Pocket Sagging

[LJHood]

I have a Wested Dark Goat. Love it. The one issue I have is that I like to put my hands in the pockets of the jacket on the side to keep my hands warm. Now the leather on the side of the pockets sags a bit and is a little lumpy looking. Anyone else have this problem? NAyway to deal with it?

[IndianaJames]

Hey Hood,
Most, if not all of the skins Wested sells are pretty thin, (and seem to be getting thinner). I think this is because Wested jackets (although they CAN take a good beating) are made more for fashion and not for durability. Most motorcycle jackets you see in the store are made from 3.0-3.5 oz leather, whereas Westeds leather is a bit less (per Gerry at Wested).
So after all that BS, I believe the reason your pockets are warping is due to the leather stretching. If you were to ever hold a swatch of leather in your hand it is very easy to stretch. I'm not sure if there is a cure for this problem, the only one I can think of being sending it back for repair, which pricewise might outweigh simply just living with it.

Hope this helps

Best regards
I J

[Indydawg]

What you're talking about happens with all the jackets, if you put your hands in the handwarmer pockets alot. That leather there stretches out, relaxes, flexes more, and over time, will sag. I had to have the handwarmer pockets stitched closed on a deerskin Expedition jacket I had, the sag was so bad-it was effecting the drape of the jacket. So, any leather is going to do this over time. It's one of the properties of leather to stretch and relax, form to your body, so that it fits YOU, and YOU alone. After wearing a jacket for a few years, if someone larger than you started wearing it, then you would no longer be able to fit into it after some time.

So-aside from stopping putting your hands in those handwarmers, and/or stitching those things shut, there's not much you can do about it.

Later!
Indydawg