New Schott 618 Horsehide!!! Questions....

[Phillips88]

Hey guys I just received a new Schott Perfecto 618 horsehide in the mail last week. This is my second Schott but the first jacket iv ever had in horse. So far I'm pretty impressed, its definitely a different beast compared to my naked cowhide 141 iv had for some time but of course I was expecting that. I did my homework on horsehide before I ordered it and knew what I bear it was probably going to be with break in compared to my past jackets.

When I first tried on the jacket, it was very stiff as expected, especially in the body of the jacket. The sleeves on the other hand weren't very stiff at all. You could tell the jacket had never been worn or tried on because there were "0" creases in the sleeves and you could just tell it was brand new. Its mainly in the top of the sleeves, the elbow/zipper cuff sides are more stiff like the rest of the jacket.

Does anyone know if this is normal for a Schott horsehide to be put together like this? I don't want to complain and "look a gift horse in the mouth" (no pun intended) but from the looks of it, my jackets sleeves need little to no break in unlike the body of the jacket and almost if the assembler at Schott took a little extra time assembling this jacket knowing the sleeves would need to bend more than the rest of the jacket. This may very well be a good thing not to complain about.....any reason this is a bad thing?? For both sleeves to be this soft on a new jacket when the rest of the jacket is still pretty stiff and need of break in?? Any thoughts.....? Thought id ask you gentlemen with a little more experience with horsehide them myself. Thanks!

 

[Carlos840]

Pretty sure all the jacket is actually made with the same leather, the arms just break in faster because you are always moving them.
The body is always the last part of the body to look worn in, on any brand jacket.
Just wear it and enjoy it.

 

[Phillips88]

Pretty sure all the jacket is actually made with the same leather, the arms just break in faster because you are always moving them.
The body is always the last part of the body to look worn in, on any brand jacket.
Just wear it and enjoy it.

I noticed this like right out of the shopping box from Schott. To my knowledge the arms had never been bent at this time. It just seems odd at first that the forearms on both sleeves were softer than the rest of the jacket. I remember seeing an old post on Schotts forum that Oren Schott posted saying that Schott tired to utilize the entire horsehide so nothing went to waist. That they apparently have particular jobs at the factory where people are "leather selecters" who piece together the jackets and the better picks of the hides themselves. Regardless I think I got a beautiful jacket and like you said, im just gonna wear it and enjoy it! I just didn't know if anyone had ever heard of this before and if any changes needed to be made with Schott, I need to do it now whIle it's still considered new and is exchangeable

 

[TREEMAN]

Pics ASAP.........

 

[Phillips88]

I'll take some pics just as soon as I get home!

Keep in mind guys, as I'm sure youll be able to tell when I get pics posted but when I start to break in a jacket I do it right and it's all from natural wear. It was delivered this past Thursday and it's been on my body basicly....sense! (Not sleeping or anything like that though) It's got both Saturday and Sunday bike rides too.

 

[Phillips88]

I'll take some pics just as soon as I get home!

Keep in mind guys, as I'm sure youll be able to tell when I get pics posted but when I start to break in a jacket I do it right and it's all from natural wear. It was delivered this past Thursday and it's been on my body basicly....sense! (Not sleeping or anything like that though) It's got both Saturday and Sunday bike rides too.

 

[TREEMAN]

I'll take some pics just as soon as I get home!

Keep in mind guys, as I'm sure youll be able to tell when I get pics posted but when I start to break in a jacket I do it right and it's all from natural wear. It was delivered this past Thursday and it's been on my body basicly....sense! (Not sleeping or anything like that though) It's got both Saturday and Sunday bike rides too.

I'm sure this will break-in beautifully.......

 

[Phillips88]

I'm sure this will break-in beautifully.......

Thank you Treeman!...We're you able to see the post with the pics?

 

[AeroFan_07]

Yes agreed, looks nice. I have a J106 in FQHH that I'm just starting to tame, rather a horse in fact. Enjoy it!

 

[Phillips88]

Yes agreed, looks nice. I have a J106 in FQHH that I'm just starting to tame, rather a horse in fact. Enjoy it!

Thanks AeroFan_07! I've just been wearing it as much as I can and im really staring to enjoy how it's turning out. Good luck on your break in. I'm sure it looks awesome too! Keep us posted, post us up some pics when ya get a chance!

 

[Monitor]

Phillips, welcome to the forum. To answer your question - yes, this is perfectly normal.

You're right about the jacket being constructed from specific pieces of hide. Like you said, it's due to proper utilization of the hide and to get the most of it for the right parts of the jacket. That is why, usually, upper sleeve, chest and back panels will be made of thicker, heavier and aesthetically cleaner pieces, while softer and thus grainier leather will be used in underarms, side panels, etc. where the most creasing occurs.

From my experience, when it comes to breaking the jacket in, it's always the arms and armpits that break in first due to you moving and bending 'em of course.

Looking at the photos, I can tell you right away that you got a perfectly matched jacket with no pieces of that wrinkled hide, which is something that doesn't happen very often at all. I personally don't care either way when it comes to my jackets, but I would often see people complain about the grainy parts of their new HH jackets for some reason. In any case, it's a real gem you got there, man. One for the promo shots.

Another thing is, in comparison with some other makers, horsehide that Schott is using nowadays breaks in very quickly. I have had a 618HH and it got fully broken in literally after two weeks of wear. It was a great jacket I honestly couldn't have upgraded upon and I sold it because I was an idiot thinking there's better stuff out there. That, and the size didn't work.

So please, please, please, don't think so much about it. It's a perfect jacket so if it fits, just enjoy it. It will only keep getting better and eventually, you'll have serious trouble finding a better looking leather.

 

[Phillips88]

Phillips, welcome to the forum. To answer your question - yes, this is perfectly normal.

You're right about the jacket being constructed from specific pieces of hide. Like you said, it's due to proper utilization of the hide and to get the most of it for the right parts of the jacket. That is why, usually, upper sleeve, chest and back panels will be made of thicker, heavier and aesthetically cleaner pieces, while softer and thus grainier leather will be used in underarms, side panels, etc. where the most creasing occurs.

From my experience, when it comes to breaking the jacket in, it's always the arms and armpits that break in first due to you moving and bending 'em of course.

Looking at the photos, I can tell you right away that you got a perfectly matched jacket with no pieces of that wrinkled hide, which is something doesn't happen very often at all when it comes to Schott. I personally don't care about it but people would often complain about the grainy parts of their new HH jackets for some reason. In any case, you got a real gem here, man. One for the promo shots.

Another thing is, in comparison with some other makers, horsehide that Schott is using nowadays breaks in very quickly. I have had a 618HH and it got broken in literally after two weeks of wear. It was a great jacket I honestly couldn't have upgraded upon and I sold it because I was an idiot thinking there's better stuff out there. That, and the size didn't work.

So please, please, please, don't think so much about it. It's a perfect jacket so if it fits, just enjoy it. It will only keep getting better and eventually, you'll have serious trouble finding a better looking leather.

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Thanks man I really appreciate it. I'll be honest, I studied quite a bit before I made the decision to go with horsehide and from reading your posts, you were one of the ones who helped me make the decision to go that route. I could tell you knew your stuff! Appreciate the advice man!

I could tell right away when my 618hh came out of the shipping box, before it was ever tried on, that it just seemed way to coincidental that the leather seemed softer and had that "already broke in" feeling in the places where it should be. Then when I tried it one, it was no time that the arms and elbows already seemed broke in for the most part. Then I got curious and of course I over think everything like that, so I started researching. Like I mentioned earlier I came across a old post by Oren Schott explaining his horsehide and how his jackets were put together. He mentioned that he had "leather sorters/assembers" that tired to do this this very thing so I was hoping this was the case and I didn't get a lemon jacket or something lol in my head I was thinking "GREAT! I'm going to wear the sleeves out before I ever do the body of the jacket" lol. That's when I came here hoping for some good advice....and I was right! Thank you!

 

[Monitor]

Thank you! I'm happy you think so tho there's so much knowledge here on TFL and I'm just mostly paraphrasing other, more experienced members for the most part anyway. What I do know and am sure of is the quality of Schott HH and I think you made the best choice you could have to go with their horsehide.

People often complain about the supposedly stiff and rigid horsehide but for example, Horween CXL HH Aero is using tends to break even faster than Schott HH. On the other hand, you have LW that cannot be tamed or Vanson which takes approx. five years to start looking like someone actually wore it. My Schott jacket is a model made specifically for this motorcycle company that apparently spec'd heaviest hide and it shows. That thing's just relentless. Vanson grade stuff. Anyhow, the jacket was perfectly matched when I got it, completely even and smooth all around. Now, variations in the hide are popping up like crazy; one sleeve is creasing differently than the other, left side is becoming visibly grainier. . . But that's exactly what makes it the best buy I've ever made. While I've seen people whining about this exact thing, in my opinion, it's what makes this jacket becoming more beautiful each day I wear it.

 

[Phillips88]

I agree. That's what makes it YOUR jacket! If they were all the same, we'd just all buy them predistressed that way lol. How long did it take before you saw it start to dramatically start to change that way? I just saw that pic you posted of that beautiful sleeve, is that your Schott?

 

[Pdxgeo]

Fit pics would be nice too.

On another note the arms look gigantic...lol

Nice jacket man

 

[Phillips88]

Fit pics would be nice too.

On another note the arms look gigantic...lol

Nice jacket man

Lol thanks man. I think they accidentally came out that way especially sense we were first emphasizing the sleeves themselves.

 

[tmitchell59]

Looks Good!

 

[nick123]

+1

 

[adiadi]

Hey guys I just received a new Schott Perfecto 618 horsehide in the mail last week. This is my second Schott but the first jacket iv ever had in horse. So far I'm pretty impressed, its definitely a different beast compared to my naked cowhide 141 iv had for some time but of course I was expecting that. I did my homework on horsehide before I ordered it and knew what I bear it was probably going to be with break in compared to my past jackets.

When I first tried on the jacket, it was very stiff as expected, especially in the body of the jacket. The sleeves on the other hand weren't very stiff at all. You could tell the jacket had never been worn or tried on because there were "0" creases in the sleeves and you could just tell it was brand new. Its mainly in the top of the sleeves, the elbow/zipper cuff sides are more stiff like the rest of the jacket.

Does anyone know if this is normal for a Schott horsehide to be put together like this? I don't want to complain and "look a gift horse in the mouth" (no pun intended) but from the looks of it, my jackets sleeves need little to no break in unlike the body of the jacket and almost if the assembler at Schott took a little extra time assembling this jacket knowing the sleeves would need to bend more than the rest of the jacket. This may very well be a good thing not to complain about.....any reason this is a bad thing?? For both sleeves to be this soft on a new jacket when the rest of the jacket is still pretty stiff and need of break in?? Any thoughts.....? Thought id ask you gentlemen with a little more experience with horsehide them myself. Thanks!

Mate, the Schott leather jacket, compared to all my HH jackets is the softest and the most delicate. I even contact them with no real luck. The leather over all is so feeble that I could tear it with my hands if tired. Unfortunately, I bought it online without seeing the jacket in person. It's fancy jacket you can wear around but won't give you any real protection if you fell off your bike. In addition to that, the thickness of the jacket varies in different part of the jacket, you are right if you feel the leather on the arms is much thinner and softer. That my first and last Schott jacket.

 

[Phillips88]

Mate, the Schott leather jacket, compared to all my HH jackets is the softest and the most delicate. I even contact them with no real luck. The leather over all is so feeble that I could tear it with my hands if tired. Unfortunately, I bought it online without seeing the jacket in person. It's fancy jacket you can wear around but won't give you any real protection if you fell off your bike. In addition to that, the thickness of the jacket varies in different part of the jacket, you are right if you feel the leather on the arms is much thinner and softer. That my first and last Schott jacket.

Does it seem that delicate all over or just in curtain places? What did Schott have to say about it? Particular model? Can you elaborate...