideways and the edge blooms.
2 · Cobble base — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
umber — the rounded shapes of the river stones
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Umber — Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
3 · Warm stones — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
ochre — golden faces on several cobbles, strongest in the lower right
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Ochre — 2 parts yellow, 1 part brown, a drop of black
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
4 · Cool stones — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
slate blue — a few blue-grey stones at the edges and behind the insect
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Slate blue — White with blue and a touch of black, about 4 : 1 : ½
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
5 · Caddisfly — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
sepia — the tent-shaped wing, body, legs and long antennae
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Sepia — Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
6 · Detail — 0.3 mm · 18–22 PSI
black — wing veins, the eye, leg joints and the antenna lines
Mask The hand-cut subject stencil, inner pieces first, then the outline piece.
Colour Black — Black from the bottle, sprayed in light passes; a heavy coat bleeds
- Needle
- 0.3 mm
- Pressure
- 18–22 PSI
- Distance
- 3–4 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes per tone, light to dark
- Dry
- 10 minutes between tones
Tip Light tones first: a light colour over a dark one needs many coats, a dark one over a light one needs two.
7 · Highlights — 0.2–0.3 mm · 12–15 PSI
white — wet glints on each stone, droplets and fine specks across the scene
Mask None: freehand, with a shield card held against any hard edge.
Colour White — Opaque white from the bottle; two thin coats cover better than one thick one
- Needle
- 0.2–0.3 mm
- Pressure
- 12–15 PSI
- Distance
- 1–2 in from the panel
- Passes
- Freehand, in short controlled strokes
- Dry
- 10 minutes, then check it before you cure
Tip Low pressure, close in and moving: stop the stroke before you release the trigger.
Step by step
Mask the full artwork outline and spray charcoal across the whole area to set the shadows between stones. Start around 20 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 15 cm away; treat these settings as a starting point.
Lay the cobble stencil and fill each stone shape with umber, leaving thin charcoal gaps showing between them. Around 20 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 12–15 cm.
Mask the warm stones and mist ochre onto their upper faces, letting it fade toward the edges. Around 18 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 10 cm, light passes.
Mask the cool stones and spray slate blue onto the few blue-grey cobbles at the sides and behind the insect. Around 18 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 10 cm.
Place the caddisfly stencil and spray sepia for the wing, body, legs and antennae. Around 15 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 6–8 cm for clean edges.
Use the detail stencil to add black wing veins, the eye, leg joints and antenna lines. Around 12–15 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 4–5 cm, short controlled bursts.
Freehand or use a dot mask to place white glints on the top curve of each stone and a few droplets and specks across the scene. Around 12 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 3–5 cm.
Let the paint dry fully, then heat-set it following your paint maker's guidance, usually a few minutes with a heat gun held well back.
Seal with a thin, even coat of a fabric-safe clear sealer, two light coats rather than one heavy one, and let it cure for a day before wearing.
Cure
- Heat set at 300°F / 150°C. Water-based textile paint is not wash-fast until it is heat set.
- Cap press: 3–5 minutes with a teflon sheet over the design.
- Or heat gun: 2–3 minutes per panel, keeping it moving 2–3 in off the fabric so it does not scorch.
- If you have neither, air cure for 72 hours before the cap touches water.
Seal
- Two light coats of matte fabric sealer, UV-resistant, from 8–10 in, 15 minutes apart.
- Leave it 24 hours before the cap is worn.
- Never a gloss sealer on cotton twill: it shines, cracks along the creases and looks like a sticker.
Clean-up
- Flush the brush with water, then airbrush cleaner, until it sprays clear.
- Strip the needle and wipe it toward the tip, never away from it.
- Never soak the brush body overnight.
Common mistakes
- Filling every gap with umber loses the depth; leave charcoal showing between stones as the shadow.
- Spraying the black veins too far away makes them fuzzy; get close and lower the pressure.
- Scattering white everywhere turns the scene chalky; place glints only where light would hit a wet curve.
- Lifting the insect stencil before the sepia is dry smears the antennae; wait the full flash time.
Tips
- Spray ochre heaviest at the top of each stone and let it fall off downward; the stones look round instead of flat.
- Keep the caddisfly wing slightly darker along its lower edge so it sits on the stone rather than floating above it.
- Test your white glint size on scrap first; the smallest dot that still reads clearly is usually right.
- Let every colour flash dry before laying the next stencil so edges stay crisp.
Every kit size
Trucker · kit for 1 hat
$224
Bought separately $249 · you save $25
Includes Starter airbrush set · Cap jig · and 7 more
Every item in this kit · 9 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$9
Stencils
- Pre-cut mylar stencil set for this design — 7 layers$18
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 2 oz — one per colour in this design$42
- Transparent base and reducer, 4 oz$7
- Low-tack masking film and ¼ in tape$8
- Matte fabric sealer, 4 oz$12
Equipment
- Starter airbrush set — 0.3 mm dual-action gravity brush, mini compressor, braided hose$129
- Cap jig — holds the crown taut while you spray$24
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
Trucker · kit for 12 hats
$1,073
$89.42 a hat
Bought separately $1,220 · you save $147
Includes Dual-action gravity-feed airbrush · Quiet compressor with tank and moisture trap · Cap jig and two spare crown forms · Tabletop spray booth with exhaust fan · and 11 more
Every item in this kit · 15 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$78
Stencils
- Desktop stencil cutter, 12 in — the "stencil printer": cuts mylar from this design's layer files$299
- Stencil mylar, 7 mil, 12 × 12 in$22
- This design's layer files, every layer (SVG)Included
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 4 oz — one per colour in this design$98
- Transparent base and reducer, 16 oz$16
- Low-tack masking film$18
- Matte fabric sealer, 16 oz$28
Equipment
- Dual-action gravity-feed airbrush, 0.3 mm$135
- Quiet compressor with tank and moisture trap$179
- Cap jig and two spare crown forms$64
- Tabletop spray booth with exhaust fan$149
- Cleaning pot, brushes and a half-mask respirator$99
- Heat gun for curing$35
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
Trucker · kit for 12 × 12 hats
$3,124
$21.69 a hat
Bought separately $3,676 · you save $552
Includes Two dual-action gravity-feed airbrushes · Production airbrush · Twin-piston compressor with tank and two regulators · Production spray booth · and 13 more
Every item in this kit · 17 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$756
Stencils
- Stencil cutter-plotter, 24 in — the production "stencil printer"$649
- Stencil mylar, 7 mil, 12 × 12 in$85
- This design's layer files, every layer (SVG)Included
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 32 oz — one per colour in this design$336
- Transparent base and reducer$49
- Low-tack masking film$54
- Matte fabric sealer$89
Equipment
- Two dual-action gravity-feed airbrushes, 0.3 mm$270
- Production airbrush, 0.5 mm, for base fades$95
- Twin-piston compressor with tank and two regulators$329
- Production spray booth, two fans$289
- Three cap jigs$192
- Cleaning station, respirator and spare cartridges$139
- Cap heat press for curing$279
- Drying rack, 24 caps$65
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
The creator
Remixes
No remixes yet — make your own version.
Where this came from
trucker hat · made
0 — nothing entered the score yet, at the Derby's published weights, since . Views are not counted.
- caddisfly
- caddis
- trucker hat
- fly fishing
- river stones
- riverbed
- cobbles
- trout stream
- sepia
- ochre
- umber
- slate blue