Club Obi Wan

Hi all, first time poster but have always found these forums really interesting and useful for research.

I’ve just recently taken delivery of my latest raiders jacket from Bill Kelso. I have an older horsehide Wested that never really seems to fit well and a legacy Raiders Wested in lamb which is a great jacket but not super great for “real world” adventures.

The new beast is BK’s Relic Hunter in Dark Seal Liberty horsehide and I’m so impressed i felt the need to share some pics and intial thoughts.

I took delivery of it on Wednesday so it’s had 4 days wear in all conditions including some fairly heavy rain and on a motorbike. The break-in has been fantastic already and the fit is spot on. As you would expect the construction is second to none and feels like it will last a lifetime.

I appreciate that the “legit” material for the raiders jacket is the striated lamb skin which does look amazing but for real world adventures and the potential truck-drag moment this horsehide is a great compromise between ruggedness and screen accuracy.

The first pic is as I received the jacket and the rest are after 4 days break-in. As you can see, the grain and texture is really coming through and the drape is still there even for such a tough leather.

For those into the sizing this is a 42” jacket with pit to pit 23.5” shoulders 20.75” back 23.5” and sleeves 25.75”

That looks great! Very nice jacket, indeed! Not to throw the subject off course, but what hat are you wearing? It looks super too! W>

Stunt double!

Jacket looks great on you, wear it in good health.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Great distressing Rob !
Incredible as the jacket in only few days became like a years of wearing ..appreciate too the wrinkles on the sleeves and the collar nicely new shape.
Looks the color skin like a very dark brown.

Amazing what a little rain can do. Nice jacket!

WConly wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2024 8:51 am That looks great! Very nice jacket, indeed! Not to throw the subject off course, but what hat are you wearing? It looks super too! W>

The hats an old Akubra Federation. Had it for years… it’s been on a few adventures, most recently a three week trip through Sri Lanka, living my best TOD life

Thanks for the info on hat -- back to jacket: , ! Truly amazing... you will survive any adversary with this one! W>

Welcome to the Club, Rob!

Jacket looks absolutely gorgeous and looks great on you!

Awesome looking jacket, Rob!
The hide is beautiful and the sleeve and body length ratio is fantastic!

Wow fantastic looking jacket, thanks for sharing! The fit looks dynamite. Also the hat looks the part too. Gear always needs a little breaking in.
Cheers!

Northern Raider

Great looking jacket, fantastic fit. You look the gritty, rugged adventurer indeed. Congrats!

Cheers,
Bear

Those sleeve wrinkles are perfect! Great jacket.

Welcome to the club, your jacket looks awesome, can’t wait to see what it looks like later down the road.

Croft

Thanks for all the positive comments guys.
I'm looking forward to living with this jacket and seeing develop its own patina... A damp British winter should see to that
I cant get over how well this hide is shaping up. I was slightly concerned it would look and behave very differently from the classic lamb in terms of drape and movement. However, whilst its defiantly a lot more robust and initially was pretty stiff, the break-in process has been very rapid and once it forms to your body shape it hangs perfectly, creasing in all the right places.
More pics to follow once its gets a few more miles on the clock.

Rob, which part of Great Britain are you from?

Canyon wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 7:29 am Rob, which part of Great Britain are you from?

Sunny (today) Essex.

Rob72 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 8:56 amSunny (today) Essex.

Cool. I'm originally from Bristol (have been living in Pennsylvania, USA for just over 13 years now).

Well that Liberty HH is very hardcore. Congrats on having one of the most expensive Raiders jacket options But it seems to drape well and definitely takes the wrinkling.

Welcome to the club, Rob!

Jacket looks great. Wear it in good health.

Illinois_Jones wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 12:00 pm Well that Liberty HH is very hardcore. Congrats on having one of the most expensive Raiders jacket options But it seems to drape well and definitely takes the wrinkling.

Thanks, and agreed, I think this will be the last Raider's jacker I get i rationalise pieces like as investments... It will only get better with age.

I try not to think of the money i've thrown at my other movie franchise passions (Star Wars and Alien) and those pieces aren't even "practical" items that you can wear every day... I love this hobby

Great look. Sleeves look amazing after only a few days of genuine wear.