Club Obi Wan

Has anyone considered having a zipper or some other method of fastening (brown velcro maybe?) added to the inside opening of the side-entry handwarmer pockets?

It's something which I have been tentatively considering. The more you use the handwarmers, the more out of shape the sides of the cargo pockets become (ie the front pocket tends not to lie perfectly flat after a while), furthermore some form of (hidden) fastening on the side-pockets would make them a more secure place to store your wallet etc.

This wouldn't effect the outside authenticity of the jacket but might be a useful improvement to the design, on request?

Has anyone actually done this, and what are people's thoughts about it please?

The best thing is to keep your hands busy with a bullwhip and an S&W...
I considered the sagging pocket issue when I bought my authentic lamb, and decided to not use them for anything heavier than car keys etc. If hands get cold, I recommend a pair of Wells Lamonts!

/SJ

I have the same 'problem' with my ToD goat, but I don't think it's a bad thing. The jacket actually looks used this way, which is good imho.

I considered having hidden press studs put on them when I first ordered my jacket but got talked into not having them since you really can't store any bigger or heavier stuff in these pockets anyway. Velcro might be a good idea, but on the other hand I think it would make the jacket feel a bit less authentic, no matter being an Indy jacket or not. A zipper might work too, the smaller kind Peter will have fitted on the inside pocket if you ask him might be a good choice. I find that I always use the cargo pockets instead in case I want anything carried around for easy access anyway. I think there are a few who have sewn them shut aswell, but then they will only be 'pockets' without the 'handwarming' feature.
I do tend to walk around with my hands inside these pockets sometimes, and I haven't seen any misshaping of them yet. It probably will happen sooner or later though and maybe by then Wested will offer 'in shape spare pocket kit for cold handed type people'.

Let us know if you figure anything out. An extra layer of leather or fabric in the opening so that it doesn't get as stretched maybe?

Regards,
Swindiana

I shall peruse the options and get back to you.

Another related thing I have noticed with my Westeds is the weakening of the stitching at the bottom of the handwarmer slits after repeated use. Again, velcro or a zipper fastening would alleviate the strain on this stitching and thus take away this problem also.

Out of interest I'd like to know what might be possible; I'll be talking to my local leather shop later this week and I'll ask their opinion on the matter, perhaps they could suggest something?

For my part, a velcro fastening would not bother me - the jacket would still appear entirely screen-accurate on the outside, but with 'hidden' modifications, much like the elastic inside the action pleats or additional inside pockets etc. - not accurate to the original design, but practical and useful.

Well, for a tailor, I'd say the velcro inserts would be MUCH easier to install than a zipper, and easier for you to use too. I installed velcro on the prototype cloth Wested inner pocket, and it worked perfectly, though the current addition of a zipper is the best case. That said, though, the velcro did the job it was intended to do, and was fairly simple to sew inplace. I think that would be the best route to go. If you decide to change back to the original configuration, it would be simple to remove as well....MUCH easier than a zipper would be! Regards. Michaelson

Practical and useful is great, and I'm not afraid to make some modifications either if they are functional. I guess I just connect velcro with more modern day material jackets in my mind, but that shouldn't stop anyone from doing any combining. I bet I'll probably go the same way once I find my pockets dragging behind me like a pair of saddle bags as I stroll around freezing my fingers off in the cold Swedish winter.

Speaking of modifications, I did make one on one of my Mk VII's to collect an extra inside pocket you know. So much for not being blasphemic.

It will be interesting to hear what they'll have to say.

Cheers!

Swindiana

Michaelson, thanks for your input - valued as always.

You have inspired me to research the velcro option - I'll ask the advice of my leather shop, but I do think this may be the way to go.

Swindy, it's also a bit of a preventative measure on my part - my 2 previous Westeds began to suffer from saggy-pocket syndrome after a while (alright, it's not a huge sag but to a jacket-obsessed gearhead like myself, well, I can't help but notice these things... ), and although my new goat is only two weeks or so old I'd like to install the velcro now to prevent any potential sagging....a preemptive strike, if you will.

I'll check it out and post my findings!

Hey, my inside jacket pocket, that I use to keep my wallet in, is sagging like a son-of-a-gun.
I'm going to try something out, and if it works, I'll let you folks know.

Stay Tuned!

Well. That didn't work.

I have some very heavy duty, commercial grade velcro, that has a self stick glue on the back, that I cut into two small strips, and tried putting a piece on each side of the sagging inside pocket. No dice. The glue wouldn't hold because the velcro was too strong. Now if we used a standard grade, and had it sewn in, it would work great.

Sorry folks, I tried.

ob1al wrote:Has anyone considered having a zipper or some other method of fastening (brown velcro maybe?) added to the inside opening of the side-entry handwarmer pockets?

It's something which I have been tentatively considering. The more you use the handwarmers, the more out of shape the sides of the cargo pockets become (ie the front pocket tends not to lie perfectly flat after a while), furthermore some form of (hidden) fastening on the side-pockets would make them a more secure place to store your wallet etc.

This wouldn't effect the outside authenticity of the jacket but might be a useful improvement to the design, on request?

Has anyone actually done this, and what are people's thoughts about it please?

I believe Indydawg had a deerskin Expedition that had its pockets used to such a degree that they hung open. He opted to have them sewed shut.

For those of you who may recall that I wore this particular deerskin jacket for a season, I never used the side handwarmer pockets. I never do b/c I know it'll stretch out the leather and the jacket just won't ever lay quite the same.

I.J.