Club Obi Wan

Of all the Indy jackets every company makes, which one can you put through the most abuse and still have it hold up?

Anybody make a jacket out of concrete and stainless steel?

I have a wested and I think it'll hold up to anything. the g&b expedition is suppose to be the tuffest. what are you going to do to your jacket, if I might ask.

Im going to use it as a work jacket.

My Gibson & Barnes Goatskin Expedition is built like a tank and the stitching and zipper are guaranteed for life. Can't beat that.

what type of work do you do, if it's construction nothing will hold up. any other job I thnk all of the makers would hold up.

how's a US wings for abuse?

My guess would be that the list would go from "most durable" to "mostly costume" :

Tony Nowak with a very slight edge over
G & B / US Wings, which are about tied from what I can see
Wested, which seems to straddle the gray area between durability and costume
Wested "special offer" &
Todd's standard as a costume jackets

This is just taking into account construction, assuming each used the same leather, which of course they do not, and will affect durability greatly.

I say "guess" because I don't have a jacket from every one of those vendors, and hence am going by my general impression of photos and comments I've seen here. I only own the TN, Wings, and Wested. Since both Wings and G&B sell mil-spec jackets, I'm assuming they're about the same construction quality. The TN seems to be double stitched in a few more places than Wings jacket, both of which I would rate above my Westeds in this regard. (no disrespect to Peter intended. He does fine work.) Speaking entirely subjectively, I still think that the Westeds though have the best "look" to them of the other manufacturers, even if they're not the most durable.

I think the answers you'll find will all be very subjective, but for what it's worth, when I visited his workshop, Nowak kept on stressing that he reinforced his jackets from the inside, and even demonstrated that the handwarmer pockets had a "safety" stitch (with an extra leather square) to prevent it from tearing. If he pays that much attention to a small detail like that, then the rest of the jacket is almost guaranteed to be well considered.

Then there is the small matter of which leather you're getting...

Like the man already said, USW and GB are mil-spec. The USW I have isn't even a close comparison to the Wested I had in terms of what I would feel I'd work in.

The only brand I own is Wested, and I seriously doubt its the most durable out of the bunch. I've handled Nowak's jackets before and they are top notch.

LJ

Tony Nowak advises everyone who buys one of his jackets to "beat the **** out of it." He also says it will never need any special care or cleaning at all. That sounds like a guy who has a fair amount of confidence in his product.

Jack

eazybox wrote:Tony Nowak advises everyone who buys one of his jackets to "beat the **** out of it." He also says it will never need any special care or cleaning at all. That sounds like a guy who has a fair amount of confidence in his product.

Jack

I don't know........I don't doubt the durability of the Nowak jacket...........I'm just very hesistant to beat the **** out of a $700 premium jacket.

PSBIndy wrote:

eazybox wrote:Tony Nowak advises everyone who buys one of his jackets to "beat the **** out of it." He also says it will never need any special care or cleaning at all. That sounds like a guy who has a fair amount of confidence in his product.

Jack

I don't know........I don't doubt the durability of the Nowak jacket...........I'm just very hesistant to beat the **** out of a $700 premium jacket.

Well, we're in the middle of our second heat wave here, so I haven't even had much of a chance to wear my TN yet, let alone beat the **** out of it.

Jack

eazybox wrote:

PSBIndy wrote:

eazybox wrote:Tony Nowak advises everyone who buys one of his jackets to "beat the **** out of it." He also says it will never need any special care or cleaning at all. That sounds like a guy who has a fair amount of confidence in his product.

Jack

I don't know........I don't doubt the durability of the Nowak jacket...........I'm just very hesistant to beat the **** out of a $700 premium jacket.

Well, we're in the middle of our second heat wave here, so I haven't even had much of a chance to wear my TN yet, let alone beat the **** out of it.

Jack

...well, I have my AC on and I'm walking around in my basement with my TN on and boxer shorts and pretending it's the middle of a frigid Chicago winter!..........we gearheads are a crazy bunch!

PSBIndy wrote: ...well, I have my AC on and I'm walking around in my basement with my TN on and boxer shorts and pretending it's the middle of a frigid Chicago winter!..........we gearheads are a crazy bunch!

Well, at least SOME of us are.....

Regards! Michaelson

The Expedition also comes standard with hidden elastic built within the jacket to help keep the form of the jacket and to keep the action pleats closed. I'm unsure if T.N.'s jackets have these or not...Anybody?

Captain D wrote:The Expedition also comes standard with hidden elastic built within the jacket to help keep the form of the jacket and to keep the action pleats closed. I'm unsure if T.N.'s jackets have these or not...Anybody?

Yes indeed, Nowak jackets come with the elastic straps in the back.
At least mine had them, so pretty sure it's standard.
Mike

Hey Mike! That's awesome, I'd love to get one of Tony's jackets! Next time there is a summit, PLEASE bring it, I'd love to see it. Take care bro!
Aaron