The bison, the elk, the horse and the mad cow....

[Bunyip]

Gday guys,
Hoping to dip into the pool of FL knowledge re the above hides...
I got an email from Johnson leathers with these options or a D pocket. The horse offered is 2.5oz. Im not very familiar with elk or Bison. There is also a pretty heavy cowhide...Ive been so obsessed with hh lately, had almost forgotten about the option all together...I have seen the very pebbly grain of bison, not sure if its for me....I'm thinking of a red hot D- pocket from these guys or Diamond Dave. I ride a fair bit, and most of my jackets will revolve around that sort of theme. One or two fashion jackets ( half belts, pioneer etc) is enough for my limited social life, bike jackets, hell, I can justify them every day of the week....
Any thoughts would be appreciated...im still in lust with J 106...the chance to do a bit more customising appeals with these guys. Pricing is very fair, and having had a coupe of very small businesses in the past, Im more than happy to give them my business...

 

[nick123]

I had a jacket made in the 2.5 oz horse. Nice russet color, but not much going on with it. Good for warmer weather, but not very thick.At the time I was caught in the horse paranoia.

 

[Bunyip]

Thats where Im at....they have 3.5oz cow which I might run with. Would rather heavy cow on the bike than mild horse hide.....

 

[crimsonofsam]

I have a 3.5 oz Johnson cowhide and 3.75 oz horsehide. It's a coin toss for me.

 

[Bunyip]

I have a 3.5 oz Johnson cowhide and 3.75 oz horsehide. It's a coin toss for me.

Cool, if I could get a heavy hh I would, but a 2.5 hh Vs a 3.7 plus cowhide....i dont know enough about this stuff to see how much the a tual diff in feel?

 

[roadking04]

Crimson, is your 3.5 oz cowhide finished or naked? I am considering the finished 3.5 oz they use for police jackets.

 

[nick123]

Alan said it is also an option to get the leather "skived" (sp?).
So, if you like the buffalo but don't like a heavy 5 oz he can cut it to 3 oz.

 

[Lando]

For motorcycle leathers, I would go with their brown 5.5oz leather. Ive got a sample of it and it's a nice soft, smooth leather with a dark brown color. I've scratched it repeatedly with a nail and the marks just seem to buff right out without ever getting through the color. So, it won't age in that vintage way, but it'll probably still look new even after you've beaten it up quite a bit. I too bought mostly HH for years, but then, I started out with 3.5oz Vanson race jackets and those things were heavy monsters that took an insane beating. HH is great, Goatskin is Awesome, Bison is unbelievable, Elkhide is incredibly comfortable, but good cowhide can be tanned to do astonishing things. I suppose they all can lol. In all honesty, if you want HH, I don't know if I'd go with Johnson. They seems to be much better at Bison, Elkhide and various weights & grains of cowhide.

Figured I would just post some of the leather samples I have asked for. These are all cowhide. Description from left to right. 5.5oz Dark Brown, 5.5oz Tan, 4.5oz Gold, 3.5oz Rust, 3.5oz Finished Cow A (that was what the sample said on it), 3.5oz Med Brown, 3.5oz Red. Seeing the leather samples really helps me. Hope any of it helps you.

 

[Bunyip]

Thanks Lando. Im keen on something that will age a bit. My Langlitz in dark brown goat will look forever new. Im keen on something that in 7or8 years looks broken in and adventure beaten. Maybe a heavy brown cow? He has a heavy duty 4oz hh for Jap market. It is overdyed brown with black underneath. Im interested to see what that looks and feels like. Thanks for posting those samples mate.

 

[nick123]

Thanks Lando. Im keen on something that will age a bit. My Langlitz in dark brown goat will look forever new. Im keen on something that in 7or8 years looks broken in and adventure beaten. Maybe a heavy brown cow? He has a heavy duty 4oz hh for Jap market. It is overdyed brown with black underneath. Im interested to see what that looks and feels like. Thanks for posting those samples mate.

Bunyip,
I have a sample of this overdye leather. I'll try to get a picture up tomorrow for you.
It is actually cowhide that is labeled "Japan leather". I spoke to Alan on the phone and he said this particular leather was extremely popular at the moment. I know Forestforthetrees has a jacket made from it.
Alan sent me the overdye sample in the mail:
I put the sample through its motions: scratching and twisting the s*** out of it.
My conclusions with the leather were that the black ''overdye" was relatively thin and scratched off easily to reveal a noticeably brown underlay.
The problem is, this was from scratching it. I do not know how long it would take to achieve this patina in "real world use" so that's a tough call.
I ended up skipping it because I preferred the Horween FQHH instead.
Make no mistake though; the leather did look nice. Unfortunately, there are just no examples I can find of a used jacket with this leather. Someone linked a Real Mccoys Buco a while back which was supposed to resemble this overdye effect, but I think it was horse. The patina on it was gnarly though!
I wish you luck, but don't stress. Voice your concerns to Alan and he'll recommend some leathers. You will love it.

 

[Bunyip]

Thanks mate,Im looking forward to the process...

 

[Seb Lucas]

If you don't actually ride 2.5 oz is plenty thick. Goat and HH A2's are usually under 3oz. If you ride, different story.

 

[garzo]

And here I thought this was going to be the start of a promising joke: "The bison, the elk, the horse and the mad cow walk into a bar ..."

 

[Bunyip]

Yep, I ride, thats where this leather thing started for me. Im looking at a nice d pocket, in something pretty tough.

 

[Bunyip]

And here I thought this was going to be the start of a promising joke: "The bison, the elk, the horse and the mad cow walk into a bar ..."

And they said"ouch! Who put that bloody bar there?"....end joke. Something for everyone in this thread!

 

[schitzo]

For me samples generally aren't that helpful as a little bit taken from the edge of a hide often isn't representative of the whole thing. Sometimes they can even be flat out misleading.

By all accounts this Alan character knows his onions and is a top bloke to boot. I suggest you simply describe to him the type of leather you're after. Then if he gives you a couple of choices you just choose the colour you fancy most.

Remember: Alan Miyagi you Daniel san

 

[Bunyip]

Wax on wax off.........

 

[schitzo]

Precisiely

 

[crimsonofsam]

Crimson, is your 3.5 oz cowhide finished or naked? I am considering the finished 3.5 oz they use for police jackets.

The cow is naked and the horse is pigment dyed. Wow, that sounds weird.

 

[Bunyip]

Do you think cows and horses look at the aero website like old people look at coffins? "Hmmmm I quite like 50s half belt...I can myself being that??