Marc mndt
I'll Lock Up
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I've read that veg tan leather doesn't repel rain as well as cxl. Just wondering if I get caught in the rain if that's a bad thing...?
It depends, some vegetable tanned leathers soak up water like a sponge (eg current LL vegetable tanned sheepskin) others can withstand a half hour walk through the rain without getting soaked (my ELMC Highwaystar). But sooner or later (rather sooner) vegetable tanned leather will become saturated with water, not keeping you dry.
The tricky part is not the getting wet part, but how it dries. You want to hang it in cool place, not crowded, etc. Ideally, you wear it dry and it'll form to your body.
+1 ^^
When vegetable tanned leather dries up too fast it will shrink. Therefore it's best to let it dry without any external heat sources. I once hung a jacket out to dry in the full summer sun, the body shrunk about 2 inches in length.
When your jacket does get wet, it's best to make sure the whole jacket gets wet evenly (not just parts). Otherwise You might get stains from the tannines. This is more of an issue with brown than with black leathers.
Like @TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead suggested, it's best to wear the jacket until dry. If you let it dry on a hanger you might get unwanted creases or the leather may stretch in cerain parts (the shoulder may stretch because that's where all the weight is focused). It's best to just lay the jacket on the floor while drying.
Now don't get scared to get your vegetable tanned jacket wet, there's no need to. As long as you know how (not) to dry it afterwards, you'll be fine.