How durable are Wested Lamb Skin Jackets?

[DiCatania]

This is my situation: I go hiking in the woods a lot with my kids and I want a jacket that will be durable enough to withstand tree branches against it, but also not keep me to hot in later Spring and early Fall. All opinions will be helpful. I own a Wested Raiders Goat Skin Jacket and I love it, and now I want to purchase a Last Crusade Jacket. Thanks

[nicktheguy]

IMO I'd stick with goat over lamb for durability.

[Ian]

I wouldn't say that lamb in general was the way to go if you want it to be very durable.

Ian

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[Michaelson]

In general, regardless of manufacturer, lambskin is at the bottom of the tensile strength scale regarding duribility.

No matter how many folks say 'oh, MY lambskin has gone on countless of trips and survived....blah blah blah', they're an exception to the rule. It's the luck of the draw in those cases as to the specific animal the hide came from and the way THAT particular hide was tanned and handled to make THAT particular jacket. Taken as a whole, that's not the case.

It's considered by professional jacket makers as a 'dress' or 'casual' jacket material to be worn by the urban adventurer to the mall, or to town. In a hard wear situation, it will fail.

Cowhide or goatskin is at the top of the scale of you're actual 'durability' in use, and cowhide can be found in various weights of hide.

Regards! Michaelson

[donovan]

Hi. for a ' tough as nails ' jacket also consider the Horsehide ,im sure it'll take as much abuse as you can give it !! ( Wested did do a light weight horsehide ).

[DiCatania]

Thank you. I am not going with Lamb skin. Now I have to figure out which Wested jacket to go with: the New Hero or The Last Crusade Jacket. I want it longer than the conventional Raiders coat.

[IndyBrit]

I have a hero in the new soft goat. It's light but tough so that could be the way to go

[Gorak]

Most of my jackets are lambskin (due to the humidity and heat where I live) and I have not had one that has torn or ripped or snagged at all.....and I am rough on my jackets. All my Wested are lambs and they have all held up greatly. I am most impressed with my Hero as I was trying to break the collar in and in doing so, one of the things I did was pinch a tip in the truck door and they pulled and tugged on it with all my might. I did this for several days untill I read a post about someones jacket ripping at the seam. But ,thank God, no issues. But like Michealson said, I may be the exception......either that or I`m just not as adventurous as I think I am!
I have a Banana Republic jacket that is cowhide and it is about as thin as my old Todd`s standard jacket so it is possible to get a jacket in that type of hide. Magnoli and Todd have always assurred me that they can get most any type of hide in any type of thickness so it`s out there.
For my taste and personal opinion, it is near impossible to really get that Raiders look without the flip floppiness of Lambskin regardless of the maker.

[Michaelson]

I've had one that I got back in '96 that I eventually gave to my eldest daughter, who STILL has it, and it looks great!

I then had one I got brand new, and within 3 months of regular easy wear, it fell completely apart.

Feast or famine.

Regards! Michaelson