Club Obi Wan

Can you all help me make a decision here?

After reading all the forums (yes all the way back to page 40), I finally decided that the Wested goatskin was the one for me. I thought it would weather well since it had the durability. Yet it was light enough for me to take when my wife and go on our adventures. You see, even though I hail from Canada, my wife and I usually travel to slightly warmer places…can you blame us??? Anyway, I already own a HH jacket and I find it a tad too heavy and hot when I travel. Hence my decision to go with the goat. Now, can you imagine my chagrin (can I use that word here?) when I read Peter’s post that there is ‘No goat for coat’. I’ve even been in touch with Gemma and she can’t give me an estimate as to when goat will be available.

So my questions are: The last time they ran out of goat, how long did it take to get new stock? I’d like to know if I have to wait weeks, months or years. Secondly, is HH that much heavier than goat? I’ve also read that Wested’s HH is of superior quality than most so I’m hoping that theirs might be a little lighter than the one I have. Frankly I’m in a dilemma here. Although I am considering getting the HH now and going for another one when the goat comes out but that option might not exactly fly.

I just don’t want to “choose poorly”.

Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Depends on who you talk to a Wested. The last time it was several months before goatskin was available....then again, Gemma has been quoted to say that goatskin will no LONGER be available.....so it's a @#$% shoot at the moment.

HH, on the other hand, IS readily available.

Just depends on how patient you want to be.

Regards! Michaelson

Having no goatskin available period would be a travesty!

if there are goats....there will be goatskin. we just have to send the farmers some steroids so they get really huge, but then also spend some time with them to help them through their mood swings

juliank, welcome aboard. good to see another canuck in the forum. now what is your idea of 'warm'.....if you're from winnipeg, warm is like 5 to 10 deg C whereas an albertan would say warm is 15 to 20 deg C.

anything higher than 20 deg C i'd put away the goatskin and go with a lambskin. anything higher than 25 deg C, then its the SOC look w/o the jacket.

Thanks for the welcome. I'm from Ottawa so we generally have moderate (in terms of Canadian) winters here but it's more of a fall/spring/travel thing I'm looking for anyway.

Our last two trips have been to Tunisia and Egypt. Hotter than (insert expletive here) during the day but it does tend to cool off quite a bit at night. We usually pair that with a bit somewhere in Europe (Paris and London last time) so the jacket definitely would come in handy here also (usually around 15-20C)

Ok, so you think that goat would be too hot for those climes? Maybe I agree now that I think about it. Ok, in that case, how 'fragile' would the lamb be? I'd hate to be constantly worried about brushing up against something for fear of tearing it.

Geeze, who would've thought that buying a jacket would be this difficult!

Well you hear horror stories about lamb. But you should remember it is still leather!

I've had mine for nearly 2 years, no snags nor rips just gentle wearing on the edges and light wrinkling on the sleeves. I don't baby it but I also don't roll around on the ground in it. But I wear it everywhere.

It's a fab jacket, perfect for London weather, I like it cos it's light and will work from quite cool (it's 4°C here today with a thin fleece under it to summer evenings with a t-shirt or an indy shirt.). Above about 20°C I wouldn't usually wear it though.

You can always get one whilst you are waiting for the goat to come back into season. .

i agree with KT. its soft leather but it still leather. if you're gonna snag it and tear it then you've snagged it pretty good. the upside of it is that the leather will keep you cooler than goat, cow or HH when the suns out.

will keep you cooler than goat

I suppose that was the rationale in making the movie jackets in lamb as well. Makes a lot of sense. I guess it sounds so adventurous to think that I'd be digging for the well of souls in my Indy jacket but I think the reality is that in that scenario no one would be wearing a leather jacket! Maybe I just need to re-think my purpose for it and add a touch of reality!!!

Just as a side note, I believe USWings still produces goatskin Indy jackets (I think), and I know that Gibson & Barnes produces goatskin Indy jackets. The Gibson & Barnes Expedition Indy jacket is top-notch for the money.

Yes, they both do.

Regard! Michaelson

I just took a look at the current Wested website, and see goatskin is definitely no longer listed as a source hide for an Indy jacket.

Regards! Michaelson

The warmest I wear my TOD HH is about 65 deg F (18 deg C). Any warmer than that and I start to sweat under normal activity, like walking.