Club Obi Wan

Monday morning, a package from Gibson and Barnes, arrived containing a brand new Expedition goat jacket. It is an absolutely beautiful jacket!
The grain is perfectly matched throughout the jacket, no lesser quality under the sleeves or under the collar. The stitching, well, perfectly uniform.

FS rep Jeremy was kind enough to get the finished jacket dimensions for me on both the 42R and 44R. It turns out that my normal size, 44R was exactly what I needed. The only size complaint is the the hip measurement is a little large for me, by 1 inch, but I think that will hang better once the jacket wears in and conforms to me. Sleeves are fine, chest isn't as big as I once feared and the yoke is exactly the right width for my shoulders, 1.5" SMALLER than my Wings jackets, which makes the jacket sit up on my shoulders. The seams are up on edge of my shoulder, not down on my arms.

It was a little stiff, out of the box, but I sat on it, kneaded it, wore it to bed, tumbled it in the dryer for several hours and then applied a thin coat of Pecards with my hands while rubbing, massaging, twisting the leather, literally heating the leather up with my hands, and then of course, wearing it. It has softened considerably and will only get better.

It is considerably lighter in weight than my Wings VIP cow and my Wings New Zealand lamb, which I talked about in a previous thread. The NZ lamb feels more like a cold weather jacket and in fact, when wearing it recently in moderate 5o degree temps, it was too hot. The goat FS was very comfortable in those temps, which is what I wanted.

All in all, I could not be happier. Is it worth the bucks? IMHO, you bet your sweet bullwhip it is.

Thanks for posting the review! It good to hear about the Expedition. Its just a bloody shame that they cost so much.

Pics?

Pics when,
A. I have time.
B. When I figure out how.

Do you have a digital camera?

Well, yes, several, 3 or 4. It's what I do for a living. I know, I just have to go to Image shack or photobucket or the like and get signed up. Not too difficult I'm sure, just haven't had the time to do it. I currently have about 35,000to 40,000 images on my computer, but believe me, not too many are of me or my family. They are of everyone else's kids or family.

Indyjim wrote:I just have to go to Image shack or photobucket or the like and get signed up. Not too difficult I'm sure, just haven't had the time to do it.

Both sites are free and easy to use. I prefer Image Shack as it provides thumbnail sized images for easy posting on a site.
Such as:

IndyJim:
Congratulations on your new G&B Goat.
I've had mine for several months now.
It started out very shiny - and when I gave it a full treatment of Pecards it became even more shiny.

It has softened up quite a bit and the shine is slowly fading.
(natural distresser, yeah that's right, I said it! )

It is a great jacket - Enjoy!

P.S. Never tried the dryer treatment .

Best Regards,

Also, you don't need to sign up for Imageshack; you just use it.
I really would like to see some pics and pics of you wearing it not thrown over a chair or something. A coat needs to be animated to truly appreciate it. Thanks for the review!

Indyjim wrote: The only size complaint is the the hip measurement is a little large for me, by 1 inch, but I think that will hang better once the jacket wears in and conforms to me.

BELIEVE me, Jim...you being in Pa., you'll thank your lucky stars that the extra inch is there when you layer clothing underneath for winter, and the jacket is able to expand to allow for sweaters and the like.

Congratulations!!!

High regards! Michaelson

Congrats IndyJim on your new G & B jacket!!

I'm glad to hear that Jeremy was able to help you out, as well! I applied some Pecards Jell/Cream to my Expedition Goat the other night...I love how the G & B leather grain matches throughout the jacket! It's a shame that the prices are going up nowadays, but I definitely agree with you that they are well worth the money!

Enjoy your new jacket in great health my friend!
Kindest Regards,
Captain D

OK here goes. Hope these links work. Pix of the FS goat.

Shoot, my friend, you got it nailed the very first time!!!

High regards! Michaelson

Thanks! I try to do my homework!

IndyJim:
Nice pics - your jacket looks great!
It fits you very well.

P.S.> Now that's what I call a weed !

Congratulations,

Nice pics of you and your new jacket. You looked pleased. What hat are you sporting there?

The fedora is a regular Fed, my SECOND one.

most excellent looking! I'm probably going to send my Wested back to get it a more similar length...

That jacket really suits you and it looks beautiful. Ah I remember when my jacket was brand new....

Ken

Looks great, the length is spot on!

Thank you all! I appreciate your kind comments. BTW, if anyone noticed, my shirt sleeves are visible. That's not because the jacket sleeves are too short but my shirt has extra long sleeves for some reason. But at $3.77 clearance at JC Penney, I'll suffer. Did anyone notice in the picture of the back, the seam for the back panel is about 1" higher than the sleeve seam? On my Wings jackets, they meet. Does this force the pleats to be higher on the shoulder and maybe help them stay closed better??? These pleats already work better than the Wings, but then the leather is thinner as well. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't FS put elastic in the body to help close the pleats?

Indyjim wrote:Did anyone notice in the picture of the back, the seam for the back panel is about 1" higher than the sleeve seam? On my Wings jackets, they meet.

That is Raiders accurate my friend. Sometime between Raiders and ToD, the yoke was lowered to what we see on Wested's (and Wings?) jackets today.

IndyJim,
Yes the action pleats are assisted by elastic. It's the same technique used on military jackets with action pleats namely the M422A and the G1. FS has always used this technique because that's the design used on the other miltary spec jackets using the pleats. My understanding is that Wested will do so, if requested.

Many happy adventures in your new jacket.

-Sergei

You may want to point your straps to the back

I love the jacket. Illinois

I asked Peter about this same seam question before since I noticed it was different on my jacket than on Ford's. Since they custom make it, they build the jacket whatever specific way it needs built and then these seams align whatever way they need to in order to accomadate your fit. So I guess really it depends on your proportions and measurements

Ken

Very nice jacket!

It looks very soft with a nice drape right from the start, and less shiny than the Wested goat brand new.
That first shot should be in their catalogue I think.

Regards,
Swindiana

The jacket looks great!
Nice hat too. Is it an Akubra?

Thanks Feraud! Yes, Akubra Federation. my second.

Wait till that thing breaks in. FS might not be great in customer service any longer, but they still make a super fine jacket. It looks right. Cheers

Holy Crapola! It's Rundquist!


How goes it, man?

Just wanted to throw my two cents in. First off, great jacket! I should know since I bought one a few months back myself. I've said it before and I'll say it again, to me the jacket would only have been expensive had it NOT been worth the money. Why does everyone complain about the price when the jacket is PERFECT??!!! I'll gladly fork over the dough for a high piece of quality gear, and the Flightsuit Expedition in goat is definitely worth the money. PLUS no long wait for a Wested to be shipped from overseas and (apparently) in less than safe conditions (a plastic bag?Huh?).

Just my two cents. I've worn mine on two adventures so far and four planes and have loved every minute of it...listening to the theme from Indiana Jones on my iPod while the plane takes off definitely gets one in the mood for some adventures!!

In Adventure,

Nevada

Nevada Jones wrote:Why does everyone complain about the price when the jacket is PERFECT??!!! I'll gladly fork over the dough for a high piece of quality gear, and the Flightsuit Expedition in goat is definitely worth the money. PLUS no long wait for a Wested to be shipped from overseas and (apparently) in less than safe conditions (a plastic bag?Huh?).

For me $150 is $150. I don't mind waiting for a custom made jacket especially when it saves me a chunk of money. From the various reviews around here, I'd say that G&B and Wested is pretty comparable in terms of quality. So for me its all about the money.

As far as Wested's shipping method goes, I think we've seen the exception, not the rule. In the year or so since I started reading these forums, this is the first time I've heard of such a problem.

Did I mention that I still want a G&B, I just too cheap to fork over the bills. Well, that and I don't have the bills.

Rundquist wrote:Wait till that thing breaks in. FS might not be great in customer service any longer, but they still make a super fine jacket. It looks right. Cheers

I cannot say how pleased I am to see this man post.

A HUGE HELLO from Tennessee to my old friend Adam Rundquist!

For you new folks, Adam was the very first to post his observations of the soft felt of Indy's fedora. We had been operating on the incorrect assumption it was a stiffer, heavier felt. I was in that group, I was wrong, and freely admit it. Adam proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the hat was what we all now take for granted....a soft felt, and I want to give him the credit due (even if it's buried in the middle of a FS discussion. Sorry for the sidetrack.)

Now, back to the topic at hand.

High regards! Michaelson

Yeah, but he's still a #### in my book. )

Well, sure, but that's another story all together.... 8-[

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:Adam proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the hat was what we all now take for granted....a soft felt, and I want to give him the credit due (even if it's buried in the middle of a FS discussion. Sorry for the sidetrack.)


High regards! Michaelson

I had to post this... But this frame sequence that Adam captured was the proof...

Thanks Sergei!

Yep, it was "either the felt really IS soft, or Ford just had his backbone crushed in the impact!" Thanks again Adam!!

High regards! Michaelson

That's a great jacket! Very nice.

Is Rundquist also the hat first stomper, kicker, sitter guy also or is that some one else?

Great jacket! Man, those pics make me so envy, but my long way seems to end in a while so I'm looking forward to be the one who takes pics of him self in his Indy-jacket!

Very very nice jacket. I have a Wested myself, and it's pains me to see **** perfect yoke. Mine just isn't right. Well I raise a toast to a wonderful jacket.

All the best.

IndyDoc wrote:Is Rundquist also the hat first stomper, kicker, sitter guy also or is that some one else?

Nope, that was Indiana Dan, known here as Dan Riser now, and is one of the point men for the upcoming QM summit.

Regards! Michaelson