Five Star Leather Jackets

[Hobbes1]

I went a little nuts with Vaseline this afternoon. These are Shawn's conic goat and seal goatskin after applying a coat of Vaseline. The shine stays and the grains are showing through. Although I am not sure what the long term effect is. I apply Vaseline on a bunch of my jackets ranging from Shinki, Vicenza to Shawn's goatskin, the common effect is the shine and leather have gotten softer. It did wonders for bulky seams.

View attachment 395599
View attachment 395600

Fingers crossed but I think Vaseline might be the answer for the stiffy CHL...

Looks great! How does that conic color compare to the tan CHL in real life? Similar?
Are the conic and seal both topcoated or dyed through? Thanks!

 

[Canuck Panda]

My ADHD kicked into hyperdrive…
Ran out of the Vaseline, will get another jar tomorrow. Only Vaseline half of the jacket so it’d be interesting to see how soft it can get by comparison, tomorrow.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Looks great! How does that conic color compare to the tan CHL in real life? Similar?
Are the conic and seal both topcoated or dyed through? Thanks!

The conic goat is dyed through. Seal I’m not sure it shows reddish grey under the seal color.
CHL is more leather for the money. I’ll need to Vaseline the tan CHL to see how it turns out though. The conic goat looks better than the tan CHL now only because it already had the Vaseline treatment.

 

[TREEMAN]

My ADHD kicked into hyperdrive…
Ran out of the Vaseline, will get another jar tomorrow. Only Vaseline half of the jacket so it’d be interesting to see how soft it can get by comparison, tomorrow.
View attachment 395610 View attachment 395611

Man.. you put it on thick !! Beware … over conditioning is not a good thing.

 

[Dumpster Diver]

Fivestar makes a B-6 Type flight helmet?

has anyone got any detail photos or reviews about these?

Also the fivestar site has a B-3 'Mixed batch' looking jacket, anyone have any more info about these jackets?

 

[PilotJens]

Is the black brown tan chl available now ? Last time Shawn told me that he sold out of the old stiff batch I think.

 

[Canuck Panda]

For the first generation Tan CHL, Vaseline treatment works (so far). Check out the Vaselined sleeve on the right vs the non-vaselined on the left. Those who have this Tan CHL leather know there is no way it can stay bunched like the one on the right without springing back to the left immediately (like rubber). I will do up the whole jacket when I get more vaseline today. However, I do not know the long term effects of using vaseline. Will post in a year or two.

The dark brown CHL, however, still springs back like rubber. It seems there is a thicker coat of pigment on top preventing the vaseline to go into the leather as fast as the Tan version, or could be the brown one is about 0.5mm thicker. Regardless, I will continue to stuff this one with Vaseline until it longer behave like rubber armor.

From what I read on the internet, Vaseline "destroy" leather fibers by creating a thin layer on top and trapping moisture inside. And that moisture is what "rots" the leather fiber. And once the leather fibers gets destroyed, the leather will not hold shape and feel mushy.
This sounds very bad, for leather jackets, but seems like an option for my existing CHL jackets. This is really uncharted territory. Taking it slow and a one step at a time...

 

[PilotJens]

I don't think the internet theorie is correct.

What I learned about leather is that it is pH sensitive and raw conditioners are not good .

Natural oils will rot and oxidise which will destroys the leather. Leather cleaners and oils with the wrong pH can throw of the pH of the leather so much that is will turn back into flesh .The "aging" on leather is actually the leather that has started to deteriorate because of sun radiation and pH shifting .


Now some old leather types can handle natural raw oils because the base hide is made with a pH that gets leveled with the raw oil .
So you can have a cxl Horween leather that has mink oil as a soft oil and a chl that has synthetic thin oils in it behaves exactly the same in texture,look,feel but they can require way different conditioners.

I generally use leather milks because they have the right pH .

There are chemical leather softeners out there which I think destroy a little bit of the collagen to make it softer .I would give that a try .

I would also buy a synthetic boot oil and drench it in that . Vaseline is petroleum yelli so I don't think the rotting and oxidizing will be a problem .You might accelerate the aging on your hide but considering the stiffness that might not be of any concern

 

[Canuck Panda]

I don't think the internet theorie is correct.

What I learned about leather is that it is pH sensitive and raw conditioners are not good .

Natural oils will rot and oxidise which will destroys the leather. Leather cleaners and oils with the wrong pH can throw of the pH of the leather so much that is will turn back into flesh .The "aging" on leather is actually the leather that has started to deteriorate because of sun radiation and pH shifting .


Now some old leather types can handle natural raw oils because the base hide is made with a pH that gets leveled with the raw oil .
So you can have a cxl Horween leather that has mink oil as a soft oil and a chl that has synthetic thin oils in it behaves exactly the same in texture,look,feel but they can require way different conditioners.

I generally use leather milks because they have the right pH .

There are chemical leather softeners out there which I think destroy a little bit of the collagen to make it softer .I would give that a try .

I would also buy a synthetic boot oil and drench it in that . Vaseline is petroleum yelli so I don't think the rotting and oxidizing will be a problem .You might accelerate the aging on your hide but considering the stiffness that might not be of any concern

I just want to make it less rubber bouncy and more leather crease-y and mold-able-y. The Vaseline did the trick on the tan but the dark brown is work in progress. one for two isn't bad for a weekend's work.

 

[PilotJens]

My backyard hill Billy approach of leveling the pH would be using a shower gel for sensitive skin (pH 5.5) synthetic boot oil and distilled water to make a thin deeply penetrating emulsified water oil mixture.

 

[PilotJens]

Sensitive body wash is my go-to leather cleaner because it is safe for chrome tanned leather and cheap .

 

[EvilMerlin]

Fivestar makes a B-6 Type flight helmet?

has anyone got any detail photos or reviews about these?

Also the fivestar site has a B-3 'Mixed batch' looking jacket, anyone have any more info about these jackets?

Yep, I have one. They are decently made, and fairly accurate to the originals. I will post some images later today...

 

[EvilMerlin]

New B-3 from Five Star. Got it quickly, about 10 days after ordering.

Mine is the seal brown with horsehide facings, in XL, because the jacket was always worn over heavy clothing for warmth.

The jacket MUST be broken in, but thats a good thing and the way it is supposed to be.

It is INCREDIBLY warm, you can see why these were worn on B-17's, B-24's, B-25's and on and on. Because they work.

Historical accuracy? Honestly probably a 8 out of 10. Stiches and materials are fairly close to traditional. Eastman quality? Probably not, but not a huge step away from it. And shipped to me it was "only" 720 dollars total.

 

[Hobbes1]

This might be the one I get. Shawn told me today that this is the "Conic Glazed and after that waxed distress". I know that the FiveStar website pictures leave something to be desired....but this seems like pretty nice looking color. Leather is goatskin, 1.2mm thick. Anyone have direct experience with the Conic Glaze hide?

These Horse Hides also look really nice and I didn't see them the last time I looked on the website. Anyone with direct experience to the circled ones?

 

[EvilMerlin]

This might be the one I get. Shawn told me today that this is the "Conic Glazed and after that waxed distress". I know that the FiveStar website pictures leave something to be desired....but this seems like pretty nice looking color. Leather is goatskin, 1.2mm thick. Anyone have direct experience with the Conic Glaze hide?

View attachment 395945

These Horse Hides also look really nice and I didn't see them the last time I looked on the website. Anyone with direct experience to the circled ones?

View attachment 395947

I can only speak for the horsehide arms on my B-3 and its GOOD leather. Tough, but pliant. Will still need time to break in.

 

[Hobbes1]

I can only speak for the horsehide arms on my B-3 and its GOOD leather. Tough, but pliant. Will still need time to break in.

Thanks. Which horse hide color is that?

 

[EvilMerlin]

Thanks. Which horse hide color is that?

Seal Brown

 

[Dumpster Diver]

It looks like an Awesome B-3!!! Excellent!!!

 

[EvilMerlin]

It looks like an Awesome B-3!!! Excellent!!!

Thanks. Its been a god send the past few days here when its been in the single digits.

 

[EvilMerlin]

Fivestar makes a B-6 Type flight helmet?

has anyone got any detail photos or reviews about these?

Also the fivestar site has a B-3 'Mixed batch' looking jacket, anyone have any more info about these jackets?

Here you go. Note the AN6530's with the green glass were NOT included.