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Vanson! Vanson! Vanson!

JonS1967

New in Town
Messages
10
Greetings! This is my first post on the Lounge and I apologize if it’s a bit long winded. My name is Jon and I’ve been lurking on the forum for a few months as I delve back into the leather jacket world. Where was the Lounge 20 years ago?

When I quit riding motorcycles after my first child was born in 2007, I held onto all my leathers. Unfortunately some of them, like my Vansons (Cobra and Pro Perf), weren’t suitable for casual wear and my remaining jackets (a LL Dominator, a LL Bronx, and a custom Langlitz) are a little too edgy to wear to work. And when I do wear them to work, they rarely fail to elicit “where’s your motorcycle?” questions. I realized that I wanted to get something that didn’t look like I just got off a motorcycle and I decided to sell the Cobra and Pro Perf to fund a new jacket! And that’s what brought me here.

I was curious to see who is still making good quality stuff and I was happy to see many of the players I was aware of back in the early 2000s were not only still in business but still making fantastic quality jackets.

My research led me back to Vanson. Since this jacket is strictly for casual wear, I didn’t want anything quite as heavy as their competition weight, although I got to handle several of their jackets in comp weight and it’s still impressive leather in my opinion. I’ve also wanted a horse hide jacket for over 20 years and never got one. So, I decided to have Vanson make me a custom Ike jacket from Horween‘s new Pinnacle horse hide. After months of planning and the incredible insight I gleaned from this forum, coupled with the help from the good folks at Vanson, my new jacket arrived today. I’m thrilled with how it turned out and it’s very comfortable.
Cheers,
Jon

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TartuWolf

One Too Many
Messages
1,126
Location
Tartu, Estonia
Welcome to the lounge Jon! Great entrance I would say!
Your jacket looks fantastic and fits you very well.
I'm surprised Vanson directly does jackets out of Horween leather!
Did you supply the leather yourself or they suggested it to you as one of the options?
First time we are seeing Horween pinnacle in black (in the wild) I think.
 

jacketjunkie

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,313
Location
Germany
Greetings! This is my first post on the Lounge and I apologize if it’s a bit long winded. My name is Jon and I’ve been lurking on the forum for a few months as I delve back into the leather jacket world. Where was the Lounge 20 years ago?

When I quit riding motorcycles after my first child was born in 2007, I held onto all my leathers. Unfortunately some of them, like my Vansons (Cobra and Pro Perf), weren’t suitable for casual wear and my remaining jackets (a LL Dominator, a LL Bronx, and a custom Langlitz) are a little too edgy to wear to work. And when I do wear them to work, they rarely fail to elicit “where’s your motorcycle?” questions. I realized that I wanted to get something that didn’t look like I just got off a motorcycle and I decided to sell the Cobra and Pro Perf to fund a new jacket! And that’s what brought me here.

I was curious to see who is still making good quality stuff and I was happy to see many of the players I was aware of back in the early 2000s were not only still in business but still making fantastic quality jackets.

My research led me back to Vanson. Since this jacket is strictly for casual wear, I didn’t want anything quite as heavy as their competition weight, although I got to handle several of their jackets in comp weight and it’s still impressive leather in my opinion. I’ve also wanted a horse hide jacket for over 20 years and never got one. So, I decided to have Vanson make me a custom Ike jacket from Horween‘s new Pinnacle horse hide. After months of planning and the incredible insight I gleaned from this forum, coupled with the help from the good folks at Vanson, my new jacket arrived today. I’m thrilled with how it turned out and it’s very comfortable.
Cheers,
Jon

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Looking great! Is this an Ike with different pocket set up?
 

JonS1967

New in Town
Messages
10
Hi Jon, welcome to the lounge and congratulations on a great new Vanson!
Thank you!!
Welcome to the lounge Jon! Great entrance I would say!
Your jacket looks fantastic and fits you very well.
I'm surprised Vanson directly does jackets out of Horween leather!
Did you supply the leather yourself or they suggested it to you as one of the options?
First time we are seeing Horween pinnacle in black (in the wild) I think.
Thank you! Vanson said they may or may not be receiving a batch of Horween horse hide in CXL, but they weren’t sure exactly if or when it was going to arrive. Even though I had wanted a jacket in CXL horse hide for ages, I didn’t really wanna wait for an undetermined period of time for my jacket to be made.

So, after doing some research, I sourced the leather directly from The Tannery Row in Chicago and they sent it to Vanson for me. They are Horween’s retail distributor. I initially planned to use CXL, but after receiving samples of the different horse hide options, the Pinnacle intrigued me. Kyle Gerber from The Tannery Row, and the Pinnacle thread here on the Lounge, were extremely helpful answering my questions so after some back-and-forth with Kyle, I decided to go with the Pinnacle. I think you’re right that this may be the first black jacket the forum. I’m planning to post pictures to the Pinnacle thread as well.
Cheers,
Jon
 

JonS1967

New in Town
Messages
10
Spectacular jacket and the pinnacle leather works really well.
I had a black pinnacle leather college jacket and the leather was buttery soft. Unfortunately the fit didn't work for me and it had to go back. Yours appears to fit you very well. Enjoy.
Jon, you did very well. That is a nice Vanson. Welcome to the forum!
Thank you for your kind words!
 

Canuck Panda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,628
Thank you! It’s the most comfortable leather jacket I’ve ever worn. The leather is just so easy to wear right out of the box.

Unfortunately, Vanson does not stock Pinnacle and I don’t think they feel it suitable for motorcycle jackets so I doubt they’ll stock it. I ordered it on my own through The Tannery Row, which is Horween’s retail outlet, and they shipped it directly to Vanson.

I just called Nick. Trying to do one of their wax cotton jackets in leather. Fingers crossed!
 

Viking752

Practically Family
Messages
615
Location
Central Florida
Thank you!!

Thank you! Vanson said they may or may not be receiving a batch of Horween horse hide in CXL, but they weren’t sure exactly if or when it was going to arrive. Even though I had wanted a jacket in CXL horse hide for ages, I didn’t really wanna wait for an undetermined period of time for my jacket to be made.

So, after doing some research, I sourced the leather directly from The Tannery Row in Chicago and they sent it to Vanson for me. They are Horween’s retail distributor. I initially planned to use CXL, but after receiving samples of the different horse hide options, the Pinnacle intrigued me. Kyle Gerber from The Tannery Row, and the Pinnacle thread here on the Lounge, were extremely helpful answering my questions so after some back-and-forth with Kyle, I decided to go with the Pinnacle. I think you’re right that this may be the first black jacket the forum. I’m planning to post pictures to the Pinnacle thread as well.
Cheers,
Jon
Beautiful jacket and HH choice. I was looking on the Tannery Row site and you have me curious, how many sq. Ft. did it take to build your jacket?
 

JonS1967

New in Town
Messages
10
I just called Nick. Trying to do one of their wax cotton jackets in leather. Fingers crossed!
When I picked up my jacket from the shop yesterday, they had a few waxed jackets hanging on the rack. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice they were. They were never on my radar until I saw one yesterday. Good luck with your order!
 

JonS1967

New in Town
Messages
10
Beautiful jacket and HH choice. I was looking on the Tannery Row site and you have me curious, how many sq. Ft. did it take to build your jacket?
Thank you for the kind words. I ordered 48 ft.² for my size 42 jacket based on recommendations from Kim at Vanson. I have a couple of square feet or so left over for future repairs if needed.
It wasn’t cheap, but well worth it.
 

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