Club Obi Wan

Dear All,
I have a Wested goatskin (Raiders). I'm wondering about having the side entry ("handwarmer") pockets stitched closed. I don't like/need to use them and think things would be neater without them. Does anyone see any pitfalls in doing this? - Assuming I find someone competant to do this (I'm not in a desperate hurry to get this done, though).

I guess this could be sacrilegious to Indy purists!

Regards,

Stiver

PS one interesting thing to contemplate for fun. Given this coat might last well into the next millenium - and one day be discovered by an archeologist... what would you have (con)sealed into a pocket for future generations to discover and marvel/smile at??!!

I know IndyDawg had this done to his deerskin Expedition to help stop the sag he was experiencing with the lining. Worked perfectly. Personally I never use my side entry pockets, so if they're just in your way, why not? Regards. Michaelson

I agree. I have had jackets and never realized they had hand warmer pockets until months later. With an Indy jacket, you're not going to stand around with your hands in your pockets. You might want to ask Peter if there would be any detriment to the jacket's integrity or drape.

-Just a thought from a half frozen Bostonian!

hmm... am I alone in being the only one that uses them?

I do put my hands in them from time to time and the side entry makes a handy quick key stash when going from the truck to the mailbox to the front door. It helps to have them out of the way but easily retrievable when ushering a 3 year old, her bag from day care, mail, newspapers and lunch bags and what all else I generally end up half dropping on my way into the house.

'Another little tip from your Uncle Lar'.

Mike

I just find them to shallow myself, and anything I attempt to store or carry in them falls out, so to keep from losing things, I just don't use them. My hands are so large, they don't really fit in them anyway. Regards. Michaelson

I use mine all the time;

Being a starving student, and not being able to afford things like those fancy 'gloves' everyone is raving about, I find the handwarmers VERY handy in the Frigid North

Regards,

Farn

PS Its really tough to say what I'd seal into the pocket, soooo much info, so little room. Probobly: "If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones". Get them thinkin

The one thing I noticed between the USWings jacket I had and the Wested I have is that the Wings jacket's handwarmers were bigger. That is the only thing I liked better on the Wings than on the Wested.

Luke

I'm with you Mike. The side entry pockets are a great feature. But you have essentially created instead of two outside pockets, four. Besides making good hand warmers, I have a system where the keys always go in my right inside side pocket. The lucky lighter goes on the left inside pocket with the cigar cutter. The regular cargo pockets contain reciepts that I accumulate during the day.

-S

Sometimes I worry about putting my keys in either the side pockets or the cargo pockets because, I fear, if I fell, the keys may jab through the lining or the leather. I also hate the bulge they make.

As an aside, I love the depth of the inside pocket. It fits both my wallet and my cell phone.

The hand warmer pockets are a bit small and shallow for my hand. I don't think I have ever put anything in there.

I use my handwarmer pockets to store my gloves only, since I'm a bit paranoid about more important items (keys, journal, etc.) falling out accidentally. Opposite of Sergei, I keep my lucky lighter in my right cargo pocket and my keys in my left. My left-handedness might account for the difference .

Anyway, I might suggest securing velcro (maybe with goop or some other non-damaging adhesive, or sew it into the liner if there's room) just inside the pocket. That way you could still use them if you change your mind occasionally, but it won't be such a permanent change.

My .02,
TreasureHunter

TreasureHunter wrote:.... Opposite of Sergei, I keep my lucky lighter in my right cargo pocket and my keys in my left. My left-handedness might account for the difference .

My .02,
TreasureHunter

The lucky lighter goes on the left just from habit. It started when I saw LC and as you know, it was in the left, side cargo when Sr. pulled it out after they were tied together.

-Sergei

I can't think of what scene it was, but I seem to remember Indy using his handwarmer pockets in one of the movies? Was it when Henry Sr. reached for the lighter? I saw this after I got my Wested, and remember thinking that I never realized before that his had double outside pockets.

The last leather jacket I had has the same type of cargo/handwarmer pockets. Like Hemingway said, it was quite some time before I realized that they were there, even though I had been using them for a while. I guess I just subconciously assumed there was a place to put my hands and never thought about it.

IG

Oh, and if I had to pick something to be found in my jacket, I would say my Moleskine notebook. I carry it with me all the time, and it's got everything from picture measurements for frames, to phone numbers, to names of artists and their works that I've liked at musuems. Just pieces of my life that I wouldn't mind seeing preserved that could fit in a pocket.

IG

I use my cargo pockets all the time, but I can't say
that the handwarmer pockets are much use to me.
My hands don't fit in them for one and I usually have
a pair of gloves if it is cool out.

Mike wrote:hmm... am I alone in being the only one that uses them?


Mike

I use them constantly on all my jackets. I couldn't do without them. Again while the Indy gear is a costume, I see it all and use it all as real world usable gear.

My 02.

I too use my hand-warmers from time to time. I also put my gloves (whenever I remember to take them) in my side pockets. Like today, for instance, I had to walk from my car to the front door of CCRI (Community College) in the freezing-brisk cold wind! It was quite funny though, I was carrying my books in my right hand and my left was in the hand-warmer. By the time I got to the door, my right hand was NUMB, like it was blue! Thanks to the recent posts, I now have to find a day to devote looking in Wal-Mart for those darned Wells Lamonts 1130's! Like you, Sergei, I keep my keys in my right pocket...I too have a system for everything
Just felt like giving my $0.02

Indy N.

Usually I end up carrying my books under my right arm with both hands in the warmers...I still don't know why I didn't do that today!

Yeah, I did have FS sew up the handwarmer pockets on my Deerskin Expo. It solved two problems...

First-those handwarmers, while I guess are ok to stash things in for quick access in a couple of minutes, are not very good for carrying things long term OR for keeping your hands warm....I don't actually know WHY they call them hand warmers, for that matter. Stuff easily falls out, and there's no lining in there to keep your hands warm-maybe it provides a good wind shield, but in a couple of minutes, your hands would be just as cold as the rest of you. So, I think, unless they're going to actually make them pockets, instead of just leaving the back part of the cargo pocket unsewn like they are doing and CALLING it a handwarmer, they are just there for "authenticity's sake". Which IS about all that's needed around these parts for justification !

Second, the way they are constructed, long term actual USE of the handwarmers (ie, putting things in the pocket, trying out of futility to actually warm your hands in them, etc), does cause that leather to sag there at the bottom, affecting the drape of the jacket.

I figured since the jacket was supposed to be a 1930s/40s style jacket, A-2 style pockets back then did NOT have handwarmers in them, and since they were A) of no real use and B) were affecting the way the jacket looked....I just had 'em sew the buggers up shut.

Fixed the jacket up GREAT! It actually FIT again. I liked it so much that I decided if I ever got another FS jacket, I'd have 'em sew those things shut when it was being made, 'cause it cost about 50 bucks to have it done.

Anywho....That's my speil about it. Call me an antipurist if you like. But if it works for you, then I say do it....you're the only person that you have to please in the end, right?

Later!
Indydawg

You're not alone Mike!
It is one of the features (A2 style actually) that I insisted on wheil searching for a replacement for my "Dead Cow". I use em all the time

If your jacket is an older style Wested, like my first one (from 1998 or 1999...I can't remember) the "hand-warmer" pockets are basically useless anyway, unless you've got smaller hands. The new pockets are a decent size though, I've found plenty of use for them, as oppose to the old pockets, which I tended to forget were there.

-GCR