Wested Indy Jacket - Experienced Advice Please

[Custom79]

Howdy.

Now that I have my order in for my Fieldmaster, I am beginning to look at a new leather jacket.
It is a happy coincidence that I have a number of nice black leather ones, but nothing in brown.

I would like to hear from those of you who have had experience in purchasing an Indy from Wested Leather.

I am usually quite happy with a 48 tall off-the-rack and I am looking for a comfortable, long-wearing jacket that I can wear out with a pair of jeans and boots.

I am very interested to know what people chose for leather - lambskin - goatskin - cowhide - and why, and I would be very happy to have someone explain to me what novapelle is.

Please feel free to let me know what to look for and what I can cheerfully do without in terms of options or special requests.

Thanks in advance for your help.

C79

 

[Doctor Strange]

If you want enough detail on Wested jackets to make your head swim, try going over to Club Obi-Wan!

My own experience is limited to my one vintage 2003 lambskin Raiders jacket. It was custom-made to my measurements, and therefore fit perfectly (so alas, I can't speak to how their stock sizes run). I specifically chose the lightweight lambskin and cotton lining both because that's what Ford wore when filming in 1980, and because I wanted a "summer" leather jacket for those times when an A-2 or G-1 is too much.

The thing to keep in mind is that Wested does not make milspec jackets, they make movie wardrobe. Their jackets are nicely constructed, but are not built to endure serious hard use. If you're rough on one, seams will pop and linings and pockets will wear out. (This hasn't happened to me, but judging by scanning years of COW postings, it occasionally happens to folks who wear the heck out of their jackets.) Of course, goatskin and cowhide are much tougher than lambskin, so those hides can take a lot more abuse - but it's still the same sewing, linings, and hardware.

The Raiders jacket is a wonderfully functional and flattering jacket, and it is well made enough for average use - but if you want something really built to endure, you'll have to look elsewhere. (For example, the US Wings Indy - excuse me, "Adventure" - jacket is much tougher. But it's also far cruder in design and oddly sized in very limited S-M-L-XL fashion. To my mind, it's nowhere near as nice as a Wested...)

 

[Woodfluter]

Hi C79 -

Interesting timing...I posted about the one I'd just recieved yesterday...check that new thread for pictures and comments.

I wanted goatskin. I have seen lambskin, own one that I inherited from an uncle. Seemingly too thin for rough use. I have several cowhide jackets, including one of vaguely similar cut but made from many more pieces. That has seen a fair deal of actual field use, rain etc. and with periodic dressing treatments, no apparent damage. But it's kind of heavy and a bit stiff. Goat seemed like the best compromise.

I'm a geologist, and I don't usually wear something like that for field work per se, but a frequent scenario is that I have meeting with a client, discuss a problem, then I go out and bash around in the bushes and mud for several hours, then we go out to dinner. I can just wear a leather jacket and I'm good for everything. Tuff enuff and versatile.

But I have some specific requirements. I really don't want elastic at the cuffs - I'll snag and tear that for sure, and they all seem to pill somewhat. And elastic at the waist bothers me - just keeps riding up. Prefer to cinch there. Plus all that elastic is "inelastic" in a sense...nice when it is quite cold, not at all nice when you're getting hot.

To these requirements, add pockets. Don't just want slash handwarmers, want something I can dump keys and wallet and maybe a knife without things falling out or tearing a fragile acetate pocket liner.

All that led me to the Indy design or jackets similar to these. Doc Strange is probably correct about the difference from milpec, but I'll add a slightly different perspective about seams. Fewer is better, because there's fewer points of failure. Double stitching adds assurance, but exposed stiches are subject to wear, while hidden ones aren't. If I ever tore a seam loose, I think I could undo part of the lining and repair it myself - I've got experience sewing leather by hand - not a huge deal. The goat seems tough and I really don't think I'll ever yank hard enough on anything to tear a seam.

One last anecdote: in addition to these practical considerations, as a boy of about 10 or 12 I first saw a picture in a family album - my dad was an avid photographer - of my father on Mt. Whitney. They lived in Keeler CA, and he was chief engineer and later manager of a soda ash mine in the Mojave desert. I clearly remember that he was wearing a short, dark leather jacket, soft and draping nicely, with no elastic and some kind of large, useful pockets. I will look for that and post it sometime...if I don't have the print here, I probably can find the negative. This was late 1930's or early 1940's, just around the time when the Indiana Jones movies were set. I hadn't thought about that connection until today.

Cheers!
- Bill

 

[1911 Man]

I ordered the Wested Raiders and have had it for about a year. I ordered Horsehide because I wanted a tough jacket. I wore it on a week long hunting trip last fall that involved miles of hiking and 4 wheeler (ATV) riding. I have worn it quite a bit this last winter. I have not yet experienced these torn seams that others speak of. The leather is thick and strong, but soft and drapes well. I am very slender, so I asked them for a little known option (not listed on their website!!) called the 80's fit, a more tapered, athletic fit. It does not cost extra, and the jacket fits me wonderfully.

Over all a great jacket, and customer service at Wested was just great, all my emails were answered promptly and professionally.

But a note about Wested Horsehide. They use a different dye process than Aero. Wested's lambskin or cowhide will distress and look like Indy's distressed jacket, but the Horsehide will not, the color stays uniform after wear. Good luck, I am very happy with mine. But if you decide to look at other jacket makers, I understand G&B makes a darn fine Indy Jacket.

 

[RockBottom]

I sure love mine which is distressed hide ("novepelle"). It's only a few months old, but I've worn is for yard work. I own two U.S. Wings jackets and would guess that the Wested will outlast them.

 

[davyjones007]

I have a lamb skin that is going on 2 years old and a cow that is a little older. both are great jackets. the lamb is a little dressier and i usually wear it as such and the cow gets thrown in there between 3 A-2's and 2 G-1's. But you really should head over to CLUB OBIWAN. You will get more than you bargained for there. Good luck and happy hunting.