Freewheelers Horsehide Tear - Repair Recommendations

[DorKlonn]

Hi everyone! I just first of all want to thank you all for being a wealth of information, unfortunately my lurking days are done and I wanted to get all your takes on it before I proceed. A few days ago when I was wearing my jacket I must have over stretched the arm or something because at the end of the day I noticed a tear right along the shoulder gusset.

I'm a little disappointed cause I've never had this issue with much older horsehide jackets, but unfortunately it has happened to my Freewheelers Caboose; I was planning to send it in to Dena at Great Leather; but I wanted to see all your takes on it first!

Attached is the gnarly picture of the jacket tear.

 

[jacketjunkie]

Ah sorry to read and see this man, what a bummer. Looks like a tear along the seam, leather weakened due to the many needle holes there.. one of the reasons why I have never understood the stitch count hype. Seen this before on a Himel too.

I am no specialist but I am very curious how you can fix such an issue. Pulling it back together and sewing it up again would leave the sleeve with restricted mobility due to missing material, right?

 

[tmitchell59]

Not good. Damaged jackets always create a lot of discussion here. All the talk will not fix the jacket.

My advice, send the picture to Dena and get her advice.

 

[willyto]

Hello and welcome to the lounge!

That really hurts to see. It definitely looks like the leather ripped at the seam which is weird because supposedly that underarm gusset is there to prevent any stress on the shoulder/back in the armholes.

My only recommendation is to not do anything to it unless a leather specialist has seen it and assessed the situation, what can be done to fix it and repair it and look into what caused it (Leather quality, over skiving, thickness, tightness, rot(?), etc) it is the same that happened to a guy in Styleforum on his Fine Creek, I'd say the same area almost.

When Dena gets back to you be sure to update us all on what happened and how it will be fixed. If you bought it from a retailer I'd contact them first and see what can be done from Freewheelers part or the store. This is not something that should happen to a $2600 leather jacket.

 

[DorKlonn]

I am no specialist but I am very curious how you can fix such an issue. Pulling it back together and sewing it up again would leave the sleeve with restricted mobility due to missing material, right?

I was thinking more so alongside a thin patch from the back that will sorta bridge the gap, it seems that indeed the stitch count has unfortunately created microtears that unfortunately joined, once again this is all talk, but I wanted to bring this to the attention of the forum; its not everyday you see a jacket like this get damaged. Some might get a kick out of it.

I've worn this jacket for a year or so now, so I guess it was a long time coming and it finally decided to give.

 

[Bennarion]

For such a jacket, this is simply not permissible, but mistakes happen to everyone

 

[DorKlonn]

Not good. Damaged jackets always create a lot of discussion here. All the talk will not fix the jacket.

My advice, send the picture to Dena and get her advice.

Thanks Terry, I completely understand, I just wanted to document this process for those on the lounge as well, I think its unlikely to happen again, but incase it does I want people to have a record and process that they aren't alone. Definitely had a moment of panic when i saw it the initially.

 

[tmitchell59]

Thanks Terry, I completely understand, I just wanted to document this process for those on the lounge as well, I think its unlikely to happen again, but incase it does I want people to have a record and process that they aren't alone. Definitely had a moment of panic when i saw it the initially.

I understand, since you are new I thought you may be overwhelmed.

Dena is a great resource and a very nice person. This repair will take some experience and skill and she has both.

 

[Blackadder]

Ah sorry to read and see this man, what a bummer. Looks like a tear along the seam, leather weakened due to the many needle holes there.. one of the reasons why I have never understood the stitch count hype. Seen this before on a Himel too.

I am no specialist but I am very curious how you can fix such an issue. Pulling it back together and sewing it up again would leave the sleeve with restricted mobility due to missing material, right?

I don't agree about the hype comment. If you look at vintage jackets, you would notice that they also have pretty tight stitching with similar gauge threads. If it is what they did, I don't see that being a hype now. Happy to show a side by side comparison of the stitching on a RM Buco and a 60s Buco.

 

[jglf]

It could also be a combo of too high stitch count along with a bad batch of tanned leather. I had a 3-4oz sample from aero that I could literally tear in half without much strength.

 

[Carlos840]

Can you please post more pics, close up from a couple angles?
I would love to see the damage upclose.
I'm sur eit can be fixed, it won't be invisible, but you will still be able to wear that jacket.

 

[Monitor]

Not even that densely stitched, truth be told. Has nothing to do with quality, it's just bad luck. People tend to forget that pricey jackets are made from same ol' leather as any other leather jacket and fancy tanning won't make a thin panel any stronger. So yeah, simply put, this happens.

Anyway, @DorKlonn , you're going to have to send the jacket in for a repair. The kind of repair that's going to be pretty extensive. You might be looking at a replacement of an entire panel where the damage has occurred. I don't think there's nearly enough material to pull the panel back in and restitch it, not to mention you'd lose about an inch of it that way...

 

[Harris HTM]

Is it possible to contact the maker himself and ask for a quote regarding price and time?

 

[AeroFan_07]

Dena is great and she will be able to help evalute the best options. She is on here but does not post too often.

As to the jacket itself -if you are the original owner, I would reach out to FW directly - this is a highly expensive jacket and it would be good to give them a shot at repairing it first...hopefully at minimal expense. How old is it, etc?

 

[DorKlonn]

Can you please post more pics, close up from a couple angles?

Yeah I just consider this as a unfortunate part of the jacket's history, but nonetheless a part of its story. Its tear is surprisingly neat, I have attached some more photos, its not everyday you get to peer inside a freewheeler's jacket.

 

[DorKlonn]

How old is it, etc?

It's a little old, I am not its first owner, but I've had it for about over a year now

 

[AeroFan_07]

^^ Sure sorry that happened to you! Very nice jacket nonetheless, hope that Dena can get you set up!

Welcome to FL -- sorry your first encounters here were of this experance...

 

[ton312]

It's a little old, I am not its first owner, but I've had it for about over a year now

The patch solution you proposed will be the easiest and most cost friendly, and I believe it will work but man that just plain sucks! That's a bona fide tear too...

 

[jglf]

Does the leather looks a little dry to anyone? I wonder if that helped lead to the tearing. It also doesn’t look very thick maybe 2-2.5oz.

Has anyone else here every experienced a tear in their jacket?

 

[Mich486]

It's a little old, I am not its first owner, but I've had it for about over a year now

That tear really is a nightmare on such a nice jacket. Is this branded Freewheelers or Bootleggers?