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    D-Pocket leather jackets

    The origin is lost in the mists of time, but here are a few facts: These jackets started out as patrol jackets for motorcycle cops, at a time when the revolver was standard police issue. A six shot revolver runs dry very quickly in a gunfight, so many police departments either sanctioned...
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    Lengthening the Arms and Tapering a Classic Vanson

    Given what I paid for these operations, and the difficulty of working on that competition horsehide, I was happy to achieve the outcome I did. I've since had Dena work on another jacket with shortish sleeves, adding a cuff extension and several rings of stitching, which also came out great. As...
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    Trying to get rid of mold smell in leather jacket. Have run out of methods.

    I'm the author of the long thread on washing jackets. If even two cold-water washings did not dispel the odor, I can think of only two processes that haven't been covered above. Bear in mind that I have a lot of jackets I've bought for $10-$50 (don't ask, but it's high two-digits), so plenty of...
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    Kangaroo Jackets

    rkruty lists his location as Hudson, Ohio, same as US Wings. And 1.5 seconds on Linkedin finds a Robert Kruty as VP of Sales at US Wings. These may comprise what some would call a "clue."
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    Vanson Enfield in Cordovan Horsehide - pics!

    Older Vanson horsehide is close to chain mail in toughness. I have a Seventies Enfield (the early 4-pocket style), and it is at least 3 1/2 ounce hide.
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    Buffalo Pros and Cons

    Are we talking Bison or Water Buffalo here? I know nothing of Bison, but my experience with water buffalo is as follows: 1. Very common in Pakistani and Indian scooter jackets, where it provides a combination of low cost and toughness. There are dozens of $150 buffalo jackets on eBay. One brand...
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    Unity by Cooper Leathers?

    Cooper was a frequent user of secondary brands: the actual military Desert Storm jackets were branded "Saddlery", and I have a nice goatskin windbreaker-style jacket marked "Telegraph Cooper Collections." But not everything from Cooper was high grade: I also briefly possessed a Buco-style...
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    Some people just want to be Indy!

    In real life, Mr. Ford is an accomplished fixed wing and helicopter pilot who has flown medevac missions in his native Wyoming. There is at least one news account where a dehydrated couple were rescued by him. So he is entitled to wear any pilot's jacket he wants, I think. He's the real deal...
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    Belstaff and the real Che Guevara?

    It's the right length, and looks like waxed cotton. But after enlargement, it appears to have a cuff belt on the right wrist, open ended sleeves, and the hint of a w-shaped collar. Trialmasters have no cuff belts, button cuffs, and stand-up collars. Then again, it could be another Belstaff...
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    Belstaff and the real Che Guevara?

    I've been a longtime fan of both the waxed cotton Belstaff Trialmaster and the leather variant Belstaff Panther. The Trialmaster happens to be the jacket of the nanosecond in the fashion business, so I guess I came early to the party. Here's my question: there are hundreds of web references...
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    Looking for an understated Perfecto style jacket

    I have an Excelled Perfecto-style jacket that presented the same issue: I wanted its beefy leather, offset zipper, and zip sleeves, but not the young-Brando "Wild Bunch" vibe that seems to scare waitresses and convenience store clerks. My solution was to have the epaulets removed, stop wearing...
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    Baracuta G9 Jacket.

    I have that jacket, in two colors. To the best of my knowledge, it is not Van Heusen made, but rather the "rest of world" jacket made by Baracuta for sales outside the US, where the Four Climes brand and distribution were used.
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    Replacing a Talon zipper with YKK, keeping the Talon Slider

    I had an interesting experience recently in updating a Seventies Vanson: the #10 Talon zipper had a failing lower cloth tab, so replacement was definitely in order. But I couldn't find the correct metal color of vintage Talon zipper quickly. So I ordered a modern #10 YKK with the proper...
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    Factors/Considerations

    I've worked on restorations of vintage cars, and found that accuracy is often a rabbit hole that can end up being bottomless and formless-- there is always a detail that is questionable, an "incorrect" part that turns out to have been in fact correct, and a level of detail that is one step...
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    Oil & Silicon tanned

    I think we may be confusing parts of the process here. Most of the steps of tanning are actually the process of removing all of the elements of an animal hide that would otherwise decay-- the most common active ingredients are the acids in tannins from bark, the chemicals in some animal organs...
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    Roll Call!!!! Show/Tell Us What You Got!!!!

    Okay, definitely eligible for therapy, here goes, straight from my spreadsheet: Deerskin Trading Post A2/Perfecto Collar Choc Brn Schott 136 Seal Brn Charles Klein Highwayman-style halfbelt Antique Brn Couture Warm Coffee Cali style Mid Tan Tannery West Cape A2 Ant Brn Jos Bank 3/4 M65...
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    A2 or Half Belf, which one first?

    Regardless of panel construction, the A2 is not a flattering jacket Whether a one- two- or three-piece back, the A2 is just not sartorially a very flattering cut, historical associations notwithstanding. From a skilled tailor's point of view, it's a short waisted design with all of the...
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    For those worried about washing jackets...

    http://www.atheneenglish.com/2010/03/29/200-year-old-russian-reindeer-leather/ Reindeer leather soaked in saltwater for two centuries gets made into shoes, bags, etc. Hmm. Maybe a 30-minute wash in cold fresh water won't be fatal to that horsehide A2.
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    LL Bean "Indy-Style" Jacket

    Rather than hijacking the current LL Bean history thread, I thought I'd start a new one on the topic of the LL Bean Indy style jacket. As pictured, this was a clearly Raiders influenced design with caped action back, no knits, halfbelts, and A2-ish front pockets, all done in an olive goatskin. I...
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    L. L. Bean A-2 history time line?

    I wouldn't be too biased against imported goatskin as a marker of poor quality. My brother in law-- an honest to goodness former A-10 pilot-- informs me that his older Bosnia-campaign Cooper A-2 used a nice imported goatskin, while the latest A-2s are required by some obscure procurement rule to...

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