Advice for a new jacket?

[Darksaber 3]

Jacket Advice-COW
Hello all! I am rather new here, and I have been reading about every second I have had the past week or so. I originally joined because I was looking at getting a bullwhip and was hoping to find more info on the one I was looking at (which I did, so much great info here!). One thing I wanted to ask though was for advice on a jacket.

I recently moved from Minnesota to Maryland, and so I am really unsure as to what type of leather I should get for a jacket. I generally like a jacket that I can wear from October through April and on cool (below 60) days. I also would prefer a jacket without any type of distressing as I like the new look and figure I can wear it out myself through years of wearing it. Back in MN I would have got the warmest leather I could get, but I guess here in Maryland it doesn't get as insanely cold. I really want a jacket I can wear anywhere, including out in the woods hiking,

Now, I am trying to keep it in the $200-300 range for a jacket, so my options seem to be USWings and Wested, from what I can tell, for a decent jacket. I have it kinda/sorta narrowed down to these:
http://www.wested.com/authentic-raiders ... 1176-p.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.uswings.com/product/usw-30th ... nd-jacket/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.uswings.com/product/texas-st ... -imported/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From these, is there anything I need to know? I am not sure the lambskin is durable enough. I am sure the goat would be more then good enough for most things. The steer hide USWings jacket seems like it might be nice, but I am not sure if I want the pre-aged look.

Then there is the goatskin from Wested but I have read mixed reviews on their customer service lately, and it is on the expensive end of my range, even without the shipping. However, I believe it would be a bit more screen accurate as well from my reading on here. While accuracy isn't the most important thing to me, as I am more concerned with quality and wearability, it never hurts to be a bit more accurate.

I am very open to other suggestions, if anyone has any. I looked into the Todd's jacket as well, but for $200 I feel I may be better off with one of the USWings jackets for the same price, since both the Todds and the Featherweight USWings is also lamb.

Thanks!

[Indiana Jeff]

Welcome aboard!

Picking out a jacket is never an easy thing, especially when working online and you can't try on or see the product first hand.

If your first concern is durability, cow/steer or goat are your go to leathers. Lamb is nice, but not nearly as rugged as the other two.

Narrowing your choices down to what you have listed, either are good choices if 100% screen accuracy is not a concern.

Wested does make nice jackets and their customer service is pretty good if you don't have a laundry list of very specific changes you want made to a jacket. "Off the peg" orders are generally filled quickly and accurately. You mentioned shipping as an added cost, keep in mind you may be smacked with a $20-50 customs/import fee once the jacket hits the US (assuming that's where you are). Wested has no control over this fee and it is irregularly applied by US Customs so it's a gamble.

US Wings are great, everyday, rugged wearing jackets. I have had two Legend patterns jackets which to my understanding are very similar to the 30th anniversary pattern. The medium measured 21 inches pit-to-pit and the large measured 23 inches. If you easily fit into letter sizing of jackets, then this would be a good bet for you.

The advantage Wested has is being able to order by suit size though as you can see from the sizing chart on their website, they tend to cut the jackets fairly roomy. A typical 42 jacket would be 23 pit-to-pit (most jackets are cut with a 4 inch tolerance), but the Wested 42 is 24 inches pit-to-pit.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Ridgerunner58]

If accuracy is important, keep in mind that as nice as the US Wings jackets are, they only install a standard North American zipper in which the zip is on the right. (For a man's jacket, at least) The film jackets have the zip on the left behind the storm flap. Wested, Kelso and other custom makers use the correct, left sided zipper (although they will do what you want).

[Tibor]

Jacket Advice-COW
Hello all! I am rather new here, and I have been reading about every second I have had the past week or so. I originally joined because I was looking at getting a bullwhip and was hoping to find more info on the one I was looking at (which I did, so much great info here!). One thing I wanted to ask though was for advice on a jacket.

Thanks!

Hmmm... What size do you wear and do you have any need for customization- as in, are your arms particularly long, big gut, whatever? Have you ever considered picking up something used on the board here? A nice goatskin G&B size 44 is listed that will outlast you.

[Michaelson]

With only his one post, he won't see the classified section for a while.

That said, if you can give sizes, folks who have one for sale in your size could PM you, though.

Regards! Michaelson

[Darksaber 3]

Yeah, I don't yet have access to the classifieds. Based on my suit I am a size 44S, so I need a bit shorter fit of a jacket I suppose. I will actually give some thought to used, if there are any available in the middle/end of August once I am actually ready to buy. I just graduated college a bit over a month ago, so I need to get another couple pay checks to make sure that I have my rent covered before I make a purchase. Plus, I'll be honest, I like giving myself a lot of time like that to research stuff before I buy.

That said, while durability is one of my main concerns, I am wondering about how hot some of these jackets could get. I really want one I can wear when it is a bit warmer out (~50's) and down to about ~15 degrees, since that is about how cool it gets here, from what I am told. Back in Minnesota, my old St. John's Bay leather jacket was good down to about 0 degrees out and I wore it up until the temperature would be about 50 degrees. From what I have read, it seems that goat doesn't get quite as hot to wear as cow does, and lamb even less then that.

I will look into Gibson and Barnes a bit more, however, as it seems to be both here and elsewhere that while more expensive then I was looking to spend, they seem to be an extremely sturdy jacket, so I may just be better off waiting a bit longer and buying a new one of those, especially if it will last me forever.

Thank you all for the excellent advice! I will continue looking a bit and post a bit more on some of the other things I am looking into getting in the next few months and look into used a bit more!