Review - My Bill Kelso Durable One Star Leather Jacket

[puiyc1203]

Hi
I am Marco, my durable one star arrived today, I have tried already and write some opinions here, which would be very subjective. I think it is fair enough for a compliment for the jacket and an useful suggestion for people interested.

I placed my order on late September. My Size finalized on late October and they sent the package on Dec 12th. So it is around two and half month for the whole process. The price including shippment is £1310, (=$1725), which is acceptable, since next year the price of freewheelers jacket would rise to around 300,000 yen (=$2800-2900). While fine creek leathers rise to $1400-1500, and I don't think FCL worth this price. I would comment on the approvements later, but overall the price of BK durable one star is fair enough.

I am 180cm height, 82kg weight. 106cm chest, 51cm shoulder and I do regular workout in gym. The one star jacket fit perfectly to me, i feel comfortable on my armpit and shoulder (which is not always the case for japanese leather jacket). The jacket has the classic length of around 57cm to 58cm. Wearing this jacket with high-waisted jeans would rise the visual focus and improve the upper-and-lower-body ratio. It turns out to have a better look. Zip up or not gives different styles of wearing.

1.

 

[puiyc1203]

Hopefully the photos were uploaded correctly then I continue

 

[puiyc1203]

Details
-Talon zipper
-signature one star on each side of shoulder epaulet
-quadruple diamond red lining
-Bi-swing back panels, very important if you workout in gym, straight design is very uncomfortable especially at armpit and shoulder
-corduroy on the hem for better seal and wind-proof

 

[puiyc1203]

Same style leather jacket in comparison

to compare I yield photos of fine creek leathers Leon (2018 ver. without belt), fourspeed leathers one star jacket, schott 613, RRL leather moto jacket.
I do wanna use Freewheelers La brea as comparison, though they are not in same styel, but my La Brea has not arrived yet. I would comment on my other leather jackets maybe in next post.

I have tried on RRL leather moto jacket cowhide size s and m, but they did not fit well to me. While I check the size chart I supposed to choose between size m or L, in fact I can't zip up on size s and size m is too large for me.
The price is around $2078

Schott 613 one star is much better than RRL to put on, my fitting was between 40 and 42, but i feel bulk on my back and it was more like a straight cutting design instead of V shape.
Price $850, inexpensive for its cowhide quality

I personally don't recommend fine creek leathers, due to their poor horsehide quality, and the upsurging price from $1150 to currently $1450. They have straight cutting and one size smaller than other leather jackets. About Fine Creek - Leon, they advocate to age fastly, but the jacket had lost so many details, which is the miniatures of the models FCL release in recent years. Their recent release have covered most leather jacket models but with poor design, poor horsehide quality and little details.

Fourspeed leathers - famous for its quadrupole diamond padded leather jacket made by 须山哲也
It usually takes 3 months or more for production, and the road star leather jacket costs around $2100, expensive but high quality. Their leather jacket are also suitable for riding moto cycle. Padded cowhide/horsehide designed for protection while their sleeves are longer than normal.
Their road star is also detail-oriented, if you have enough budget, fourspeed roadstar is also a good choice.

 

[ton312]

Great write up. Your BK looks spectacular. Also interesting to note your take on fine creek. I’ve not handled one but from the pics I’ve seen they are incredibly underwhelming. I won’t go into detail on my thoughts about the chopped up model. Or will I. Yes I will. It’s garbage. It looks like you have selected the best fitting cross zip for yourself. Well done!

 

[puiyc1203]

Last but not least - shortcomings
Shortcomings here aren't real defects of the Durable One star. Bill Kelso has their own explanations, but customers have different understandings. I would give several viewpoints that worth mentioning.

1. the sleeve is around 60cm, and sleeve of normal leather jackets is around 66cm, could be 70cm for fourspeed as mentioned above. Short sleeve leads to not fully cover on wrist especially when I rise my arm upfront. This problem could be fixed by asking Bill Kelso to produce for example, a size 42 jacket with size 44 sleeve. But I haven't at that time. I write it here then.

2. the belt is thin and light which naturally hangs down. I do prefer thick and solid belt, which could be cut off or fold up, and as it ages, it could hangs down naturally as light belts. And as you can see, in size 42 I have adjusted my belt to farthest hole but there is still some rooms for even tighter.

3. I prefer the zipper puller would be in leather instead of canvas. And the sleeve zippers should add on a leather puller as well.


To sum up, the pros
1. Price reflect the real value and real quality.
2. Full mobility on my arm, I could do a deltoids workout or mahjong wearing it.
3. Acceptable duration 2-3 months.
4. Perfect fit and V-shape - broad shoulder and tapering towards the waist.
5. short in length to give a great visual effect.


I might add a few more pros and cons if I can think of more
but overall, I do recommend this leather jacket, bill kelso - durable one star

The following photos are from the instagram from a taiwan shop trying on bk durable one star. I don't have copyright of these pics, notify me to delete if needed anyway.

 

[regius]

A long due & fantastic review! I now look forward to my halfbelt with anticipation


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[regius]

& agreed on the over priced & over hyped Japanese jackets


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[Mich486]

Looks the business. BK love him or hate him but the jackets have imho a tremendously good price to quality ratio.


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[Carlos840]

Great write up. Your BK looks spectacular. Also interesting to note your take on fine creek. I’ve not handled one but from the pics I’ve seen they are incredibly underwhelming. I won’t go into detail on my thoughts about the chopped up model. Or will I. Yes I will. It’s garbage. It looks like you have selected the best fitting cross zip for yourself. Well done!

Nothing more to say about the BK, but I have to say i fully disagree with what was written about FC on this post...

I went to Rivet & Hide last week to recon the Fine Creek Leon for @Monitor and i had nothing but good things to say about what i saw.
The leather used was super nice, with a character similar to Lost World HH (thick spongy hide with a mate finish, lots of visible grain and stretch marks, but with a light beige base rather than a black one.) but the softness of something like Lewis Leathers, and the execution was perfect.
I handled four different jackets on the day, Leon or Leon custom and all of them had great leather, impeccable stitching of a level i would compare with Freewheelers and Lost Worlds, literally not a single negative from me.

To me they were 10/10 jackets and the only reason i didn't leave the store with one was the fact i don't like the Perfecto design.
Considering they are cheaper than FW, RMC, LW, they felt like a good buy.

Now the chopped up model is a weird idea, i'll give you that...

 

[ton312]

I have to say i fully disagree with what was written about FC on this post...

I went to Rivet & Hide last week to recon the Fine Creek Leon for @Monitor and i had nothing but good things to say about what i saw.
The leather used was super nice, with a character similar to Lost World HH (thick spongy hide with a mate finish, lots of visible grain and stretch marks, but with a light beige base rather than a black one.) but the softness of something like Lewis Leathers, and the execution was perfect.
I handled four different jackets on the day, Leon or Leon custom and all of them had great leather, impeccable stitching of a level i would compare with Freewheelers and Lost Worlds, literally not a single negative from me.

To me they were 10/10 jackets and the only reason i didn't leave the store with one was the fact i don't like the Perfecto design.
Considering they are cheaper than FW, RMC, LW, they felt like a good buy.

Now the chopped up model is a weird idea, i'll give you that...

I'm basing my opinion fully on photos...to me they don't look very good, quite run of the mill for $2K:

And then there's the bogus 5oz claim...I'm just not buying what they are selling. I suppose I'd have to handle one to have my mind changed but I suspect I could do a whole lot better at that price point.

 

[Carlos840]

I'm basing my opinion fully on photos...to me they don't look very good, quite run of the mill for $2K:

And then there's the bogus 5oz claim...I'm just not buying what they are selling. I suppose I'd have to handle one to have my mind changed but I suspect I could do a whole lot better at that price point.

Sorry, i didn't mean your post, but the OP.
Fully agree that the 5oz is bogus, IMO it is 3.5oz at most.

But still they are IMO very nice jackets. I went in there with zero expectations as i wasn't even considering buying one, and was impressed enough that i left with the firm intention of coming back to try a size 42 when it was back in stock, and i don't even want a Perfecto! And i don't think the price is that bad compared to other Japanese made jackets.

More pics there: https://www.rivetandhide.com/shop/c...leon-2mm-horsehide-jacket.html?___store=eu_en

 

[breezer]

Short sleeve leads to not fully cover on wrist especially when I rise my arm upfront.

Don't worry about it - you got the fit just right.

 

[nick123]

Yet to see on of these BK Durables that's nothing short of a perfect fit. Supreme!

also, great write up of various cross zips.

 

[puiyc1203]

Nothing more to say about the BK, but I have to say i fully disagree with what was written about FC on this post...

I went to Rivet & Hide last week to recon the Fine Creek Leon for @Monitor and i had nothing but good things to say about what i saw.
The leather used was super nice, with a character similar to Lost World HH (thick spongy hide with a mate finish, lots of visible grain and stretch marks, but with a light beige base rather than a black one.) but the softness of something like Lewis Leathers, and the execution was perfect.
I handled four different jackets on the day, Leon or Leon custom and all of them had great leather, impeccable stitching of a level i would compare with Freewheelers and Lost Worlds, literally not a single negative from me.

To me they were 10/10 jackets and the only reason i didn't leave the store with one was the fact i don't like the Perfecto design.
Considering they are cheaper than FW, RMC, LW, they felt like a good buy.

Now the chopped up model is a weird idea, i'll give you that...

As I mentioned it is highly subjective, I am in China so it is easily accessible to japanese leather jacket, new or 2nd hand. For the same budget I do recommend Rainbow Country or even double helix. For higher budget I recommend Freewheelers and Real Mccoy. These brands give better payoff than FCL.

Of the same budget one could have the perfect full grain leather with little stretch if buying Rainbow Country.
As for the softness, horsehide with the same thickness in full grain (not corrected) should have the same softness. The only difference is lining, whether it is silk or wool. Leather jackets in wool has a higher overall thickness therefore seems to feel hard. But the softness is the same. Regular wear gives faster break in.

As for extraodinarily soft horsehide leather, I only found those in double helix and Biltbuck, which is not the case for FCL.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Short sleeve leads to not fully cover on wrist especially when I rise my arm upfront.

Don't worry about it - you got the fit just right.

Oh yeah, exactly, Breezer is right. The fit is great, esp for one of these semi-custom jackets which often don't quite work out, at least from what I've seen in photos. The original poster did well with this jacket.

 

[Bfd70]

Winning fit and great write up.

 

[puiyc1203]

Winning fit and great write up.

Thanks！

 

[AeroFan_07]

Good info there and nice to see reviews of jacket we do not see as much here. Must have been fun taking those photos in shops with the hankerchief tied on! Creative idea, but I think around these parts it would draw a good bit of suspicican.

 

[Edward]

Good info there and nice to see reviews of jacket we do not see as much here. Must have been fun taking those photos in shops with the hankerchief tied on! Creative idea, but I think around these parts it would draw a good bit of suspicican.

I think if you look a little closer, it's a digital add-on to the photo.