US leather jacket makers

[Rugby]

You could message him here/on VLJ or email him. That's what I'd do if I were ordering. I found out about him through his forum posts, so why would I give eBay a cut of his money when they had nothing to do with my discovering his work?

Roger that.

 

[Rugby]

I know. It's got to be cost prohibitive for them apparently.... but this HH Comet is a favorite of mine. Just awesome graining.

Speaking of hides, why is it that deer hide is more expensive? There are so many deer. In Virginia they had to seriously cull the herds. Is it difficult to process or work with? Honestly I don't know. I just go by the fact that the supply is plentiful.

 

[morrison2951]

Speaking of hides, why is it that deer hide is more expensive? There are so many deer. In Virginia they had to seriously cull the herds. Is it difficult to process or work with? Honestly I don't know. I just go by the fact that the supply is plentiful.

No idea. Here's my G&B US maker deerskin. It's soft, but very tough wearing.

 

[Rugby]

No idea. Here's my G&B US maker deerskin. It's soft, but very tough wearing.

That jacket looks awesome. Tough wearing you mean that it is thick?
I was thinking that my next jacket adventure to be bison or deer hide.

 

[Aloysius]

Speaking of hides, why is it that deer hide is more expensive? There are so many deer. In Virginia they had to seriously cull the herds. Is it difficult to process or work with? Honestly I don't know. I just go by the fact that the supply is plentiful.

The supply of the animals is plentiful, but with cows it's more directly downstream of the meat production process. (I.e. that labor of removing the skin is already happening.)

 

[morrison2951]

That jacket looks awesome. Tough wearing you mean that it is thick?
I was thinking that my next jacket adventure to be bison or deer hide.

Not so much thick.... but just indestructible. Deer and kangaroo are like that.

 

[Rugby]

Not so much thick.... but just indestructible. Deer and kangaroo are like that.

I like that. I will look into it

 

[Rugby]

The supply of the animals is plentiful, but with cows it's more directly downstream of the meat production process. (I.e. that labor of removing the skin is already happening.)

Yeah, I guess, but with so many deer being donated for meat, you would think that the price wouldn't be that much higher. It's a negotiating point I guess with whatever maker offers the option.

 

[Canuck Panda]

$400 upcharge is hard to swallow. Especially when most of their stuff retails in the $600 range. But to be fair, other premium jacket makers are mostly over that $1,000 retail mark.

Game hides like Bison and deer are harvested once a year in the fall. And I believe the military contracts (that specifies US made) will take some of that, then the rest gets exported. A pair of Hestra deerskin gloves retails about the same as a stock 5Star jacket, but only uses 1/20th of the material.

For the indie makers to use these hides they would either have to pay retail which is at least $12 to $15 per square foot, or they have to pony up a small sum up front to store enough at wholesale. So the prices goes up.

Indie leather jacket is tough business to be in for sure.

 

[JMax]

This isn’t bespoke. All the “customs” by all the makers are just tweaks of their stock patterns and designs. That said, Vanson’s $400 upcharge, give or take, is well worth it imo. Not just for the HH, but for whatever other custom addition. They can do most anything. Many examples peppered throughout the site, to include my Chopper/Berserker. Saint Constantine and I went through it part by part, measurement by measurement and tweaked it. And my Vanson vest, again worked with Constantine.

 

[Aloysius]

This isn’t bespoke. All the “customs” by all the makers are just tweaks of their stock patterns and designs. That said, Vanson’s $400 upcharge, give or take, is well worth it imo. Not just for the HH, but for whatever other custom addition. They can do most anything. Many examples peppered throughout the site, to include my Chopper/Berserker. Saint Constantine and I went through it part by part, measurement by measurement and tweaked it. And my Vanson vest, again worked with Constantine.

Generally true, but Lewis for instance will do full bespoke, making a pattern specific to the customer, if necessary. It usually isn't, though, given the nature of leather vs textile.

 

[JMax]

Cool. I did not know that. Vanson is capable, given that it offers the service for racing suits. As you say, not typically necessary.

 

[Rugby]

$400 upcharge is hard to swallow. Especially when most of their stuff retails in the $600 range. But to be fair, other premium jacket makers are mostly over that $1,000 retail mark.

Game hides like Bison and deer are harvested once a year in the fall. And I believe the military contracts (that specifies US made) will take some of that, then the rest gets exported. A pair of Hestra deerskin gloves retails about the same as a stock 5Star jacket, but only uses 1/20th of the material.

For the indie makers to use these hides they would either have to pay retail which is at least $12 to $15 per square foot, or they have to pony up a small sum up front to store enough at wholesale. So the prices goes up.

Indie leather jacket is tough business to be in for sure.

Well, I think I'm going hunting for deer. Never hunted before, but how hard can it be.
Seriously, I understand why horse hide is expensive, and the indie/repro makers charge up for that, and even bison but deer I would think should not be more expensive than cowhide, even if they're harvested once a year, which I don't believe is the case, but I'm not sure. I just speculate from the fact that states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky and quite a few other states, hire professional hunters to cull the herd. They get to keep some and the rest are given to the state. Now I don't know how much of that is going to the military, but I wouldn't think is that much. And as for deer hide gloves amazon to the rescue
https://www.amazon.com/DEERSKIN-LEA...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
I'm definitely though going to have a bison jacket by Johnsons. They have available hides. I will ask about deer. Production makers like Schott and Vanson although they make fine products, they have limited to no options and if you go with Schott it's impossible to customize anything to fit, unless, I imagine, you pay a hefty surcharge. So, if we go for wide spectrum of choices it is going to be the small repro makers and it's expensive, unless one wants to look outside the US, say, Pakistan, because European or Canadian(Himmel) makers are as expensive.

 

[Rugby]

Generally true, but Lewis for instance will do full bespoke, making a pattern specific to the customer, if necessary. It usually isn't, though, given the nature of leather vs textile.

Lewis are from England, right?
Well from what I've experienced, Johnson Leathers will make a jacket from tweaks of existing patterns, to completely bespoke. They need detailed requirements.
Vanson were very hesitant to flat out saying no to make something that was not already on their website. I will try them again, still asking for HH, wouldn't want to confuse them with exotics like bison of deer

 

[Aloysius]

Yep, Lewis is in downtown London.

Johnson will also do bespoke as necessary, to my knowledge, as you mention. Greg Field as well.

I guess Vanson offers it on suits but not jackets because (I'm not a moto racer, but I assume) such a suit needs to fit through your whole body, whereas getting MTM/OTR separates can get closer to an exact fir than an OTR full body suit.

 

[Canuck Panda]

There are a LOT of deer in NE Yes! But not a lot of them are being treated into leather. I don’t know why, but most leather demand is cowhide. That’s what Horween runs mostly.
https://www.horween.com/blog/2010/12/14/by-request-whats-the-difference
The game hides are tanned by much smaller tanneries like Colonial/Sunderland/Law. And they aren‘t running the game hides all year round. So supply is limited. But the price is still same or less than premium cowhide.
https://dailygazette.com/2018/02/15/sunderland-leather-a-survivor-in-a-vanished-industry/
I have a Horween deer/Elk jacket. It is very rustic. I don’t mind the scars and so forth, but I doubt it would be marketable. 90% of the shoppers would return it thinking the scars are flawed.
A lot of deerskin on the market is printed or corrected. They are usually thinner. Still same softness.
Horween has a special product called Dearborn, which is cowhide made to imitate the feel and look of deerskin.

Most of the leather for garment out there is gonna be cowhide/steerhide. It’s very stable and prefered. The game hides are very niche. Every now and then every maker runs some special niche hides. The wait is worth it imo.

Also I’ve never seen a Vanson made from game hides other than horsehide. But I’ve seen Langlitz and Johnson made in game hides Like moose and bison…etc. Lost Worlds also offer deerskin at BIG surcharge. Johnson (to me) is like Langlitz without the brand surcharge. But Langlitz stocks Shinki now. Vanson also has more styles than any of the Westcoast shops. So there’s pros and cons with everyone.

 

[Aloysius]

They are usually thinner. Still same softness.
Horween has a special product called Dearborn, which is cowhide made to imitate the feel and look of deerskin.

I believe Schott makes a few "Deer feel" jackets out of this.

Just looked it up. 3-4oz Horween cowhide that feels like soft deer, apparently.

 

[Rugby]

There are a LOT of deer in NE Yes! But not a lot of them are being treated into leather. I don’t know why, but most leather demand is cowhide. That’s what Horween runs mostly.
https://www.horween.com/blog/2010/12/14/by-request-whats-the-difference
The game hides are tanned by much smaller tanneries like Colonial/Sunderland/Law. And they aren‘t running the game hides all year round. So supply is limited. But the price is still same or less than premium cowhide.
https://dailygazette.com/2018/02/15/sunderland-leather-a-survivor-in-a-vanished-industry/
I have a Horween deer/Elk jacket. It is very rustic. I don’t mind the scars and so forth, but I doubt it would be marketable. 90% of the shoppers would return it thinking the scars are flawed.
A lot of deerskin on the market is printed or corrected. They are usually thinner. Still same softness.
Horween has a special product called Dearborn, which is cowhide made to imitate the feel and look of deerskin.

Most of the leather for garment out there is gonna be cowhide/steerhide. It’s very stable and prefered. The game hides are very niche. Every now and then every maker runs some special niche hides. The wait is worth it imo.

Agreed. Well said.
I like the rustic look. That's why I am pursuing the issue.
I will ask and hopefully it won't be an unreasonable wait nor overly expensive.

 

[Rugby]

I believe Schott makes a few "Deer feel" jackets out of this.

Just looked it up. 3-4oz Horween cowhide that feels like soft deer, apparently.

Yeah and they charge $1500

 

[Aloysius]

Yeah and they charge $1500

It's not a deerskin, so not what you're looking for, but I can see why a 4 oz hide that wears like a thin one would cost a premium. It would be interesting to try on sometime.