Club Obi Wan

I plan on ordering a goatskin Wested Raiders jacket soon, but I don't know what type of zipper to get. I really like the look of the nickel zipper, but I've heard that it's not as durable as brass. Can anyone fill me in on the durability of both types of zipper? Thanks!

i think you're thinking of an aluminum zipper not being durable. i've never had any problems with my nickel zips.

G's right. Nickle is simply plated brass.

Ok great! Nickel it is. Thanks guys ;-)

nickel
NIBS

CM wrote:G's right. Nickle is simply plated brass.

AFAIK the 'nickel' is a white metal alloy. It may not be nickel at all. I don't know where you get the idea of plated brass from.

The Riri's have a shiny almost chrome like finish, may not to everyones taste. They also sometimes use a more matt YKK.

Kt Templar wrote:

CM wrote:G's right. Nickle is simply plated brass.

AFAIK the 'nickel' is a white metal alloy. It may not be nickel at all. I don't know where you get the idea of plated brass from.

The Riri's have a shiny almost chrome like finish, may not to everyones taste. They also sometimes use a more matt YKK.

Curious. Maybe I'm wrong but the nickle plating appears to be wearing off my YKK zip and it appears to be brass underneath...

CM wrote:

Kt Templar wrote:

CM wrote:G's right. Nickle is simply plated brass.

AFAIK the 'nickel' is a white metal alloy. It may not be nickel at all. I don't know where you get the idea of plated brass from.

The Riri's have a shiny almost chrome like finish, may not to everyones taste. They also sometimes use a more matt YKK.

Curious. Maybe I'm wrong but the nickle plating appears to be wearing off my YKK zip and it appears to be brass underneath...

now if that looks as good as a brass colour coming off of a silver colour.......that'd be pretty screen accurate to say, the 37 1/8 th hour of hero stand-in jacket number 3.....jk

you've just enlightened me to something....i don't use my zippers nearly enough ;-)

Indiana G wrote:

CM wrote:

Kt Templar wrote:

CM wrote:G's right. Nickle is simply plated brass.

AFAIK the 'nickel' is a white metal alloy. It may not be nickel at all. I don't know where you get the idea of plated brass from.

The Riri's have a shiny almost chrome like finish, may not to everyones taste. They also sometimes use a more matt YKK.

Curious. Maybe I'm wrong but the nickle plating appears to be wearing off my YKK zip and it appears to be brass underneath...

now if that looks as good as a brass colour coming off of a silver colour.......that'd be pretty screen accurate to say, the 37 1/8 th hour of hero stand-in jacket number 3.....jk

you've just enlightened me to something....i don't use my zippers nearly enough ;-)

Well, whaddaya know. I would have thought those YKK's would have been solid coloured all the way through.

So indeed, delayed action SA!

You learn something new every day.

Kt Templar wrote:

CM wrote:G's right. Nickle is simply plated brass.

AFAIK the 'nickel' is a white metal alloy. It may not be nickel at all. I don't know where you get the idea of plated brass from.

Yes, nickel is, essentially, a white metal, used primarily as an alloy to produce stainless and heat-resistant steels. Brass, however, is essentially a combination of copper and zinc. Metallurgically speaking, they are two very different materials (I worked for a heat treating/metallurgical company for 18.5 years).

While nickel is often used for plating because of it's excellent corrosion resistance properties and durability, it is not "simply plated brass". That said, nickel-plated brass zippers do exist, and that is likely what CM is thinking of. Additionally, while nickel plating is very durable it is not indestructible, and in commercial use for items such as zippers it is often not more than .001-.002" thick (approximately half the thickness of the average human hair), so it's very possible the nickel plating is indeed wearing off of CM's zipper because of extensive use.