Club Obi Wan

Michigan Smith

How's the current goatskin hide? I emailed Wested about getting some leather samples and never got a reply.

Michigan Smith

Haven't been around this site for a while, but a new Wested cloth jacket offering intrigues me and I'll be checking back more frequently to monitor progress.

Michigan Smith

I would totally buy a heavy twill or duck cloth or denim type material Indy jacket if I could have it custom sized, off the rack sizing seldom works for me.

Michigan Smith

Holy dead thread resurrection Batman!
Posted: Feb Wed 05, 2003 3:07 am

Michigan Smith

I'd buy a MTM brown denim Indy jacket. Maybe a black denim too.

Michigan Smith

Somebody asked me once if it was a "Members Only", remember those??

Michigan Smith

When I had my USW large long, I actually thought the straps were too low in the back and raised them 1.5". Now I see they corrected that but messed up the pockets. I'm not sure which is worse?

Michigan Smith

I recieved my Navapelle Raiders jacket back from repair at Wested last week (thanx Peter & Gemma!!!) but I forgot to request replacement of the D-rings with metal rectangular slides. Instead of shipping it across the pond again, does anyone know where I can pick some up to have my local leather...

Michigan Smith

And as COW member "Scot2525" suggested, I may plan to make a trip to Hudson, Ohio to not only personally pick up the jacket but, meet everyone at U.S. Wings. :H: I did just this about 8 years ago, before they were in their new location. Definately worth the trip. I bought 2 jackets that d...

Michigan Smith

I always thought the jacket was baggy and too big, and that's what I look for in my jackets as well. Unfortunately, I keep growing into them so they aren't so over size.

Michigan Smith

CM wrote:For an extra $200 odd they'll put facings on it for you. If you want to pay all that extra! I do wish my G&B had facings. I find the lack of them annoying and I coudln't give a toss about SA here.

Another reason I could never bring myself to buy a G&B.

Michigan Smith

I'm 6'2 (used to be thin). I could not get what I considered to be a decent fit in either a USW or G&B with off the rack sizing. The best I had with USW was a large long, and even then I had to turn the the sleeve cuffs out from the inside to lengthen them a little more. I had another USW in XL,...

Michigan Smith

Don't ever hang it up. Take it off, ball it up, throw it in the corner... Alternately, throw it in the dryer on Air fluff (NO HEAT!) with a sneaker or such. Let it run for about an hour or so... I use the dryer/no heat/tennis balls myself and it works quite well. If you want to rough it up a bit, u...

Michigan Smith

I was in Junior High. It was in the early 80's. I saved and saved $$$ and went to a Wilsons Leather in the mall and bought a sorta basterdized A2 jacket. It had knit cuffs, knit waist, padded shoulders, epaulets with snaps and some sort of hold down strap (ala' the Members Only jackets of the time),...

Michigan Smith

I don't mind the A-2 cuffs (as long as they are sized right), but the way that the waist band causes the jacket to puff out and ride up when open bugs the heck out of me! If A-2's actually laid as flat as they look in photographs (not just the old WWII ones, but even the advertising ones today), I ...

Michigan Smith

I wear tall size jackets, and was never able to get an Expo with long enough sleeves. Even the USW tall sizes were too short. I have a G&B Civil A2 that fits, but I think it had and extra 2" in the sleeves, not the usual 1" for a tall size. It was a custom job off their clearance page.

Michigan Smith

Dragonlady Jones wrote:
Michigan Smith wrote:Their clearance section links aren't working, I usually check that every couple weeks.
Perhaps they were updating them. I just tried and they work fine.

I get a message to download a PDF file that cannot be found

update: when I actually save the PDF files to my drive, they work

Michigan Smith

Their clearance section links aren't working, I usually check that every couple weeks.

Michigan Smith

I'm surprised they took back customs; that's almost unheard of. Their return policy used to be pretty liberal and lax, I know I probably abused it a few times myself. I never had a jacket custom made, but went thru quite a few jackets from their clearance section buying them then sending them back....

Michigan Smith

I don't know that shallower pleats are the solution. My very first Wested was a lamb, the old trash bag look/feel lamb from the mid 90's. It had shallow pleats and they bagged out like crazy. I tried the get them to hold their shape by gluing fiber reinforcement cloth tape to the inside of the pleat...

Michigan Smith

Get your pocket book out. I think I went thru 4 Westeds (1 lamb, 2 cow, and my current 5+ yr old goat), 2 USW (roo and vintage cow), and 2 or 3 FS (lamb and goat, back when they had a no questions asked return policy) before I ended up with a jacket that met MY taste (a Wested Raiders goat) BTW. Thi...

Michigan Smith

I have had this problem on several leather jackets over the years. I've reshaped my Wested goatskin several times this way, from hanger marks in the shoulders and the yolk be stretched out from hanging it on my stairway banister ball. . Soak jacket throughly in COLD water, roll up to "wring out...

Michigan Smith

My Wested goatskin is still showing no wear, so I don't really know whats underneath it color wise. Now, years ago I decided to "distress" a LL Bean goatskin A2 replica by giving it a hot water soak and spin in the washing machine (note: very, very bad idea, do NOT do this). It took the fi...

Michigan Smith

BTW, dryer with heat will not (in my experience) shrink a DRY leather jacket. A WET jacket, different story. I put all my leather jackets in the dryer with heat to soften them up and break them in, no ill effects thus far.

Michigan Smith

Try this. I had a USW vintage cowhide. I put Pecards on it regularly to darken it. The last time I did it before selling the jacket, it felt really slimy after the Pecards. I put the jacket in the dryer with heat on with a towel for about 20 minutes. When I pulled the jacket out, it looked like it d...

Michigan Smith

This looks perfect, addresses every issue I've had with my Wested. If Wested changes this to be the "standard" pattern (as they should), I may have to get another Wested.

Michigan Smith

It was my understanding some time ago G&B/Flightsuits no longer does custom sizing. You can order a regular jacket with long sleeves, or a long jacket with extra long sleeves, or a short jacket with extra long sleeves...etc...etc, but they won't do any "tailoring". Also, any special or...

Michigan Smith

I had a Wested cowhide several years ago (since sold off) where it was getting a distinct wear pattern across the left shoulder diagonally across the chest from the car seatbelt. My Wested goatskin shows no wear and likely never will from what I've seen thus far.

Michigan Smith

I put a goatskin A2 type jacket in hot water (just shy of boiling) once. Very, very, very, extremely, incredibly, bad, bad idea. Ruined the jacket, leather did not shrink evenly, changed color. Did the same thing to a leather belt, also ruined. Conversely, I regularly soak leather jackets in COLD wa...

Michigan Smith

You should see my Wested goat, wrinkled and creased every which way.

Michigan Smith

PETA Hippies!! People Eating Tasty Animals!

Michigan Smith

Missed the part about 3 prior tries to contact Wested, sorry. I too have little patience for inadequate customer service, but I also understand Wested is a small family run/own type business, in a foreign country no less, so I would not necessarily give up on them. They seem to have frequent interne...

Michigan Smith

I hate you, now I want to order another even more! Nice fit, nice color.

Michigan Smith

I had picked up somewhere that the price was going to be in the 4 figure range? That's just ridiculous! But he will sell some, which is even more ridiculous!

Michigan Smith

I would email or call Wested. They make all kinds of different leather stuff other than just Indy jackets, and may have black goat but just not listed as an Indy jacket option. Although Peter did just post the other day that he was limiting what he would do on "special order" basis.

Michigan Smith

Yes, mine does what you describe. Its part of "the look". If I every get another jacket, I will probably have the handwarmer/slash pockets deleted or sewn shut, as I think the sidestraps pulling them open creates a potential "snag"/tear point.

Michigan Smith

2 now, Wested Raiders Goat and USW Vintage Cowhide. Had 5 others at one point, USW Rooskin (didn't fit right), Wested Lamb (too thin/cheap feeling), Wested Cow (too sqeaky), 2 different G&B Goat Expeditions (both from clearance page, neither fit, sent back). Wested Goatskin is the best of the bu...

Michigan Smith

Put mine new sliders on last night, no real problems encountered. None broke prying open, only slightly scratched one. World of difference in appearance and how securely the straps stay put now. Only tip I figured out for install was to use needle nose pliers (2 pair) with the tips padded with sever...

Michigan Smith

Mine just showed up today, they look good, but I haven't worked with them yet. Hopefully I'll have better luck than IndianaChris711. Glad I ordered extras too!

Michigan Smith

Yeah, I just realized this is a rather old thread resurrected. Hope the company is still in business and didn't just abandoned their website and leave it working. I used Paypal and it all went thru OK.

Michigan Smith

Just ordered 12 of these in flat black myself.

Michigan Smith

Too bad, my goatskin Wested is the best of the 4 I've had. If I ever had to replace it, I don't know what I'd do.

Michigan Smith

Had mine called a "Members Only" jacket once, of course it was a by the stand-up at a comedy show and I was seated at the front/center stageside table.

Michigan Smith

Saddle soap?? Cleans all kinds o' crud off my white leather tennis shoes.

Michigan Smith

I just want to say, from these pics, I don't like this jacket or the gun/holster. All the reasons have been discussed above.

Michigan Smith

PETER wrote: Did Tony N come to Wested? Why is he in Pete's office?
More to the point why is wearing H F's new jacket?

Maybe this new company doesn't want or can't handle the production of these replica jackets and wants to work something out with Wested? The new companys website is pretty weak right now.

Michigan Smith

If you've got a Tandy leather shop near by, I think I saw Pecards there/

Michigan Smith

It's been several years since I ordered my leather Wested. US Customs doesn't collect duty tax at delivery or by later billing anymore for incoming foreign merchandise?

Michigan Smith

Whats US Customs charge $$$ on this?

Michigan Smith

What is the customs hit $$$ on this? Anyone ordered a Long size? I'm confused, did the sleeves end up cotton or satin lined?

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