Riri vs Crown zipper

[bigmanbigtruck]

Typically on stiff hides you're gonna see these waves develop. Not necessarily from folding them in a backpack or box, but just from movement and tension causing these bends. Softness of the zipper tape is going to force the teeth to take on that waviness. But these sliders are pretty good at routing the teeth together.

I've gotten used and relatively new LWs which also have this waviness but haven't run into difficulties pulling up the zipper. I have the same Crown zipper on multiple jackets as you do - they just glide through. Take care that you are getting the insertion pin to hit the bottom stop. You could try lubricating the teeth with wax or graphite and see if that helps.

 

[photo2u]

The topic of this thread is close enough so I'll post my question here:
When we talk about leather jackets we usually discuss how a #10 zipper is ideal for the main zipper (at least in terms of max durability, but maybe overkill in terms of aesthetics). Or at least a #8 is highly recommended as the perfect compromise, especially if the leather is not absurdly thick and stiff.
For other zippers #5 seems to be the default? I'm talking about sleeve zippers, chest pocket zippers, handwarmer pocket zippers, d-pocket zippers, etc..
I'd like to use RiRi zippers for an upcoming jacket.
They don't have #5 it seems, only #4, #6 and #8.
#8 will be the main zipper, but what about the others?
Would you go #4 or #6 for the other zippers?

Six. Some companies claim #5 zippers as #6. Some #5 Military zips, are strong as hell. Those Mil. Zips tend to run bigger than the average #5

 

[NamoAmituofo]

Typically on stiff hides you're gonna see these waves develop. Not necessarily from folding them in a backpack or box, but just from movement and tension causing these bends. Softness of the zipper tape is going to force the teeth to take on that waviness. But these sliders are pretty good at routing the teeth together.

I've gotten used and relatively new LWs which also have this waviness but haven't run into difficulties pulling up the zipper. I have the same Crown zipper on multiple jackets as you do - they just glide through. Take care that you are getting the insertion pin to hit the bottom stop. You could try lubricating the teeth with wax or graphite and see if that helps.

Many thanks that makes good sense! I have beeswax from leather working kit and I’ll wax the zipper as you guys have done.

 

[Camel24hrs]

When it comes to exact replica A2 jackets crown zips are on a number of contracts. When shelling out a lot of money for an exact reproduction having the correct zipper is a must. Eastman now owns the rights to the Crown name. They make reproduction Crown zippers to put on their A2 repos that originally came with Crown zippers. I have a Crown zip on a Rough Wear 1401-P A2 from Eastman. I have a Rough Wear 27752 from Eastman that comes with a correct Talon zipper. While I admit the Crown looks cool, as far as smoothness of operation the Talon is better than the Crown.

Other than for that reason I don’t see any reason to pay high dollar for any zipper. Just go with a good quality zipper.

 

[TartuWolf]

When it comes to exact replica A2 jackets crown zips are on a number of contracts. When shelling out a lot of money for an exact reproduction having the correct zipper is a must. Eastman now owns the rights to the Crown name. They make reproduction Crown zippers to put on their A2 repos that originally came with Crown zippers. I have a Crown zip on a Rough Wear 1401-P A2 from Eastman. I have a Rough Wear 27752 from Eastman that comes with a correct Talon zipper. While I admit the Crown looks cool, as far as smoothness of operation the Talon is better than the Crown.

Other than for that reason I don’t see any reason to pay high dollar for any zipper. Just go with a good quality zipper.

Depends on how high the "high dollar" is.
For example of you're buying a 1000 jacket and have the option to "upgrade" from a generic YKK to something like RiRi or Waldes for an extra 50 then I think it makes sense to do so as it's only a 5% increase in total price.

 

[Camel24hrs]

Depends on how high the "high dollar" is.
For example of you're buying a 1000 jacket and have the option to "upgrade" from a generic YKK to something like RiRi or Waldes for an extra 50 then I think it makes sense to do so as it's only a 5% increase in total price.

50 dollars is a cheap upgrade for a zipper. In the world of A2s if you by a non Eastman jacket your only option is NOS Crown which are getting rare. Try several 100 bucks.