Skin vs. Skin

[Ride Guy]

Ok so I've decided to get a ROTLA Wested Hero (though the BK Relic Hunter is extremely tempting); aside from the measurements conundrum, the skin question is even worse. Shrunken Lamb, Vegetable Tanned Crispe, standard Lambskin, Dark Brown Lambskin.

The pics I've seen of the Crispe and have rejected it because it looks like dinosaur hide; too "bubbley" IMO. The Shrunken Lamb texture looks great; SA IMO, but I have concerns about the color. If it was uniformly dark, I'd be more inclined to go that direction. Even the pics on Wested's page shows dark and super light browns all in the same page for the Hero. The SL on Relic Hunter looks pretty sweet, however; color is nice and dark with texture to boot.

I've seen several pics of the Hero Standard Lamb & Dark Brown Lambskin that people have soaked in hot water and allowed the texture to emerge through drying and leather conditioner. I believe Gorak did this to great effect. One of these two is currently my front runner choice for a SA ROTLA Hero.

I thought I'd get the opinion of the hive; what say you?


Let Slip the Dogs of War,

Ride Guy

[WConly]

Ok so I've decided to get a ROTLA Wested Hero (though the BK Relic Hunter is extremely tempting); aside from the measurements conundrum, the skin question is even worse. Shrunken Lamb, Vegetable Tanned Crispe, standard Lambskin, Dark Brown Lambskin.

The pics I've seen of the Crispe and have rejected it because it looks like dinosaur hide; too "bubbley" IMO. The Shrunken Lamb texture looks great; SA IMO, but I have concerns about the color. If it was uniformly dark, I'd be more inclined to go that direction. Even the pics on Wested's page shows dark and super light browns all in the same page for the Hero. The SL on Relic Hunter looks pretty sweet, however; color is nice and dark with texture to boot.

I've seen several pics of the Hero Standard Lamb & Dark Brown Lambskin that people have soaked in hot water and allowed the texture to emerge through drying and leather conditioner. I believe Gorak did this to great effect. One of these two is currently my front runner choice for a SA ROTLA Hero.

I thought I'd get the opinion of the hive; what say you?


Let Slip the Dogs of War,

Ride Guy

From responses, I have received from Kelso, they will alter sleeve length, etc. So, if you are going for a true 'Hero-ROTLA' style jacket, this is one of the best, however I purchased a 'Hero-Wested' from Hector-Gorak, that is pretty darned cool too. So, you just need to look at all the options. The 'Relic Hunter' is probably the closest I have seen to SA Color grain, etc. But, that is just my opinion and Hector's certainly (even before all of his 'extra-work,' proves this!) Just my two cents, for what-it-is-worth ! W>

[Gorak]

Thank you gentlemen for the nod...I appreciate it. If you are settled on Wested, I hightly reccommend the Dark Brown Lamb. It is VERY lightweight and will give you that "sillouhette" that we all recgonize and can be distressed to really look the part. You can always layer if you want a bulkier jacket but then, IMO, you start to lean away from that "image" we all know and love. Most of Wested skins have proven to be awesome but Dark Brown Lamb is always a winner.

[moses]

I like the look of the regular lamb Hero, but to me the dark brown looks a bit too thin. Mostly in Raiders I don't think his jacket appears to be THAT thin.

[Ride Guy]

Thank you gentlemen for the nod...I appreciate it. If you are settled on Wested, I hightly reccommend the Dark Brown Lamb..

Settled on the Wested sounds like you have thoughts on another vendor? Do you have a suggestion? Did you water treat the DB Lamb to bring out the textures? What else do you do to make the Hero lamb look more SA? Thanks.

[Gorak]

Obviously, prince range considered, the Kelso Raiders jacket is an amazing piece of work! But if that too high up, Steele & Jones also make an amazing jacket that has a WHOLE LOTTA charactor, literally and figurativly. Great guys commited to getting you what you want. I still love a Wested, though. It just seems to be a cool jacket all the way around regardless of skin type.
I wet the jackets down with a spray bottle, pull the sleeves up over my elbows and go for a walk in the hot sun while pulling down the ends of the collar with my hands. Sure you look really weird in the neighborhood but the jacket will look really better in just the first trip. Then you go from there and decide if it needs more or just stop there. You will twaek it here and there but the water really brings out the grain and the collar really needs to be rung with your hands to get it to look like you want. It will stay after the initial kneading, usually. Then I take some soft sandpaper and just start gently rubbing the jacket where I think it would get beaten the most. And most importantly, WEAR THE DARN THING EVERYDAY for at least a week. LIterally...even sleep in it if you can. It will do wonders. Take s before and after pic and you will se the great difference it makes.