Cracked/Torn Capeskin

[robrinay]

When I’ve had vintage leather chairs crack I’ve repaired them with a small same colour leather patch glued on the inside. First apply a small amount of glue on each of the crack edges. Hold the crack together until the glue holds. Then reinforce with the patch inside the jacket. I suppose you could use a small fabric patch rather than leather if you didn’t want to risk the bulk of leather.

 

[Deacon211]

Sorry to hear this. But I can’t help wonder if a sewn repair by a good tailor wouldn’t give the jacket a bit of a “field repaired battle scar” vibe.

I mean, the jacket looks well charactered with what appears to be the intention of making it look like it’s been there and done that. So a faux rough repair might be no bad thing.

Just a thought.


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[feltfan]

One of the arms on my ELC roughwear 27752 developed surface cracks after it got a thorough drenching at the war and peace show a couple of years ago.

That's an interesting clue. My GW capeskin is not water resistant. I can see how drying might make the leather
more brittle/stiff. This argues for treating the capeskin with Pecard's or equivalent, as a preventative.

 

[Dr H]

Keep the treatment to a minimum though (cape doesn’t absorb oils are well as e.g. horsehide). I bought an ELC A-1 from Holland once. It had been treated liberally treated Peccards and it squeaked every time that I moved. It took a rub down with petroleum spirit to return it to normal.

I’ve never had any issues with water absorption with cape - my .50 cal was worn in rain without any worries.

Stretching and pulling it to get it to fit is an issue though - the break doesn’t look like a brittle failure - the cracks look like they’ve initiated at the button hole (where the stress is concentrated).

 

[jonesy86]

I picked up the jacket from the original post off of VLJ and I think it was several years old, well worn and loved by me as it was my first GW, even though it was a bit small on me. Around the same time that the leather cracked near the button hole I had an opportunity to pick up another GW A-1. John had just purchased a new button hole sewing machine and needed to test a new technique so he used some Capeskin that had some cracking in it as well in several places which he described:

And this is the A-1. It's got some weird spots on the capeskin where the surface has cracked a bit, but it's only in the very surface, not the dermis, so there's no danger of the body of the leather cracking. Some would never accept this, which I completely understand, but I'm happy with it, and it makes the jacket look super vintage. I handled an original back in 2002 (by Mirabelli Bros.) and it had similar cracking, but much more dramatic (JC).

I passed on my first A-1 jacket to a family member who was a bit concerned at the number of jackets that I was buying, but was happy to be the recipient of one of her most coveted of the lot. This jacket is still quite wonderful and thriving in a drier climate albeit with some cracks in the leather. I did treat it with Pecards before moving it on which darkened it a bit but, I actually liked the color, and the jacket seemed to absorb the Pecards nicely.
In hindsight I would have been just fine with the crack as I think that it just gave the jacket some character, and in fact made it look more vintage.

I chose to take my second GW A-1 with me to Hawaii last year, as it was so light and soft that it seemed more appropriate for the warmer climate. There are really only two seasons here, Winter and Summer, and I did not wear any leather jacket at all for the past 6 months.
As I had been warned, some of my leather grew mold while not being worn as did this jacket. However, with some good advice from TFL folks I simply wiped it off with warm soapy water and vinegar let it dry as best I could and then applied a light coat of Pecards. The cracking on this second jacket is much less deep, seems almost like a spider web, and as John said is only on the very surface, not the dermis.

The Pecards seems to bring out a nice luster in this Capeskin, and as it is Winter now, I plan to wear the jacket more often especially when it gets down into the high 60s, low 70s, brrrr.

Before Pecards

After Pecards

Of the many photos of original A-1s from the 30s that John sent me, this is my favorite:

 

[phario]

@jonesy86 I know this is a several-year-old post, but from my other post asking for advice on thin leather jackets, I have to say that this experience really causes me to think that spending £1k on an ELC A-1 is really not a good idea. I can definitely understand putting in that amount of money into a jacket that would last for decades, but something that is comparatively prone to cracking and tearing in capeskin would really worry me.

 

[jonesy86]

@jonesy86 I know this is a several-year-old post, but from my other post asking for advice on thin leather jackets, I have to say that this experience really causes me to think that spending £1k on an ELC A-1 is really not a good idea. I can definitely understand putting in that amount of money into a jacket that would last for decades, but something that is comparatively prone to cracking and tearing in capeskin would really worry me.

Interesting digging up old posts.
I live on a tropical island and really have no great reason to keep accumulating leather jackets, except by saying my new hobby is better than my old hobby, and keeps me out of the bars.
Having said that, I am always on the lookout for light weight jackets. I like GWs Capeskin and have not handled others. I believe many of the old vintage jackets did not survive, but I’m pretty sure that mine will all outlast me. If Eastman made a Californian repro I would certainly consider buying it.

 

[ES335]

Jonesy, very interesting thread but I'm glad you were able to get a replacement you're happy with. And thanks for posting a few pics; I see very, very few old photos of original A-1s. I do also find my GW capeskin to be super light and somewhat "dainty," for lack of a better term compared to my HH jackets and as a result I'm all more careful around anything abrasive, etc. That said, I don't let that discourage me from wearing it, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an incredible A-1. JC told me it was the second he made, fall of 2012. BTW, your darker post-treatment color looks suberb!

Phil

 

[Jon Crow]

I like that Jonesy keeps you off your old hobby, I was a bit like that when I moved to Spain from the cold north of England, nice bars in Madrid haha I also though don't get much heavy jacket use here in Madrid, cold months are not long

Interesting digging up old posts.
I live on a tropical island and really have no great reason to keep accumulating leather jackets, except by saying my new hobby is better than my old hobby, and keeps me out of the bars.
Having said that, I am always on the lookout for light weight jackets. I like GWs Capeskin and have not handled others. I believe many of the old vintage jackets did not survive, but I’m pretty sure that mine will all outlast me. If Eastman made a Californian repro I would certainly consider buying it.