Club Obi Wan

 
When I'd inquired about other leathers previously, Peter mentioned a "heavy cowhide with a soft finish."
Now the Jacket page on the Wested site mentions a "heavier soft durable dark brown hide," which I take to be the same thing.

Anyone actually seen this leather or have any additional details?

When I'd inquired about other leathers previously, Peter mentioned a "heavy cowhide with a soft finish."

Sounds like the predistressed cowhide leather.

They have a regular cowhide and the predistressed cowhide, which has more of a worn look. Here are some pics of the predistressed cow (sorry I don't have pics of a regular cowhide jacket):
http://home.earthlink.net/~wickie7/inde ... jacket.htm

I'm not sure they could get away with calling pre-distressed "dark brown" though?

To me, it does sound like its own thing... ie: its dark brown cow... but its soft.

 
ITG, the blurb from Wested's Jacket page:

"...it is also available in dark brown lambskin, authentic and dark brown goatskin, predistressed dark brown hide, and heavier soft durable dark brown hide."

Since it's mentioned in addition to the predistressed, they would seem not to be the same thing. There's no pic on the Wested site, but from what I've seen those leather sample pics aren't updated all that often. The horsehide isn't pictured yet, either.

I expect there'd be a post about it if someone here already had a jacket in this hide. But I thought it worth asking if anyone had perhaps seen a sample swatch, or heard any details from Peter.

Sounds interesting.

Indiana Texas-girl wrote:

When I'd inquired about other leathers previously, Peter mentioned a "heavy cowhide with a soft finish."

Sounds like the predistressed cowhide leather.

They have a regular cowhide and the predistressed cowhide, which has more of a worn look. Here are some pics of the predistressed cow (sorry I don't have pics of a regular cowhide jacket):
http://home.earthlink.net/~wickie7/inde ... jacket.htm

Holly, your pre-distressed jacket looks much darker than mine and I've put three applications f Pecark dressing on my pre-distressed Wested cowhide. I received mine about a year and a half ago. Did you get yours more recently?

If there's a pre-distressed dark brown cowhide then I might have to get me one.

I.J.

It's caveat emptor when it comes to working from Internet photos, Indiana Joe. I have pictures where my horse looks black, some where it looks dark brown, some where it looks light brown and some where it looks maroon. None of which are the true colour as I normally see it.

Maybe Peter brought back the lambstouch cowhide?

Rob wrote:I'm not sure they could get away with calling pre-distressed "dark brown" though?

Indiana Joe wrote:If there's a pre-distressed dark brown cowhide then I might have to get me one.

Not to derail my own thread, but it's interesting to note that Wested does describe the predistressed hide as "dark brown."
Peter announced a "new" predistressed cowhide 2 years ago (here), which he described as a "rich dark brown." Rick5150 posted a nice picture of his.
Don't know if that's the same leather you'd get if you ordered predistressed today...

Sounds like good old 'new finish cowhide' he introduced WAY back about 4 or 5 years ago. It is indeed very soft, dark brown, and heavy weight. My LC jacket is made from this material. Regards. Michaelson

Maybe Peter brought back the lambstouch cowhide?

I don't think the Lambtouch was ever a heavy hide. Besides, if it was back it would probably once again be known as Lambtouch...

The site refers to this new hide as "soft," but as I mentioned above, Peter in his email specified a "soft finish." I interpret that as meaning a nubuck-type surface that lacks the shiny topcoat of the other leathers.

Michaelson, does that sound like your "new finish cowhide"?

Guess we were typing and posting at the same time. Read my post just above yours. Yes, it does.

And yes, lambtouch cowhide is almost exactly the same weight as standard lambskin, in my opinion, so you're right on target with your weight observation. I have owned both. Regards. Michaelson

I hadn't realized a soft finish cowhide had been available all this time! If it's been around for 4-5 years, I wonder why no photo of the leather along with the other pics on the Wested site? The cowhide pictured appears to have a standard somewhat shiny leather finish, so I take it that's something else.

I'm not sure either, Andy. I do remember that the original 'standard cowhide' was fairly stiff. He introduced the new finish cowhide in the first attempt for a better draping leather, closer to screen color appearance (specifically the dark brown everyone was looking for at that time in the opening Temple scene in Raiders, which appeared almost black, the brown was so dark in color), and softer right out of the box. I was not aware he had started using a different cowhide again, but just kept the new finish cowhide, and dropped the 'new finish' prefix, as nobody (except us 'old folks' ) would remember there had even BEEN an old finish version. Just a theory, though. Regards. Michaelson

Why would anyone be interested in some Old Finnish cow's hide?

You boys take the hobby too far

Indiana Joe wrote:Holly, your pre-distressed jacket looks much darker than mine and I've put three applications f Pecark dressing on my pre-distressed Wested cowhide. I received mine about a year and a half ago. Did you get yours more recently?

Mine is about 3 years old. The pics are probably a tad darker due to lighting. I'd say the pic with the nametag above the inner pocket is closer to the real color.

Indiana Texas-girl wrote:Mine is about 3 years old. The pics are probably a tad darker due to lighting. I'd say the pic with the nametag above the inner pocket is closer to the real color.

So sounds like that predates the "rich dark brown" predistressed hide Peter announced back in '02 ...? Your jacket looks great in those pics, ITG. If the current predistressed hide is even darker than that, I'm interested to check it out. I've requested a sample...

IndianaGuybrush wrote:Why would anyone be interested in some Old Finnish cow's hide?

Hey! VP and I resent that!
Finnish cows... as tough as they come. I've met my share of them...

Hey, no fair, I thought this thread was Finnish'd.

Regards. Michaelson

Andy Inna wrote:

Maybe Peter brought back the lambstouch cowhide?

I don't think the Lambtouch was ever a heavy hide. Besides, if it was back it would probably once again be known as Lambtouch...

The site refers to this new hide as "soft," but as I mentioned above, Peter in his email specified a "soft finish." I interpret that as meaning a nubuck-type surface that lacks the shiny topcoat of the other leathers.

Michaelson, does that sound like your "new finish cowhide"?

I always wondered what I received. I know it's cowhide but it's soft. And, it's very thin and drapes quite well.

On a side note--no joke, out of the box my pre-distressed cowhide was so dry and just as light tan as the background on this page. I almost sent it back b/c of the color but Indydawg encouraged me to wear it for a season and then Pecard the lightness right out of it!

Andy Inna wrote:

Indiana Texas-girl wrote:Mine is about 3 years old. The pics are probably a tad darker due to lighting. I'd say the pic with the nametag above the inner pocket is closer to the real color.

So sounds like that predates the "rich dark brown" predistressed hide Peter announced back in '02 ...? Your jacket looks great in those pics, ITG. If the current predistressed hide is even darker than that, I'm interested to check it out. I've requested a sample...

To get ready for the cooler weather, this past week I've applied two coats of Pecard cream/jell and then one application of Pecard standard dressing to my pre-distressed Wested cowhide. I've finally got it darker than ITG's photos. At least that's how it looks now that I'm all done. In a few days I'll see if the jacket lightens up some and possibly take some photos out in the sunlight comparing it to my pre-distressed G&B cowhide.

I.J.