Deschutes Rainbow Trout Trucker Hat
by @dekasso
Two trout nosing into fast water.
Two rainbow trout in a glacier blue current between charcoal rocks, in olive gold and crimson, for long days on the water.
Two rainbow trout push upstream through white current, flanked by dark charcoal boulders. The fish are olive gold with crimson bands and black spots, set in glacier blue water on pale grey.
- Two rainbow trout swimming side by side
- Crimson bands and coral fins
- Glacier blue current with white foam
- Charcoal boulders framing the run
- Black spotting over olive gold flanks
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
Two rainbow trout ride the same seam, one just ahead of the other. Each wears a crimson band from gill to tail, a dusting of black spots and coral fins. White foam curls around them, and charcoal rock frames the run on both sides.
It wears well on a drift boat, a canyon trail or the tailgate after dark. People see the red stripe first, then the second fish tucked behind it. It reads as trout water from across a parking lot.
Crimson is the colour to get right. Keep the band soft at its edges so it melts into the olive gold, and darken it only on the gill plate, where the red sits deepest.
The water it was painted from
Deschutes RiverCentral Oregon · OR
- River
- Deschutes River, Central Oregon
- States
- OR
- Fish
- Redside rainbow trout, Summer steelhead
- Water type
- Freestone
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
- pale grey, glacier blue, charcoal, olive gold, crimson, coral, black, white
Details
- Subject
- rainbow trout
- Style
- realistic illustration
Make it yourself
The palette
- Pale grey
- Glacier blue
- Charcoal
- Olive gold
- Crimson
- Coral
- Black
- White
The layers
8 layers, in this order. Each mask comes off and the paint has to dry before the next one goes down.
- Ground
- Water
- Rocks
- Trout bodies
- Stripes
- Fins
- Spots and lines
- Foam
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
Pale grey
4 parts white, 1 part black; a drop of blue for cool grey, a drop of brown for warm stone
Glacier blue
Primary blue, a drop of white to lighten it, a drop of black to deepen it; build it in thin coats
Charcoal
1 part white to 3 parts black, a drop of blue
Olive gold
2 parts yellow, 1 part black, a drop of red to warm it
Crimson
3 parts red, 1 part blue, a drop of black to deepen it
Coral
Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
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 · Ground — 0.5 mm · 25–30 PSI
pale grey — the open field behind the whole scene
Mask None on the panel itself: the mesh and the visor are already masked from the prep.
Colour Pale grey — 4 parts white, 1 part black; a drop of blue for cool grey, a drop of brown for warm stone
- 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 · Water — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
glacier blue — swirling current that wraps under and around both fish
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Glacier blue — Primary blue, a drop of white to lighten it, a drop of black to deepen it; build it in thin coats
- 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 · Rocks — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
charcoal — dark boulders on the left and upper right edges
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Charcoal — 1 part white to 3 parts black, a drop of blue
- 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 · Trout bodies — 0.3 mm · 18–22 PSI
olive gold — two trout, backs and flanks, noses pointed left
Mask The hand-cut subject stencil, inner pieces first, then the outline piece.
Colour Olive gold — 2 parts yellow, 1 part black, a drop of red to warm it
- 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.
5 · Stripes — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
crimson — the lateral band and gill plates on each fish
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Crimson — 3 parts red, 1 part blue, a drop of black to deepen it
- 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 · Fins — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
coral — dorsal, pectoral, pelvic and tail fins
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Coral — Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
- 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.
7 · Spots and lines — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
black — spotting, eyes, mouths and body outlines
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Black — Black from the bottle, sprayed in light passes; a heavy coat bleeds
- 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.
8 · Foam — 0.2–0.3 mm · 12–15 PSI
white — splash along the current, belly shine and eye glints
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 front panel edges and lay a thin, even coat of pale grey over the whole artwork area. Start around 20 PSI, 0.35 mm needle, 15 cm away; treat these as a starting point and adjust to your paint.
Place the current mask and mist glacier blue in curving passes that follow the water's direction. Around 18 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 10 cm away to start.
Mask the boulder shapes on the left and upper right and fill them with charcoal, building darker undersides with a second pass. Start near 18 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 8 cm away.
Lay the two trout body masks and spray olive gold across backs and flanks, a touch heavier along the spine. Begin around 18 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 8 cm away.
Freehand or soft-mask the crimson lateral bands and gill plates, keeping the edges feathered. Start near 15 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 5 cm away.
Mask the fins and tails and fill them with coral, fading toward the tips. Around 15 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 5 cm away as a starting point.
Add black spots, eyes, mouths and outlines with a detail stencil or freehand. Drop to about 12 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 2 to 3 cm away.
Finish with white for foam along the current, belly shine and small eye glints. Start near 12 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 3 cm away.
Let the paint air-dry for at least 24 hours, then heat-set if your paint calls for it, following its label.
Seal with two light coats of a clear fabric-safe topcoat, letting each dry fully before handling.
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
- Hard-edged crimson bands look pasted on. Lower the pressure and spray from slightly farther to keep them soft.
- Too much glacier blue flattens the water. Leave pale grey showing through so the white foam has room.
- Spotting before the body coats dry causes bleeding. Wait until the olive gold is dry to the touch.
- Heavy sealer coats can stiffen fabric and cloud colours. Use several thin passes instead of one wet one.
Tips
- Spray the trout in the same direction the water flows so the fish and current feel like one movement.
- Keep the back fish slightly duller than the front one; it pushes it into the water and adds depth.
- Vary the black spot sizes, larger along the back and smaller toward the belly, for a natural look.
- Test every colour on a scrap of the same fabric before it touches the panel.
Every kit size
Trucker · kit for 1 hat
$229
Bought separately $255 · you save $26
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 — 8 layers$18
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 2 oz — one per colour in this design$48
- 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
$1,085
$90.42 a hat
Bought separately $1,234 · you save $149
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$112
- 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
$3,165
$21.98 a hat
Bought separately $3,724 · you save $559
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$384
- 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.
- rainbow trout
- deschutes
- trout
- redside
- fly fishing
- trucker hat
- whitewater
- canyon
- crimson
- olive gold
- glacier blue
- basalt