Club Obi Wan

Haven't posted in awhile...

Finally breaking down and getting a Wested. But I dislike the dull brown colored hides. Is it possible to get a reddish hide like this _'s?

If I remember correctly that jacket is a predistressed cow that has been treated regularly with Pecards.

Some of their horsehides have come out w/ russet undertones...might want to give Wested a call and ask what they suggest, or if you can request one of their horsehides that is a bit redder.

Just a thought.

J

P.S. Nice to see you venturing over here from FL, Scotrace...I'm Rigby over on the FL.

I really do need to get out more often.

I sent off an email to see what is available.

Hi Folks,

I am mostly a lurker here. Rarely have anything worthwhile to add to the conversation. But this question caught my attention...

Flightsuits uses "russet" color which may be what you want.

www.flightsuits.com for their main site.

www.flightsuits.com/leather_leathers.html for their leather types/colors.

They have changed their name now, but this still seems to be their website. They do special orders. So, you can call up and ask for the expedition jacket in horsehide. Be aware, they charge a premium price compared to other Indy jacket makers, but their customer service, in my experience (G-1 special order) has been excellent.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Just to confirm, that photo IS of a pre-distressed cowhide that has been treated with a few applications of standard Pecards. I know. I owned one of _'s several years ago, and when you apply Pecards to these pre-distressed jackets, the mahogony coloring is just wonderful.

Regards! Michaelson

Michealson, does the Pecards make the jacket look as shiney in reality as it looks in that pic? If you could get that same tone but with out the shine it would be wonderful.

When buffed, yes, it gets that shiney.

Regards! Michaelson

That jacket looks great but seriously, how many gallons of Picards does it take to achieve that? Does it last or does the effect fade away over time?

Is that the regular Pecard's or the brown? I have both. And a horsehide, which isn't reddish at all.

It's the regular Pecards. The first application and buffing got mine to this level, and as long as it doesn't get wet to often, it last's quite a while. I found I only had to treat it twice a year, and did up to the time I sent it on to Indy Dawg. From PM's and posts I've read, of the jackets he's had go in and out of HIS closet over the years, this is one that he REALLY hates he let get away from him....and simply due to this wonderful color (and the fit after I had it altered.)

Regards! Michaelson

Gemma says no reddish hides available.

Thanks Michaelson, for the tip.

Credit _ for this discovery. I just duplicated it. Like I said, it seems to only work on the pre-distressed cowhide.

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:When buffed, yes, it gets that shiney.

Regards! Michaelson

what did you use to buff it? Just a lint free cloth?

what is a '_'s'

It is a jacket owned by _. profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=162

Dre wrote:what is a '_'s'

Isn't it a type of hat?

_ had a hand in the creation of that PB fedora too! My old friend _ was/is a strong presence in the creation of a great many items that folks now take for granted in our gear around here. He's just been AWOL for quite a while since his move from the LA area to Illinois (or was it Indiana? ) He still pops in now and again.

In buffing, I like to use an old tee shirt. They're lint free, absorbent, and readily available.

Regards! Michaelson

Can someone post a link to where I can buy some of the regular pecards and specifically which type was used to make that jacket look so nice?

Are there any more pics of that jacket? i'd relaly like to see how the rest of it looks. Does the pecards smooth out the predistressed cow hide? The sample I got from Wested seemed a bit rough.

Brucewayne wrote:Can someone post a link to where I can buy some of the regular pecards and specifically which type was used to make that jacket look so nice?

Are there any more pics of that jacket? i'd relaly like to see how the rest of it looks. Does the pecards smooth out the predistressed cow hide? The sample I got from Wested seemed a bit rough.

I remember reading that there was something unusual about the way _'s Jacket was mailed to him. So perhaps getting this reddish color with any predistressed cow just won't work. And I'm pretty sure he used regular pecards.

As to you other question about smoothing it out a bit: I can tell you that for sure in a week as I'm having a jacket resized now. Don't worry about the rough look, it is a beautiful coat really and I'll post some pics as soon as I get it. I'll do a before and after pecards treatment if ya like too.

My guess is that pecards will smooth out the jacket some. Here's why. Pecards regular is pretty heavy stuff and the predistressed jacket has been dried out. The predistressed should soak up A LOT of pecards and darken and soften up in the process. it is waxy stuff so it should smooth it some as well. buffing it would make it smoother too probably AND increase the shine.

Sounds great. I'd really like to see before and after pics. i'm going to Wested in april to get measured and order my jacket. I relaly want to see and feel the differnet materials on an entire jacket, not jsut some little sample pieces.

If someone knows anyhting about _'s jacket and if there was something unique about the leather, please chime in.

Brucewayne wrote:Sounds great. I'd really like to see before and after pics. i'm going to Wested in april to get measured and order my jacket. I relaly want to see and feel the differnet materials on an entire jacket, not jsut some little sample pieces.

If someone knows anyhting about _'s jacket and if there was something unique about the leather, please chime in.

Ok here ya go bruce, here are some more pictures of _'s old jacket.

Here is what he said about his jacket: "This is an undistressed predistressed hide jacket - i.e. I ordered the predistressed version but Peter forgot to run it through the dryer.

I've been treating it regularly (every 6-8 weeks) with Pecard dressing.I'm probably going to begin stretching that out to 12 weeks just because I don't think its necessary to do so often.

I think it is a good example of what the hide jacket looks like when so treated. It is a Last Crusade Wested, hide, cotton lining. You may note that the press studs are missing from the storm flap. Peter also forgot to put those on. He sent them to me, but I really like it without them. Also, it has leather facings (lining) on the inside of the collar, and down the inside of each side of the zipper. Peter also added a zipper to the inside pocket - it helps retain the shape of the pocket." _

I definitely think you should see how nice the predistressed jackets are before you decided to go for this color. It really IS hard to tell from looking at those little leather squares what the jacket will look and feel like. Taking a trip to wested is ideal and I'm REALLY jealous that you get to see those jackets and the differences before your eyes. I'd suggest looking around at some of these posts and checking out what others have done with their jackets (e.g. further distressing) or to see the different materials goat, lamb etc.

Hope this helps, and enjoy that trip to Wested!! I think my jacket will be here in roughly a week so I'll do before and after pecard treatments and post the pics for everyone.

Excellent. Thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to seeing how your jacket will look after the treatment.

Hi all..I just used standards Pecard's dressing on a 20 year old cowhide A-2...and it looks great...will try to get pix...my A-2 thanks me muchly...a good conditioning after 2 decades. Ahhh............

_ wrote:My ears were ringing!

This was supposed to be a predistressed LC. It arrived without having been tumbled in pumice (as was the practice way back in 2000).

Hello! Nice to see an oft quoted name appear again.

A question for you: Is that jacket different from what they use now for predistressed? The the samples I have seen already look quite broken up, did they take this stuff and then do additional tumbling with pumice? Or has this current predistressed hide superceeded the one used in 2000?

Regards,

Kt.

I have a FS A-2 seal brown that had a greyish cast with a slight hint of olive color. I used Pecards Brown which is russet in color. After a couple applications my jacket became browner and redder. The effect was not dramatic, maybe not the red/brown you are looking for, but an improvement.

How do you like the FS A-2?

I love FS A-2's. I own three of them and have a fourth on order. They are: Chocolate Brown Lambskin, Seal Brown Goatskin, Black Goatskin, and the Mahagony Horsehide on order. They are the best value in A-2's, with most of the quality of the premium makers (Eastman, Real McCoys, and Aero) for a lot less money. If you want a lot of jackets and don't have the means, get FS. If money is no object get the premiums.