What’s a fair price for a good Cal jacket?

[photo2u]

Horsehide Cals are super-rare, if there are any at all. For horse you got to look at Cal's predecessor, Star Glove. Be prepared to pay north of a thousand for one.

I have several. One in the Highway patrol style and several others in the CR types. About 30 years ago, I took several jackets to Cal leathers for authentication. I was told that the Cal prototype I got from my friend Dan Jauregui was the only one two ever made and both were made in HH. The vintage Cal horse hide was produced in two different ways I have seen. One was thinner and very dense and very even. The other was supper thick and not as dense as the thinner one. It is hard to explain with out actually feeling the leather. The closest I can describe it visually is by the way hide folds around the arms.

 

[ton312]

I took a good look at the eBay pics in my initial post - they do look very much like horsehide to me. What do you guys think?

You’ll never know for sure. Cal never labeled their jackets this way (horse/cow). Your best bet is to go off the hardware. The paper clip style main zip like the one I posted is hh. The full rig with teardrop talons is cow. You can safely assume anything with 60’s, 70’s hardware is cow.

 

[JMax]

They can be had for real low prices if they don’t have a label and the seller is unaware it is a Cal. I’ve paid $85 for a CR and around $100 for nice LAPDs and CHPs. This used to be a common occurrence. Less so now but it happens. Obviously not the early HH. Anyone can tell that hide and jacket is quality. I’ve hit on HH Cals for $300 though. Many moons ago.

You also can look at other vintage CHPs. Taubers, Californian/CSC, All Weather, etc. I like Cal better than Taubers and CSC but AW is my favorite.

 

[NamoAmituofo]

They can be had for real low prices if they don’t have a label and the seller is unaware it is a Cal. I’ve paid $85 for a CR and around $100 for nice LAPDs and CHPs. This used to be a common occurrence. Less so now but it happens. Obviously not the early HH. Anyone can tell that hide and jacket is quality. I’ve hit on HH Cals for $300 though. Many moons ago.

You also can look at other vintage CHPs. Taubers, Californian/CSC, All Weather, etc. I like Cal better than Taubers and CSC but AW is my favorite.

How would you compare the CHP made by Cal, VS Langlitz, VS Vanson Model-E?