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Johnson Leather Jacket

Canuck Panda

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I spent lots of time this weekend doing photos and videos and a lot of measuring, in the hope to understand why some patterns are raved by some and not others and why I tend to like some better than others. This thirst to know drives this hobby for me and I've just realized now, that while doing so, along with my potty mouth, I've unintentionally caused harm to those who were helpful in my quest. I am very sorry. I wished I could undo what I've done. Perhaps the best thing now is for me to move forward so you can see my intends were not from a place of harm.

So here are my Johnson Truckers...

JL have two types, one is slim fit they called Slim Fit Type III, and these are the sizing number I got:

Type-III

Medium


Shoulder – 18”

‘Sleeve – 26”

Pit to Pit – 21.5”

Back Length – 25”

Bottom Hem – 19”



Large

Shoulder – 18.5”

Sleeve – 27”

Pit to Pit – 22”

Back Length – 25”

Bottom Hem – 19..5”


I have Levis denim truckers in Medium with almost the same dimensions as the JL medium and it was too restrictive for me that I've chopped the sleeves off, and is why I went with the Large size.

Fit pics first. This is the 5oz goatskin in black. This is also the third heaviest jacket I have to date, at 8 lbs. It is also one of the softest jacket I have. It has a naked waxy finish and hopefully will patina fast like other types of leather.

IMG_2117.JPG


IMG_2125.JPG


This jacket started off as a bitter sweet jacket for me. I did not like the cut, out of the box. I prefer short over long, round vs pointy. This jacket is both longer (in the front, 23"), and pointy at the shoulders. The sleeve length I knew was gonna be long going in, and I now kinda understand why the stock pattern was cut this way. But this was surprisingly one of my best leather to date but not on a pattern I fell in love with out of the box. This bitter sweet ness however, lead me to a laser focused pattern comparisons which lead to some discoveries which I will post after these truckers.

Long (er) front and longer sleeves:
IMG_1806.JPG


Pointy Shoulders:
IMG_2103.JPG



The other trucker pattern Johnson has is called the M-LEI. Here is the dims I got:
M-LEI



Size 42


Shoulder – 18”

Sleeve – 25”

Pit to Pit- 22.5”

Back Length –24”

Bottom Hem – 21”



Size 44

Shoulder – 19”

Sleeve – 26”

Pit to Pit- 23.5”

Back Length – 24”

Bottom Hem – 22”


I am less of a P2P metrics guy more of a Shoulders metrics guy so I defaulted to the 44 size. But the hem is a bit loose for me so I asked to taper down to what the 42 would be (42" around the hem sweep).

I also wanted more jackets out of this one, so I asked for cafe racer collar, detachable leather dress collar, detachable fur collar. And zipper closure instead of buttons or snaps. The idea behind it was to get three jackets in one. My FrankenTrucker in color block #8 CXL FQHH...

Cafe Racer Trucker. The brass snaps looks like leather fetish collars in the cafe racer mode and unfortunately not my intention...
IMG_1993.JPG


Dress collar zip trucker:
IMG_1983.JPG


Winter fur collar Trucker:
IMG_2059.JPG


A pic of the back and side, this pattern measures short, but fits longer, will get to that in the pattern post, but it's about the higher shoulder rise (over width) and more slope length that helps it to hang about the same the slim fit (longer) one that has shorter rise (over width) and less slope length. Cinched in tightest position would also raise the back, and not air tight enough for riding. So my cafe racer plan has failed in terms of function.

IMG_1964.JPG

IMG_1971.JPG



That's my two very different JL truckers. They are at the opposite ends of the pattern (shoulder/sleeve) designs. The M500 would slot right in the middle of these two. The slim fit trucker actually is the same pattern design as the M200, just longer and in trucker deisgn. The regular fit M-LEI is the same pattern design as the Langlitz / Lewis Mk1, but Langlitz went one step further and added underarm footballs.

Hope this post brought you some entertaining values over this weekend. If not enough, here is some waterproofing videos I've made:

Johnson Overdye CXL (has some form of waterproofing) finish. The water beads off faster:

Versus the regular CXL Aero uses. Still very water resistant with just wax and oil, but water beads off slower and it got damp at the end of the 1 minute tap water test, whereas the Overdye is still dry. But the Overdye is new and the Aero CXL is used, so there is that factory to consider too. I think my tap is limited to 1.8 GPM, so whatever that would translate to actual rain fall and duration. No math on weekends for me...

Not enough time today but more pattern comparisons coming...
 

Canuck Panda

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4,645
More pics of recent wear

The Horween Vermont leather is undeniably beautiful. This jacket fills in and looks a bit better with layers but I do like it with just a shirt. I consider on and off about getting the back and possibly sleeves shortened but am in no hurry.

View attachment 422066 View attachment 422067 View attachment 422068 View attachment 422069 View attachment 422070
Mr Frown Do you have the under arm foot balls in this jacket? That Vermont HH is developing interesting grains.
^^
Sizing has bewildered many of us. What is your height and weight for reference?
height about 6', weight about 170 lbs
That last trucker with all the collar options is a masterpiece!
I didn't invent it. Saw two jackets on their instagram, and just smashed it together...
JL Trucker Insta Ref.jpg
 

Canuck Panda

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4,645
More spamming...

The sweetness of the 5oz goat leather had dissolved any bitterness I had about the Johnson Type III jacket. The leather handled the rain today like a champ. And the sleeves creased up (shortened) nicely over the weekend.
IMG_2228.JPG


That and the numbers helped me to see everything in a new light. The slim fit type III in the large size is actually same as my ATF (Edited Typo before, meant to say All Time favorited) M500 in size 40, but in trucker style that has an additional 2" front drop, while the back is the same length.
L trucker 40 M500.jpg

Yes the P2P is slightly bigger by about 1/2" on the M500, and the M500 has bulkier sleeves, and action back that has an additional 1.25" extension on either side, but the "bones" is about the same. Good bones.
L trucker 40 M500 02.jpg

How can I not love my JL type III when I LOVE my M500s! The pointy shoulders are accepted now. Unless I get action back and bigger sleeves there will always be the pointy shoulders on the slimmer fit designs, even when built on the same foundation.
L trucker 40 M500 03.jpg

The M-LEI trucker is completely different jacket pattern though. At least that's what I thought. That (M-LEI) is more like Langlitz Cascade than my M500
(There is that burgundy M-LEI trucker underneath the blue Cascade)
IMG_2005.JPG


But what if it's actually an M500 with underarm footballs!
(There is the goat M500 underneath the Cascade, one underarm football folded in closed position, other open)
IMG_2163.JPG

The Cascade is about half inch bigger in the P2P, and have maybe 0.25" more shoulder slope than the M500. But they are definitely bros. In fact they could be twins separated at birth.
And so the M-LEI (trucker) is really a M500 with built in underarm footballs in the sleeves...



Now is the BIGGEST shocker of all...

What if I were to tell you that every jacket I have, East Coast, West Coast, UK, EU, China, Pakistan, no Japan yet, all came from the SAME bones, or the same DNA, just with different features (shorter front, longer front, slim belly, fat belly, action back, no action back)... This literally blew my mind when I stumbled upon it this past weekend. So far, I can trace every lineage back to the two and half origins. Let's call them the M500 origin (and football sleeve origin), and the M200 origin. This brought tears to my eyes; Happy tears. All the time I had doubted myself over a jacket I bought (due to expectation of pattern and sizing) has evaporated. There is no difference after all, just different price/brand/leather/finishes, but the blood that runs through them all are the same, good blood.

IMG_2003.JPG



Happy jacketing!
 
Last edited:

Mrfrown

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Mr Frown Do you have the under arm foot balls in this jacket? That Vermont HH is developing interesting grains.

height about 6', weight about 170 lbs

I didn't invent it. Saw two jackets on their instagram, and just smashed it together...
View attachment 422583

Yes, I went for the footballs on my JL

Incidentally, they're smaller than the ones on my now-returned Columbia were. But the armholes on the Columbia were quite large. I wonder what they'll be like on Columbia v2.0
 

Canuck Panda

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4,645
Yes, I went for the footballs on my JL

Incidentally, they're smaller than the ones on my now-returned Columbia were. But the armholes on the Columbia were quite large. I wonder what they'll be like on Columbia v2.0
That was a nice JL. I think right afterwards they have a new model based on your custom. Haha...

I am also on the fence of a "Western" Crescent... Hope I can resist the urge.

Did you pick standard or slim on the order form? I picked standard on the Cascade and plan to going slim on the crescent to see what the difference will be.
 

Mrfrown

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That was a nice JL. I think right afterwards they have a new model based on your custom. Haha...

I am also on the fence of a "Western" Crescent... Hope I can resist the urge.

Did you pick standard or slim on the order form? I picked standard on the Cascade and plan to going slim on the crescent to see what the difference will be.

I picked Snug (from Very Snug, Snug, Medium, Loose). Most to be worn under is hoodie or light sweater. This is actually central to the reason I asked to return it. Snug could hardly describe ver 1.0
 

Mrfrown

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Messages
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That was a nice JL. I think right afterwards they have a new model based on your custom. Haha...

I am also on the fence of a "Western" Crescent... Hope I can resist the urge.

Did you pick standard or slim on the order form? I picked standard on the Cascade and plan to going slim on the crescent to see what the difference will be.
Also meant to ask, do you have measurements for stock size 40 M200?
 

Canuck Panda

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4,645
I picked Snug (from Very Snug, Snug, Medium, Loose). Most to be worn under is hoodie or light sweater. This is actually central to the reason I asked to return it. Snug could hardly describe ver 1.0
I did the same! I said that I would wear under is a shirt and hoodie, but I pick Medium fit. I think once they saw "hoodie" they default to non-snug fit.
On the Crescent I am going snug fit, t shirt only. Haha.

Also meant to ask, do you have measurements for stock size 40 M200?
I never got the exact measurements from JL. Damon only told me the size 42 M200 is about the same as my size 40 M500 but 1.5" shorter.

I have the actual M200 size 42 stock jacket now. And it's a trim fit. The shoulder is wide but the torso is very slim. The size 42 I have has about 19" ish shoulder, 22" ish P2P (about 45" circumference). If I were to guess the size 40 would still come with almost 19" shoulder, and 43" chest circumference, so about 21" ish P2P. The full action back gives an extra 1" ish each way.

I think depending on what leather (soft or stiff), and action back or not, will determine your size between 40 and 42. So what leather do you have in mind?
 

Canuck Panda

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4,645
Spamming this thread again with the 5oz goatskin trucker. No bitterness whatsoever now. Only sweetness. The sleeve has tunnel up nicely. Loving the grains on this thing. This is only the third or fourth day... This only shows, sometimes the first impression may not be expected, but it just kept getting better and better!

IMG_2309.JPG

IMG_2310.JPG

IMG_2303.JPG
 

Mrfrown

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I did the same! I said that I would wear under is a shirt and hoodie, but I pick Medium fit. I think once they saw "hoodie" they default to non-snug fit.
On the Crescent I am going snug fit, t shirt only. Haha.


I never got the exact measurements from JL. Damon only told me the size 42 M200 is about the same as my size 40 M500 but 1.5" shorter.

I have the actual M200 size 42 stock jacket now. And it's a trim fit. The shoulder is wide but the torso is very slim. The size 42 I have has about 19" ish shoulder, 22" ish P2P (about 45" circumference). If I were to guess the size 40 would still come with almost 19" shoulder, and 43" chest circumference, so about 21" ish P2P. The full action back gives an extra 1" ish each way.

I think depending on what leather (soft or stiff), and action back or not, will determine your size between 40 and 42. So what leather do you have in mind?
Thanks for the run down. Will discuss with Damon too since they have the specs for my previous jacket.

Not totally sure on the leather. Been wanting something simple and refined in deerskin for a while, but might just ask what they have.

Also considering a black campus jacket from Mister Freedom.
 

Psant25

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Yes, I went for the footballs on my JL

Incidentally, they're smaller than the ones on my now-returned Columbia were. But the armholes on the Columbia were quite large. I wonder what they'll be like on Columbia v2.0
I think that is a good call. For my subsequent columbia jackets they narrowed sleeves twice and there is still plenty of room. They did one remake for me others i sold outright.

Did you guys discuss how much to bring in at the biceps for example or are you just having them figure out?
 

Mrfrown

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I think that is a good call. For my subsequent columbia jackets they narrowed sleeves twice and there is still plenty of room. They did one remake for me others i sold outright.

Did you guys discuss how much to bring in at the biceps for example or are you just having them figure out?
I need to call them, jacket should have returned yesterday. They had a big weekend with the One Moto show over the weekend so I can imagine things being backed up.

In the email convo they said they'd make it slightly smaller. I showed pics of me wearing my heaviest shirt, heaviest hoodie, heaviest wool overshirt, and a Filson wool vest under the jacket and moving easily.

Re: potential JL I basically want something simple, refined, without too serious of a vibe
 

TheDonEffect

Practically Family
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Cafe Racer Trucker. The brass snaps looks like leather fetish collars in the cafe racer mode and unfortunately not my intention...
View attachment 422451

Dress collar zip trucker:
View attachment 422452

Winter fur collar Trucker:
View attachment 422453

A pic of the back and side, this pattern measures short, but fits longer, will get to that in the pattern post, but it's about the higher shoulder rise (over width) and more slope length that helps it to hang about the same the slim fit (longer) one that has shorter rise (over width) and less slope length. Cinched in tightest position would also raise the back, and not air tight enough for riding. So my cafe racer plan has failed in terms of function.

View attachment 422454
View attachment 422459


That's the damn jacket that made me get my jacket in burgundy, man that color is glorious, I hope I can pull it off, lol.
 

Mrfrown

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Yeah that burgundy is great

If it looks this good in pics you know its gotta be something special
 

red devil

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Wasn't sure where to put it, so might as well put it here. If all goes well, I am going to be in San Francisco next monday the 9th. Going to pick up a jacket from Johnson Leather then will be free for the evening or as long as I can go without crashing from jet lag as I am landing late morning lol

Anyone wnats to meet up for drinks or a meal?
 

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