Help me with my Wested Raiders Modification Choices!!!

[mechinyun]

Here is what my order is looking like so far, please let me know your views on my choices and if you have answers For questions asked.

Most of this is based off of CKings mods and some from other places:


Jacket: Wested Raiders
Leather: Goatskin
Color: darkest brown – possibly black for something a bit different

Does the new WESTED Goatskin have ANY grey tint to it? I read in old post that this issue should be fixed by now? I definitely DONT want ANY grey, now or down the road.

Cargo pockets: Positioned 1 inch away from storm flap seam and 2 inches up from the bottom of the jacket hem.. It's smaller than the current 8 1/4 inch x 6 3/4 inch pocket that wested uses as standard. The pocket flap is 3 inches from the top of the rolled seam to the lowest point of the flap.

Zipper: 8 gauge nickel zipper. Track to extend almost to the bottom of the jacket hem.

Lining: Cotton in the body and satin in the sleeves.

Back panel: Top of panel extends all the way out to the inside edge of the sleeve seam.

Side straps: rectangular slides, gun metal/black color :

Im not totally sure what exactly chris king did here, the modification exactly, Do you know what mod was done here? What should I ask wested to do specifically?, this is a quote from his post:

“Side vents: These are great - they open out in the classic "V" shape without any effort. Some stitching has been omitted so that they work in the same way as Ford's did.”

Im assuming he is referring to the action pleats, I would like mine to work as HF’s did, however I have read that the pleats stay “out” when used and don’t go back in correctly, supposedly wested was working on
this issue in posts dated 02’, I don’t know if this issue has been fixed by wested and if they have been fixed how? Elastic? Does Chris kings modifications “break” the “fix” on this issue? Can they both be incorporated, IE Pleats work properly all the time AND look as they did in Raiders?

Pockets: 2 inside pockets, 1 "grail"

Arm gussets, im not sure if any modification needs to be done to these, or if they are standard on jackets now,
I know not much about this topic, please advise, I want them and for them to WORK properly

“80’s fit” or “snug fit”, again not sure if this is something I need to ask for, or is part of the “cking modifications” already
But I definitely want the jacket to have that snug, fitted look like in Raiders.

inside name tag

Length, I like my jacket to be about waist length, definitely not long, sizing is not something I have done yet. But will shortly and I don’t
Think I need much advice on that issue.

Anything else I have left out or would like to comment on?

[auntsugar]

Sounds like you know what you want.
I have a 2 year old Raiders goat, and it never "greyed".
It's a nice dark brown...

[IndianaCollins]

I didn't see it above, and I may have missed it, but are you getting Under-arm gussets?

[auntsugar]

Mechinyun wrote:

Arm gussets, im not sure if any modification needs to be done to these, or if they are standard on jackets now,
I know not much about this topic, please advise, I want them and for them to WORK properly

I had nothing special done to mine, so I can't speak for the gussets...

[Captain D]

From what I have learned, the under-arm Gusetts are not "standard," but you can have them placed for a small fee. And, I think Peter said that the Nickle Zipper is no longer available....perhaps he will get them back in stock soon.....?

Kind Regards,
Captain D

[agent5]

about 2 1/2".
Make sure no extra inch is added to the front.

You'll also be wanting the original jacket color, NOT the authentic newer color.

The side vents are the bottom of the action pleats and will stay open and close just how you want them to.

I'm not personally certain if the action pleat problem was fixed. I'm anxious to see myself.

Only one inside 'slit' pocket on the Raiders jacket.

Make sure you ask for the slimmer patterns to be used.

Should be good to go.

Good luck.

[mechinyun]

about 2 1/2".
Make sure no extra inch is added to the front.

The side vents are the bottom of the action pleats and will stay open and close just how you want them to.

I'm not personally certain if the action pleat problem was fixed. I'm anxious to see myself.

Thanks everyone for the replies, Agent, are you saying not to add the extra inch because its not accurate? Im VERY slim build person, and i want to wear the jacket zipped out quite a bit, i was reading past threads
most people say add the inch to even out the look of hte jacket when zipped. If its just a accuracey issue, thats no biggy, i would rather have better fuctionality. However I am SLIM, so i might not need it. Thoughts?

[Panama Tom Jr.]

I had similar questions, so check out the following discussion I had, primarily with Flathead - you could probably pick up some insight on the adding and jacket fit questions.
http://www.indygear.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6247
The way it appears to me is that if you give Wested your actual jacket size, it will automatically be a slimmer fit given that it's more of a fitted style anyways. I'm also going to add the extra in front for safety's sake...
That's my newbie .02... (if it's worth that! )

[agent5]

You wrote:

Length, I like my jacket to be about waist length, definitely not long

I just assumed you wanted it to be level. The added inch to the front of the jacket on a slimmer person would probably make it sink down in front like most of the film jackets. My first Wested has the extra inch added to the front, but there was also an extra inch added all around so it's more like a TOD length. I'd honestly ask the folks at Wested about the added inch and your body type. They'd honestly know more than I would about the right fit for you.