Sam Walker leather jackets...

[Mr Badger]

Does anyone know if the super heavy duty (steer or horse, not sure) Highwayman and Barnstormer-style leather jackets which were sold by the now defunct Sam Walker store in Covent Garden, London were actually made for them by Aero in Scotland?

I've got one of each of the above-named styles and they seem identical to the Aero models, albeit the Highwayman style has a heavier checked wool lining. There have been a few used Sam Walker jackets for sale on Aero's site in the past, and they describe 'em as 'Highwayman copy', etc...

Seeing as I paid a mere £100 for the Sam Walker 'Highwayman' and £65 for the 'Barnstormer' off E**y, I think I did pretty well, but to have the Aero connection confirmed (yea or nay) is still bugging me!

 

[Graemsay]

I've got a feeling that the original Sam Walker jackets were made by Aero, but that there was a parting of the ways, and someone else made the later ones.

But I could be wrong.

 

[BellyTank]

I had a Sam Walker Highwayman "clone", in heavy steerhide.
The were made by Aero.
The jacket I had was just way too heavy to wear.
Uncomfortable and silly.


B
T

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Sam Walker once sold Aero jackets(labled "Aero")...then decided to copy Aero jackets and sell at cheaper cost..thus Aero and SW parted ways...per Ken Calder post of several years ago on another forum.
HD

 

[Mr Badger]

Thanks, guys. Heads-up most appreciated!

I like the weight of the SW 'Highwayman' clone, and it's softening up a treat after being subjected to our rotten weather here in Bath — it got down to -11 one night a while back and being in the valley, there's been freezing, sleety rain, too... I walk to work and back each day (about an hour in total time) so it's perfect for that. However, when I first got it, whenever I sat down, it did stay 'standing up' — fans of the Beano may recall one of the Bash St Kids, whose face was always half-hidden by his collar!

The 'Barnstormer' is very, very heavy and warm. On a par with a WW2, fur-collared Swedish/German 'dispatch rider's' coat I had. Again, it's great for schleppin' thru the crappy weather. Ideally, I'd very much like an Aero model in brown horse, but that's just not affordable for me.

Although these jackets are thick hide, it doesn't really matter that I can't move like a 'cat man' in 'em — my customary poor weather boots, a pair of steel-toe black horsehide engineers wot I got from a boot barn in Arkansas seven years back, anchor me to the ground too well, anyhoo! I can imagine that they'd both be way too thick to ride a bike or work in, though...

When temps reach 13 degrees or over, into the 'steamer' trunk they'll go, and it'll be back to my Aero A2...

 

[jon z]

Mr Badger - Any chance of seeing them boots?

 

[Mr Badger]

Hey, the boots aren't really anything special. They've got a nice looking strap & plain buckle — guess the closest would be a Wesco Boss, albeit with a regular, kinda bulbous steel toe. The soles are corded and the heel piece is black Vibram. Just a particularly well-made 'generic' boot but in great leather (chrome tanned horse, I think) with quite a vintage vibe.

 

[BellyTank]

Sam Walker once sold Aero jackets(labled "Aero")...then decided to copy Aero jackets and sell at cheaper cost..thus Aero and SW parted ways...per Ken Calder post of several years ago on another forum.
HD

I heard both stories from the same horse.
The Sam Walker jacket was just too heavy to wear.

B
T

 

[jon z]

Hey, the boots aren't really anything special. They've got a nice looking strap & plain buckle — guess the closest would be a Wesco Boss, albeit with a regular, kinda bulbous steel toe. The soles are corded and the heel piece is black Vibram. Just a particularly well-made 'generic' boot but in great leather (chrome tanned horse, I think) with quite a vintage vibe.

The description paints a pretty cool picture. Anytime you feel inclined post a pic or two in the Engineer Boots thread. Cheers.

 

[Mr Badger]

Will do, but it may be a while as the only digi camera we've got is the missus' phone, our compact went kablooie last year...

Phew, just finished putting yet more hide feed on that Sam Walker Barnstormer copy, dunno wot the guy I bought it off had be doing in it. I mean, it was stiff as a board, and not inna 'chrome tanned' FQHH kinda way, a dull finish and sorta sticky-icky with black stuff. He mighta been riding a bike, I guess, so it coulda been accumulated exhaust gases. Anyway, I put some 'shoe store' leather restorer on it, and it was still coming up pretty stiff and dull. So today I went to a little DIY shop and found something called Lord Sheraton Leather Balsam, which seems to be half way between 'shoe store' type gunk and full-on 'tack shop' hide feed / saddle soap. Just knackered meself out giving it the once-over, and now it's pretty supple – I can sit down in it and it doesn't remain standing up! It's still outrageously heavy, tho'...

But all said and done, after I sold another, more modern Barnstormer type to a pal at work, the SW turned out to cost me £45 plus £2.90 for the Lord Sheraton gunk, which is a lotta hide fer the moolah!

Here's a recent pic of me in the Highwayman type (in need of a shave at the time!)... pity you can't see the original Ace Cafe token I sourced, drilled and mounted up as a zip pull!

 

[Plumbline]

The interesting thing is that Sam Walker jackets are now considerably rarer than the Aero jackets from which they originated and this may in some way explain the price differential for good ones. The SW H-2 is IMHO a better cut jacket than the Highwayman of a similar period ( yes - I have both) ... the Highwayman of this period was a bit of a variable beast (understandably given the turmoil in Aero in the late 90's and early 00's). The Aero patterns of that period were all over the shop IMHO !

I've had about a dozen Sam walkers over the years ... mostly VDR, Barnstormer and Highwayman clones and they've all been pretty good TBH. If you buy carefully they are GREAT jackets and easily as good as many of the repro manufacturers (yes there are some horrors thrown in for good measure but then all the manufacturers have them over their history. .. with perhaps the exception of JC).

Interestingly the Endell St shop is still there .... just sells 2nd hand 70's - 90's tat now ( mostly T-shirts as I recall) ..... don't even know if it's the original owners.