Optimal Weight/Thickness

[red devil]

Oh, I could see Lost Worlds maybe trying it. I don't fancy it either, but maybe we're just jacket queens who can't cope with proper, manly leather....

I think he goes up to 5 oz.
Then again he would probably be able to make a 6 oz jacket, I shudder at what a monster it would be

 

[Logician]

Yes. I know several manufacturers source their hides from Italian tanneries. I can name several that do. Not sure of the laws in Europe or Asia for horse slaughter or usage though. Just a thought I was having. Someone can buy an American hide and a faux fur collar for your jacket and say to themselves how ethical and clean it is but not even consider how terrible the tanning process is. I think if you’re into this stuff there’s no way to win an ethics argument.

FYI According to Horween's Website, some of their raw HH (i.e. pre-tanned hides) come from Quebec, Canada.

 

[navetsea]

2mm is where it starts getting good!

one day I will dare myself. I have a 2 layers of 1.6mm on the back of my jacket, it just doesn't make any bullsht creases, let alone breaking in

will surely love kidney panel madeof 2x2mm veg hide, one day

 

[jacketjunkie]

Alan has some pretty thick bison leather that is very pliable and soft. i have a car coat made from 3.75 oz bison from him and it is not stiff at all, cannot stand by its own or anything alike. I'm pretty sure you could wear a jacket made from that stuff in 5 or 6 oz and be perfectly comfortable, it would still be easier to handle than CLX.

 

[Peacoat]

2mm is where it starts getting good!

2mm is 5 oz. leather. That goes well beyond "getting good" for me. I would never do well with Stu's manly hides. I think his manly hides are about 4 oz maybe a little thicker. That is well beyond what I want to deal with for casual street wear.

 

[Fanch]

My one and only "heavy" coat is my brown FQHH Teamster and definitely wouldn't want to go any heavier than that. My "sweet spots" are my two Vicenza Sheenes that are very flexible with outstanding drape. I find that MWHH and Aero's veg tanned goatskin seem to work best for me. I tried on a friend's LW (Stu) heavy HH jacket that was IMO was exceptionally well made but very heavy / stiff, and not for me.

 

[Logician]

I remember there was a law passed some years ago against horse slaughter (other than for euthanasia in individual cases) in the US. I suspect a lot of the horsehides tanned in the US must come from elsewhere (possibly part of Europe where horsemeat is also eaten); surely our niche is big enough that it would take forever if we had to wait around for every horse to drop with old age?

Horween gets 75 percent of its horsehide from France and 25 percent from the Canadian province of Quebec. Both are byproducts of the food industry.
Viande Richelieu (Richelieu's Meat), near Saint-Hyacinthe, is the main horse slaughter and cutting plant in Quebec. It owns another plant in Alberta, which exports all its production, and a facility in France, located directly on the site of the Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, from where it receives and distributes products all over Europe. As for the horsehides, they are primarily exported to the US. Surprisingly, there is no horse leather tannery in Quebec. Perhaps some of the Horween's CXL horsehides used to make some of my Aero's leather jackets come from Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, 35 miles from my home. I can smell the distinctive odor of maple syrup emanating from the hides!

 

[Edward]

Horween gets 75 percent of its horsehide from France and 25 percent from the Canadian province of Quebec. Both are byproducts of the food industry.
Viande Richelieu (Richelieu's Meat), near Saint-Hyacinthe, is the main horse slaughter and cutting plant in Quebec. It owns another plant in Alberta, which exports all its production, and a facility in France, located directly on the site of the Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, from where it receives and distributes products all over Europe. As for the horsehides, they are primarily exported to the US. Surprisingly, there is no horse leather tannery in Quebec. Perhaps some of the Horween's CXL horsehides used to make some of my Aero's leather jackets come from Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, 35 miles from my home. I can smell the distinctive odor of maple syrup emanating from the hides!

Thanks, that's useful to have confirmed. A big part of why I like leather so much is that, ideally, it uses what would otherwise be waste. I'm not uncomfortable with my position at the top of the foodchain, but I do feel strongly that if we are going to take life from nature, we should respect it by using as much and wasting as little as is possible.