Vintage Sierra Leather Bomber Type Of Leather & Age?

[Digger68]

Hi. New member here.
Anyway I thought this site looked neat enough to join.
Okay questions on this. Leather Sierra Bomber. How Old, and what type of leather. The jacket is naturally distressed. I have had a couple Schott Leathers in the Past (Another Bomber from the early 80's that the Leather was stiff as Hell, and a Perfecto from the Late 70's, and a Brooks that was similar to the Perfecto) And I am trying to figure out what kind of Leather this is. I really like this jacket unlike the others that did not work for me. I thought it might be 70's with the wear, Label type and lining. Talon Zipper. Any ideas?
Thanks.

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[too much coffee]

Hi Digger68 and Welcome to the Lounge.

My best guess would be lambskin with date of manufacture of 1990-1993.

Regards,
coffee

 

[Peacoat]

To me the hide looks more substantial than lamb, but as Coffee has spoken with such decisiveness, I hesitate to mention it.

Whatever it is, welcome to the Lounge. PC.

 

[Digger68]

Thanks for your responses.
I have a Polo Lambskin and this is certainly not lambskin. I have never seen a leather like this made in the early 90's.

 

[ButteMT61]

Tag looks like goat, the jacket maybe cow or horse. Not enough to tell, but it's a cool civi jacket. Welcome.

 

[too much coffee]

Thanks for your responses.
I have a Polo Lambskin and this is certainly not lambskin. I have never seen a leather like this made in the early 90's.

Then you have never seen a lambskin A-2 made by Avirex in the early 90s. Of course you have the advantage of being able to touchy feely; I'm going by a couple of pics sent down from The Moon.


coffee

 

[too much coffee]

Hey guys..........any other opinions on Digger68's jacket?

I had an Avirex lambskin back in 1991 and the hide looked just like Digger68s jacket. Most people think of lambskin as being thin and fragile; and on it's own those attributes are true. But my jacket had a filling of polyester fiberfill (or something like that) between the lining and the leather. It increased the weight of the jacket substantially. If one felt the jacket from the outside the lambskin felt thicker and stronger than it actually was.

Avirex's antiqued lambskin would pick up marks on the jacket just by looking at it cross-eyed! It was very prone to looking old very quickly. Again, Digger68s jacket looks like my old Avirex. I only gave my best guess based on that experience. I barely know the difference between an A-1 and an A-2!

But that is only my assumption that it's lambskin. Our new member Digger68 should get more knowledgeable answers than mine.

Thanks and regards,
coffee

 

[strokes1251]

I saw the exact same jacket at a thrift shop the other week well the only difference was that it had holes on the back and looked like someone had used it to clean knives or something But yea anyways I would definitely say its more like lambskin. It felt very cheap like something you can buy at the mall nowadays. As for the date I would say its the 90s to because to me thats when ever brand started getting those plain generic looking tags on their jackets. But then again thats just my opinion!

 

[GoodTimesGone]

I own three Avirex lambskin jackets and the hide patina looks exactly like that- so I'll add my vote to what Coffee said. According to their "old leather" instruction label the hide is intended to become a lighter color wherever it is rubbed. They're comfortable and the insulated ones are very warm but I'll agree with Coffee that the hide shows wear too easily.
____________________________________________
Tom

 

[Phantomfixer]

Welcome Digger, I must ask... any relation or did you know Pete Digger82?
As for your jacket, the hide and tag could be different leather, I agree that it could be lamb. It appears too new to have aged that way. An older cowhide or horsehide jacket from the 50s could have aged this much, or a Time Worn ELC switched at birth. I stand with the Lamb guys based on the few pictures and not being an expert....
j

 

[Digger68]

Thanks for the input. It does not have a padded lining underneath the red lining. There is some padding in the shoulders.
And it certainly does not feel cheap. Heavy is not always great. It is not light.
I have had a few leather jackets and I did not think it was something before the 70's, and maybe I could see 80's but 90's? Okay.
This jacket was $16 so..... It's sort of big for a medium.
Best -D-

 

[too much coffee]

Hi Digger68;

That is a very neat jacket and at $16.00........a real steal.
It just reminded me so much of my old Avirex which I wore from 1991 till about 2002. It was oversized as well. I sold it on the 'Bay for about $150.00.
"The Cockpit" leather jacket store sells an A-2 which appears very similar to yours for $500.00.

Regards,
coffee

 

[Digger68]

That one looks much nicer.
I probably would have kept that Schott Bomber I had but it had a Faux Fur Collar that was fixed and drove me nuts. I got that jacket in unworn condition for $2. Ah those were the days.