Aero FQHH vs Vintage FQHH

[OneEyeMan]

I have a brown Highwayman made with FQHH.
It's beautiful, except some panels are smooth, and some have developed nice graining.
Would it be more likely to get a jacket with even graining all over if it were made of the Vintage FQHH?
Other than pre-distressing, are there any other differences between the 2 leathers?
Thanks all,
Lenny

 

[apba1166]

No. The vintage is even more uneven.

 

[Fanch]

My only HH jacket is a Highwayman made of vintage black FQHH, and the panels all appear to be very uniform with little or no variation in color or grain, although I suppose that black is black. Maybe there is more variation with the vintage brown. I have been told that vintage brown varies from light brown to dark brown, smooth finish to medium to heavy grain running throughout the hide. Also, there has been a great deal of confusion regarding the difference between vintage and tumbled. Again, I was told that vintage and tumbled are one and the same.

I would be interested in hearing more information regarding specific differences between vintage/tumbled and regular FQHH. I vaguely recall new regular FQHH having an oily, waxy feel that is pleasant to the touch, whereas my vintage black Highwayman has more of a smooth, dry feel. This topic has been discussed before but not enough to my satisfaction. Aero's FQHH utility jackets seem to set them apart from other manufacturers and is perhaps for which they are best known. In any case, I think this is a great thread and would be interested in hearing what others have to say on the subject.

 

[pauleway]

No. The vintage is even more uneven.

I just got a 2-tone 30's HB in vintage FQHH, (will post pics when I can get my daughter over here) and all I can tell you is that it is a beautiful hide. I was always a goatskin fan and heard all the raves about the FQHH so I thought I'd give it a try. Well now I know what all the shouting is about, it is really nice. The difference between vintage and regular FQHH is the vintage is not as stiff in the beginning and it is not as shiny. But the different panels of the jacket do have different textures to them!

 

[767fo]

My brown FQHH Highwayman has no grain other than the left cuff. It is the only HH jacket I have with virtually no grain.

 

[wdw]

It seems there's no one answer to this, as peoples' experiences differ. I have both vintage and regular and in my case the vintage is seems marginally thinner but noticeably stiffer, particularly in the arms, although that may be down to the specific sections of hide used. Vintage looks better out of the box, but in the longer term I reckon regular would catch up.

The difference between smooth and grain is presumably partly down to matching cuts prior to manufacture, but I'd imagine that an individual hide will have variances anyway. Guaranteeing matching panels would mean more waste, more effort and more cost.

If I had to choose only one for the rest of my life I'd choose regular. Luckily life's not that tough, so I'm happy to have both.

 

[Sloan1874]

I have a brown Highwayman made with FQHH.
It's beautiful, except some panels are smooth, and some have developed nice graining.
Would it be more likely to get a jacket with even graining all over if it were made of the Vintage FQHH?
Other than pre-distressing, are there any other differences between the 2 leathers?
Thanks all,
Lenny

When did you get the jacket, OEM?

 

[Edward]

Leather is skin. Skin varies... I'd be suspicious of any hide that was just a bit too uniform...

 

[Grayland]

...

 

[Windward]

Here's my VINTAGE brown FQHH Windward ... heavenly grained in most of the parts...

and here' my old REGULAR brown FQHH - which is more smooth with hardly grain ... but the depth of the color is stronger and looks more marbling ... straight out of the box it looks like a brand new jacket and its quite stiff - and nice!!

Because of the depth of the colors I am about to order regular brown FQHH next ... with many modifications.

 

[OneEyeMan]

When did you get the jacket, OEM?

The jacket is about 4 years old.
While it's close to perfect, like everybody, I'm looking for that perfect jacket.
I'm considering trading it in for another Highwayman with minor tweaks to make it perfect.
Has anybody traded in a jacket to Aero?
Approx how much can I expect to get for it?
And about how long is the wait from Aero now?
Thanks all,
Lenny

 

[Fanch]

Where I live, there seem to be barely enough cold days to wear ANY jacket; so, it might take two lifetimes to break in FQHH. Unfortunately, I am unable to compare vintage to regular FQHH at the present time. However, I have two Highwayman jackets, one in black vintage FQHH and the other in brown steerhide.

without flash

with flash

The black vintage is getting more or less regular use and slowly breaking in. The black HH is noticeably thicker, stiffer, and much heavier than the brown steer jacket. The brown steer jacket is very flexible and comfortable to wear, with one exception: the short sleeves. The brown steer was ordered from the sale page that was made by a regular machinist (not apprentice), although the steerhide appears not to be heavy 4 oz. and may be 2.5 oz. However, the sleeves are 26" with storm cuffs whereas the black vintage has 27.5" without storm cuffs. It may be the positioning of the storm cuffs that 'feel' at least 1" to high on my arms that make me never P/U the jacket when I want to put on something, and I'll probably try to sell the thing when I work up the energy to do so. hwell: Strangely enough, I have a G&B Expedition (Indy) jacket with sleeves that are just under 26" that 'feels' OK; so maybe it is mostly a storm cuffs thing.[huh]

I thought that it might be worthwhile to show a comparison of the two very different jackets and why I love one and not the other. BTW, both are size 44, although the black vintage is a bit larger than the other. At the present time, I am "circling the drain" on a Teamster in either brown regular FQHH vs. brown vintage but plan to drop down to a size 42 for the Teamster. Stay tuned!:cheers1:

 

[Fanch]

The jacket is about 4 years old.
While it's close to perfect, like everybody, I'm looking for that perfect jacket.
I'm considering trading it in for another Highwayman with minor tweaks to make it perfect.
Has anybody traded in a jacket to Aero?
Approx how much can I expect to get for it?
And about how long is the wait from Aero now?
Thanks all,
Lenny

I was told that Aero will take a trade in at 50% of new value. The problem is the expense in shipping the jacket to Scotland that mostly makes it easier to list here or sell on EBay. I thought about trading in my almost new size 44 steerhide Highwayman with too short 26" sleeves to Aero but decided not to do that primarily because of the high cost of shipping.

 

[OneEyeMan]

The main reason I want to send it to Aero for trade in is that other than sleeve length and torso length, all the measurements are perfect.
I don't want to take the chance of measurements getting "lost in translation" between them and me.
However, I have been considering selling on eBay too.
Lenny

 

[Edward]

Has anybody traded in a jacket to Aero?

No, but I have discussed it with them.

Approx how much can I expect to get for it?

They will, subject to it being in saleable condition, offer you 50% of what you paid for it, whether that was the new price or on the used market. You'll get more from it selling privately. Not that Aero are out to stiff you - they need to be able to make a profit themselves, so they will give you less than the going market rate.

And about how long is the wait from Aero now?

They seem to be quoting six months currently.

Personally, if I was that happy with my current jacket, I would keep hold of it and wait until I can raise the cash for a new one to go alongside it...

 

[Fanch]

The jacket is about 4 years old.
While it's close to perfect, like everybody, I'm looking for that perfect jacket.
I'm considering trading it in for another Highwayman with minor tweaks to make it perfect.
Has anybody traded in a jacket to Aero?
Approx how much can I expect to get for it?
And about how long is the wait from Aero now?
Thanks all,
Lenny

Lenny, I am curious; just how far off are your sleeve and body length measurements? Any pictures you might wish to share with us? If your Highwayman is close to perfect, with only minor tweaks to make it perfect, you might find that a trade in of your four-year-old Highwayman might result in a new and improved Highwayman that not only is less perfect than what you traded in but also has to be broken in again, all at great cost to you. :Cry:

 

[Highwaymanman]

Fanch, I really hope you don't sell the steerhide number, it's tops.

 

[Fanch]

Fanch, I really hope you don't sell the steerhide number, it's tops.

The brown steerhide HWM is an exceptionally nice jacket, but the sleeves are just too short for my taste. If not for that one negative feature, it would be the ideal jacket to grab on the fly. Hard to believe that too short sleeves of 1.5" makes such a difference.

 

[wdw]

Totally with you, Fanch. My original Stockman sleeves came in 1" less than specced and I didn't feel comfortable at all in it. Aero kindly rebuilt it and that extra 1" was the difference between wearing it and not. It's now my go-to jacket and I still look at the sleeves and think how grateful I am that they were fixed.

Equally I had an LHB that didn't feel right and I traded it back to Aero after a month, losing half my money, but it was better to spend extra to get it right and at least have something I felt happy to wear.

I suppose it depends how far off OEM's measurements are, but if he's been wearing it for 4 years it can't be that bad. If he does trade it in for half price or ebay it, I'd say that he hasn't lost too much in the scale of things if he ends up happier with a new jacket.

 

[Highwaymanman]

I do understand.... My Schott leather 740n could do with an extra inch on the arms. I wear it all the time though. Maybe the reason is that I was looking at buying one for however much they cost, about 660 bucks, when I found one in perfect condition for 25 bucks in the Salvation Army. Call it the 'windfall effect' but what it amounts to is that I'll not be parted from it.... ever!