Horsehides Modern RESURGENCE!!

[DiamondDave]

Gents,

I was just last Friday ordering some new HH, and in speaking with my supplier in Maine, I asked why this last batch was so heavy and what it was being produced for. He answered "For the US Air Force" and I said... "ahem, excuse me?" He went on to tell me that the USAF has gone back to the use of both cow and HH in large production runs of the type A-2 jacket.

Apparently too many companies in the US were having trouble with sourcing goatskin, while keeping in line with the rules of the Berry Amendment. As such, the AF went back to HH as well as cow, but both to be done to the same standard and in the same flat mid brown color. The hides in question are also mandated to be semi-aniline and finished with the pigment, so that the resulting underside looks very much like what Real McCoys gets from Shinki. This stuff is GREAT... almost as heavy as the Shinki, but in a flat pigment finish. Just a little modification to my sewing practices, and a color nudge, and this stuff is gonna be GOLDEN for my uses. Perhaps even for the uses of some of my fellow jacket makers as well.

That is all the news that is fit to report from the DOD these days.

Ciao for now,

DD

 

[Seb Lucas]

Sorry, I'm not aware of your work - what do you do Dave?

 

[majormajor]

Sorry, I'm not aware of your work - what do you do Dave?

Dave does this:

http://www.diamondcapco.com/

 

[Davy Crockett]

Wow, that 1938 Monarch Aviator is a very nice jacket!

D

 

[Fanch]

Oh my gosh, another Okie, the northern extension of Texas. ound: All kidding aside, interesting website.

 

[kyboots]

Wow, that 1938 Monarch Aviator is a very nice jacket!

D

Looks like a two tone Bootlegger. Sure got my interest too.

 

[IXL]

Oh my gosh, another Okie, the northern extension of Texas. ound: All kidding aside, interesting website.

You can't swing a dead cat around here without hittin' an Okie!!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Oh my gosh, another Okie, the northern extension of Texas. ound:

Aren't they really just like Texans..only smaller..?

 

[IXL]

Aren't they really just like Texans..only smaller..?

I knew it! You're on Fanch's payroll!!

 

[Fanch]

IXL and I love to have a bit of friendly banter between us whenever the occasion arises. IXL is the one who pointed out that if one looks at the map, Texas and Oklahoma really appear as one state. Actually, I am not from Texas but E Tennessee, separated from Hoosier Land (Indiana) only by the the state of Kentucky. I am basically a mountain man and have been like a fish out of water ever since arriving in Texas years and years ago. Both IXL and HD pointed out to me a long time ago that I needed to be in a size 42. Turns out both were right. Too soon old; too late smart. :eusa_doh:

 

[DiamondDave]

Oh yeah, I guess it has been quite a long while since I have been on the forum.

I am Diamond Dave... artist, artisan, cap maker, jacket maker... a great little dancer, and I make my own suits. Ok, the last two are dubious, and I cannot sing to save my life, either!

All of that said, I am a one man shop here in the great northern reaches of Texas, ahem (Oklahoma)... my personal focus is on Pre WWII clothing as well as militaria collecting. For the last six years I have been in the custom cap business... however, I seem to have done all that I can in that arena as unfortunately people just do not wear hats anymore...Damned Kennedies!! Though Eastman leather is a client of mine and I will continue to make caps for them for the foreseeable future, I have recently been expanding into other areas of sewing, including leather garments as well as fusion garments of leather and wool...the response has been quite favorable and things are looking up around here.

Anyway that is enough self-aggrandizing... I am happy to be returning to the forum here and look forward to working and chatting with many of you.

DD

 

[majormajor]

Oh yeah, I guess it has been quite a long while since I have been on the forum.

I am Diamond Dave... artist, artisan, cap maker, jacket maker... a great little dancer, and I make my own suits. Ok, the last two are dubious, and I cannot sing to save my life, either!

All of that said, I am a one man shop here in the great northern reaches of Texas, ahem (Oklahoma)... my personal focus is on Pre WWII clothing as well as militaria collecting. For the last six years I have been in the custom cap business... however, I seem to have done all that I can in that arena as unfortunately people just do not wear hats anymore...Damned Kennedies!! Though Eastman leather is a client of mine and I will continue to make caps for them for the foreseeable future, I have recently been expanding into other areas of sewing, including leather garments as well as fusion garments of leather and wool...the response has been quite favorable and things are looking up around here.

Anyway that is enough self-aggrandizing... I am happy to be returning to the forum here and look forward to working and chatting with many of you.

DD

Keep up the great work, DD

 

[DiamondDave]

Keep up the great work, DD

Thanks Major... I shall keep plugging along!!

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Dave, can you snap a picture of the new leather? Would love to see it. Also, what other patterns do you have coming? Thank you.

 

[DiamondDave]

Joel,

Pics will be forthcoming soon... I am using this great HH to make another new (For Me) jacket from the mid 30's... hopefully it will make a few salivate!!!

DD