mark seven wrote:Wow FB,that is a beautiful jacket! ,can I ask,did you use the brown tint Pecards or the normal stuff?
Thats regular pecards
I was pretty conflicted when i first ordered it but i had heard good things about how the distressed cow reacts Pecards.
And everything you see on that jacket is pretty much natural distressing, after the first coat of pecards, you couldn't tell it was ever distressed, i think the key to all its wrinkles and the cool color it has is that it has gotten completely drenched a couple of times and it gets rained on constantly!
I try to put a coating of pecards on it every time it gets soaked but i forgot to do it the last time it got wet so its a little dryer than usual, if i get bored tonight i might put a fresh coating of pecards on and take some pics!
I assume that goes for lamb as well? I had a lambskin raiders look alike back in the eighties and it tore so easily that I never dared to buy lamb again. Just to set the record straight: I have never had a lambskin from Wested so I can't say anything about the strength of Wested lambskin.
USN Jackets always specified goatskin - dating back to the M422, the M422a, the ANJ-3, and then the various iterations of G1's.
Also, goatskin was specified for the Navy jackets as they were the most
water repelent of the leathers, and they also stay more pliable in freezing
temperatures versus most other leathers.
And let us remember...when the Army Air Corps introduced the A-2 in 1931, the Army still had p-l-e-n-t-y of its own horses on their way to retirement or not cutting muster at the remount station at FT Riley, KS. It was still a HORSE cav back then...so...plenty of horsehide around that was already paid for that merely made a bracnh transfer from Cav to Air Corps
This is awesome info on leathers from a historical perspective! I suppose we can say that if Indy was a true life person during that time, his jacket may not only have been Horsehide, but also Goatskin perhaps...
The reality of it is, though, Indy was a college professor, and would have more than likely obtained his jackets from regular channels just like everyone else...such as clothing store or catalog order.
In the old 1930's catalog's I've read, I have only seen cowhide jackets offered to the public. Horsehide and goatskin were reserved for military use...so his would have probably been cowhide, as that was touted as being the 'strongest leather availabile for a work jacket' in those catalogs.
Sears and Roebuck sold cowhide leather work jackets exclusively, so tough or not, that's what was out there for public consumption and available to someone like Indiana Jones and his peers on their salaries.
Also the fact that there are far fewer horses around these days (I think was noted above) also means that the hides are rarer and so horse has more of a cachet than it might otherwise have, due to the premium price.
Except for good ol Peter and the nominal extra charge for HH.
Captain D wrote:This is awesome info on leathers from a historical perspective! I suppose we can say that if Indy was a true life person during that time, his jacket may not only have been Horsehide, but also Goatskin perhaps...
Kind regards,
Captain D
Agreed! I've learned a lot from this thread alone. Thanks for all the great info guys.
It seems that horsehide is being used more often than we though, KT. I heard from a vendor recently that many times thin horsehide is substituted in the place of the higher priced cowhide jackets, especially when that high end cowhide may be short in supply to fulfill an order. So, on many occasions some folks who THINK that have purchased a top grain cowhide jacket have received, in reality, a much better horsehide jacket at the cowhide price, but never know it.
As _ mentioned in a different post, there no way to distingiush one hide from the other after it's been tanned. The proof is only in the number of years the jackets survive, and needless to say, HH outlasts cowhide.
Michaelson wrote:It seems that horsehide is being used more often than we though, KT. I heard from a vendor recently that many times thin horsehide is substituted in the place of the higher priced cowhide jackets, especially when that high end cowhide may be short in supply to fulfill an order. So, on many occasions some folks who THINK that have purchased a top grain cowhide jacket have received, in reality, a much better horsehide jacket at the cowhide price, but never know it.
I stand corrected . Lucky people. But is horsehide better, or more expensive?
There must be more horses out there than I imagined!
Logic would indicate that there'd be more raw cow and steerhide out there but maybe it's redirected to furniture. I suspect it's also down to the thickness and quality of the cowhide available and what's being made, influencing that vendor's choices. ie if the cowhide he is being offered isn't up to it he has, admirably, used the horse if it is better quality.
As hard a fact as it is, something has to be done with horses after they die or the population of wild horses overrun the government ranges, and those that are used for the manufacture of glue, dogfood, and agents such as neetsfoot oil are also used for their hides.
There are a LOT of horses in the U.S., both wild and domesticated (emphasis on the words 'a LOT'), and though the ratio of horsehide to cowhide availability is no where near the same, horsehide is also used in the manufacture of baseballs and softballs, so there's a lot more out there than one would think.
Thanks IK, I look forward to posting pics when the jacket arrives. It was hard for me to choose....y'all made them all sound them appealing in this particular thread. I was a little hesitant to go with HH due to the fact that I live here on the Gulf Coast....possibly making for a smaller time frame in which it will be feasable to wear......BUT I could sure use it today, it's COLD! I'll be putting it to good use in January though......going out to AZ and will be spending a little time in Flagstaff.
spiridon wrote:
Hey IK, whereabouts in MS do you live?
Right now I'm in Jackson Mississippi in law school.
and to try to stay on topic, I'm pretty sure my current leather jackets are all cow hide, I don't have any fancy jackets, just a car coat from the Gap and my favorite jacket from American Eagle. I think that they are both cow, but not too sure.
I know some people are big fans of the pre-distressed cow but I was close to ordering that, but went with the lamb because it is never very cold here in MS, except for this past week where it has actually been cold.
spiridon wrote: ...yessir, I remember it well. Randy, have they gotten any snow up north this year? I just hope it's cold there in the Valley on Marathon day!
Sorry, didn't mean to wander off subject......[threadjack off]
Threadjack on, briefly . . .
Yes, it snowed at least once - my daughter sent me a picture of her car covered in snow. Don't think there's any on the ground now, though. The peaks may have snow, but as happens every year, I doubt there's any skiing or snowboarding going on yet.
orb wrote:Cowboy Gemma told me exactly the same
So now we just can hope to have a wonderful christmas time this year
Regards
orb
Get yours yet? Why in the hey-ho-a-lina do they not make deadlines (self imposed to boot!) for fabrication and delivery? Is it a British thing? I TRULY believe that they are the best, but gosh darn it, in my line of work I don't get by with not delivering on schedule, so what is their excuse???? :evil: Peter and Gemma. You are killing me with anticipation!!!
Great thread! Now I want a Goat and a Cowhide Wested to go with the Lamb I've already got!
I'm just awaiting delivery of an Aero Horsehide Barnstormer though so the wallet isn't going to stand for it until next year.
michaeljcr wrote:Great thread! Now I want a Goat and a Cowhide Wested to go with the Lamb I've already got!
I'm just awaiting delivery of an Aero Horsehide Barnstormer though so the wallet isn't going to stand for it until next year.
You are going to love it...I just got a Aero Bootlegger a month or so back. Great stuff.
That PD Cow looks pretty good...maybe next time. My wallet is also very light at the moment.
My Wested order which has been processed since 8th november isn't cut yet. So I have changed the order from DB Horsehide to DB Cowhide
Thanks to this thread. I believe the cowhide is very good choice for a LC Jacket I just hope Wested will cut the jacket soon. It's gonna time.
orb wrote:My Wested order which has been processed since 8th november isn't cut yet. So I have changed the order from DB Horsehide to DB Cowhide
Thanks to this thread. I believe the cowhide is very good choice for a LC Jacket I just hope Wested will cut the jacket soon. It's gonna time.
Regards
orb
What is the deal with Wested??? I phoned them today and they said it had ben cut and will be finished this week. The website says 21 days, they e-mailed me 28, two weeks ago they said 7-10 days and now 14 days later this. I DO appreciate quality, but by god, deliver when you say you will. In my line of work, this is not acceptable. Is this truly better than Cooper?
I ordered a size XL tall Indy jacket in goatskin from US Wings sometime in July. About two weeks, and nothing, so I emailed them to see what was up. "we'll check on it and let you know tomorrow". Ok. Two days later, no response and I emailed again and they said that they were out of stock and would be in in 3-4 weeks. OK. 3 MONTHS later, it shows up. It was absolutely huge (it was also almost black with a black liner...not pretty). I sent it back asking to try a size large tall. I got a call several days later at work saying that they had screwed up and the jacket they sent me, though marked XL tall, was actually an XXL tall. No wonder it was so huge. Well, send me the proper one then, I said. "They're out of stock and will be in in 3-4 weeks". Nevermind...
FD,I feel for you,I have the same problem getting stuff that fits-it's so frustrating-when you get your jacket that fits(fingers crossed for you it's soon! ) I hope you put it on, lay back,open a beer and enjoy it..because you've earned it!
My old precow allways get's soked imediatly when I go out into the rain with it, and this is really NOT god.
What about the new pre distressed hides, do the react simmilar in rainweather like the old hides or are they more waterresistant like HH, goat or simmilar?
Any predistressed leather is like a sponge, as the surface has been cracked, and it allows all water to enter, so it's not much different unless you slather on the leather dressing.
,can I ask,did you use the brown tint Pecards or the normal stuff?
you're right about the rain/wrinkles. Wearing the jacket wet gives it all the right wrinkles and folds, that's how I did it to.
from Cav to Air Corps
. Lucky people. But is horsehide better, or more expensive? 
....I just called and pulled the trigger on a HH!!
) I hope you put it on, lay back,open a beer and enjoy it..because you've earned it!