Why did you sell your nearly new aero leather jacket(s)?

[ton312]

Jeez... I seem to be the devil's advocate guy on the leather side of the house. I swear I'm not like this on the hat side of the house, but damn you guys are really running down a product that sounds to me to be perfect for the area where it is produced.

If you've never been to Scotland, you have no idea how cold and damp it is almost all year round. Even in the summer. The CXL you guys are describing sounds like exactly what I would want in that environment.

So for me, the short answer to this thread seems to be, "Because I don't live in bloody Scotland."

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the jacket is miserable in Scotland as well. But from what I've seen from @Feliksas, if you want a rugged jacket to wear all year round because you live in a cold, damp environment and spend a lot of time outdoors - then Aero is the right fit.

If that's not you, then you might want to look at other options.

But that doesn't make it a bad product.

CXL is not Aero. It is simply a hide they offer. It’s become a flagship hide for them but it is not something tanned exclusively for them. My comment would stand regardless of the makers tag.
Aero offers a large catalog of better leather options and those do not typically show up for sale shortly after being purchased. The thread title should probably be changed to “why did you sell your CXL jacket”. One of my absolute favorite jackets is an Aero, one of the few I’ve kept and it’s not made from CXL.

 

[MrProper]

You think Aeros CXL Steer is softer than CXL HH or about the same?

I'm not asked, but that is/was the case with both of mine (HH and SH respectively). Steer much softer and more comfortable to wear.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

CXL is not Aero. It is simply a hide they offer. It’s become a flagship hide for them but it is not something tanned exclusively for them. My comment would stand regardless of the makers tag.
Aero offers a large catalog of better leather options and those do not typically show up for sale shortly after being purchased. The thread title should probably be changed to “why did you sell your CXL jacket”. One of my absolute favorite jackets is an Aero, one of the few I’ve kept and it’s not made from CXL.

Very helpful clarifications, thanks.

 

[MrProper]

If you've never been to Scotland, you have no idea how cold and damp it is almost all year round. Even in the summer. The CXL you guys are describing sounds like exactly what I would want in that environment.

My CXL jackets are/were the coldest jackets I have. My current one has a moleskin lining, but I can still feel the cold leather coming through. For me, between 12C and 18C is optimal. Too warm above, too cold below. When it gets cooler, the Vicenza or LL Sheepskin or the Ruggedwest jackets are better.

 

[RDS]

CXL is not Aero. It is simply a hide they offer. It’s become a flagship hide for them but it is not something tanned exclusively for them. My comment would stand regardless of the makers tag.
Aero offers a large catalog of better leather options and those do not typically show up for sale shortly after being purchased. The thread title should probably be changed to “why did you sell your CXL jacket”. One of my absolute favorite jackets is an Aero, one of the few I’ve kept and it’s not made from CXL.

I’ve seen it reported that Aero Leather produce somewhere between 2500-3000 jackets a year. As you say CXL is their flagship leather, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that a considerable number, possibly more than 50%, of their output is of jackets made from CXL.
That being the case it should be expected that more CXL jackets will appear on the re-sale or secondhand market; and just because there are it doesn’t necessarily mean that a great number of those who bought new are dissatisfied with CXL. It could well be that proportionally fewer CXL jackets are actually put up for sale than those which are made from other hides.
Given the amount of CXL jackets Aero make each year the number which are sold, either as ‘one owner/nearly new’ or ‘used’, is probably just a very small fraction of this.
And, of course, those who are unhappy in some way with whatever they’ve purchased are always more likely to voice their dissatisfaction than those who are perfectly content.

 

[onstar]

I'm not asked, but that is/was the case with both of mine (HH and SH respectively). Steer much softer and more comfortable to wear.

Your expertise is always welcomed.
CXL Steer vs Vicenza Horsehide vs Pinnacle how would you rank them in terms of soft to stiff?

 

[Manolito]

Aero Leather jackets have always left me unsatisfied for one reason or another. I would love to love them, their extensive catalogue makes me want many of them, but there is always something not quite right.

I have never owned a CXLHH, i have seen one (barnstormer) in person in a shop in Paris and it looks like an unbreakable armour, so i passed. I am not much of a heavy leather person anyway.

My size is somewhere between 38 and 40, rather tall and slim. I have bought Aero jackets in their stock selection on the website, based on the measurements.

I've owned a black Boardracer 40 in jerky horsehide from the apprentice section. The leather was OK, but there were things I did not like : armholes a little too high, arms a litlle too slim, Kidney panel too rigid and ugly to me, cheap zipper. And the real deal breaker was the well documented neck pinch by the back of the collar that was unbearable to me. Sold with no regret at all !

I've owned a 36 brown suede college jacket. Nice leather and construction, confortable all around. The only wick point was the zipper which felt cheap. I have not kept it as i was not a big fan of the shape of the jacket, a purely subjective thing. I intend to buy another one from aero, custom made this time one day... Sold.

I've onwed a 38 A2, same cut as the "real deal", in battered steerhide. Lovely light russet leather ! But not confortable cut : shoulders too narrow, armholes too small, back a little too short, lack of freedom of movement. It was close but not quite ! Sold.

I now own a 40 A2 38-1711-p in jerky horsehide seal. The zipper feels brittle and is a pain to use. The jacket is confortable, but very bulky, not very pleasant to the eye. 38 is too small, 40 looks too big to me ! The collar is especially too wide and too high, makes me look like a turtle with its head coming out of its shell !, my chin is often hitting the collar which is very rare with other jackets as I have a rather long neck. Still own it, don't know if I will keep it...

So mostly pattern problems for me, it seems...

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

My CXL jackets are/were the coldest jackets I have. My current one has a moleskin lining, but I can still feel the cold leather coming through. For me, between 12C and 18C is optimal. Too warm above, too cold below. When it gets cooler, the Vicenza or LL Sheepskin or the Ruggedwest jackets are better.

I'm new to leather but it seems to me every leather needs insulation in order to have substantial warming properties. You mention LL Sheepskin but that is fur and leather, no?

My experience hiking in Scotland for a few months is that items like jackets and boots that are worn outdoors every day just don't dry completely there (and my experience was in June and July - it simply never got warm or dry enough even in the summer). A few years of constant dampness and a veggie-tanned leather like Vicenza might degrade considerably.

The way folks here are describing CXL makes it sound like more durable material that can hold up to prolonged exposure to cold and damp conditions. What one adds to it for warmth is a different story (specific liner material, layers, or even activity level... whatever).

But again, I could be way wrong - I'm just playing devil's advocate here.

 

[Marc mndt]

more durable material that can hold up to prolonged exposure to cold and damp conditions.

There's a solution for that, chrome tanned leather . Water resistant but without the CXL waxes that get stiff when temperatures drop.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

There's a solution for that, chrome tanned leather . Water resistant but without the CXL waxes that get stiff when temperatures drop.

This is why I am excited about Lost Worlds jackets. I now have three of them waiting for me to get home and get back in the semi. I am very excited that Stuart states over and over again on his website "Wear these things in the rain."

However, CXL is chrome tanned, no?

 

[Marc mndt]

However, CXL is chrome tanned, no?

CXL is combination tanned.

https://www.horween.com/blog/2010/03/23/chromexcel®-2

 

[NamoAmituofo]

To me a leather jacket is primarily a functional piece of clothing - in wet and windy UK weather - CXL is a must have.

For social occasions I have my wool jackets and coats, and for cold weather I have my Canada Goose.

Now since we also touched on vintage Vanson HH on this thread - imagine one day aero withdraws CXL like what Simmons Bilt has done (actually you can argue aero’s modern day CXL is already a thinner/more workable hide VS the olden days when their CXL was monstrously thick and heavy) - so imagine the withdrawal - it should instantly add value to all the near new CXL aero jackets in 2nd hand market. It’s simple supply, demand and scarcity dynamics.

So better to hang on to your CXL aero for now! At least one or two if you have way too many in collection.

 

[NamoAmituofo]

CXL is combination tanned.

https://www.horween.com/blog/2010/03/23/chromexcel®-2

I’d compare CXL to what we in the UK call stirrup leather or harness leather elsewhere - it is tanned then hot stuffed with wax and fats until saturation. The purpose is weather proof and extremely hard wearing

 

[Peter Mackin]

Aero Leather jackets have always left me unsatisfied for one reason or another. I would love to love them, their extensive catalogue makes me want many of them, but there is always something not quite right.

I have never owned a CXLHH, i have seen one (barnstormer) in person in a shop in Paris and it looks like an unbreakable armour, so i passed. I am not much of a heavy leather person anyway.

My size is somewhere between 38 and 40, rather tall and slim. I have bought Aero jackets in their stock selection on the website, based on the measurements.

I've owned a black Boardracer 40 in jerky horsehide from the apprentice section. The leather was OK, but there were things I did not like : armholes a little too high, arms a litlle too slim, Kidney panel too rigid and ugly to me, cheap zipper. And the real deal breaker was the well documented neck pinch by the back of the collar that was unbearable to me. Sold with no regret at all !

I've owned a 36 brown suede college jacket. Nice leather and construction, confortable all around. The only wick point was the zipper which felt cheap. I have not kept it as i was not a big fan of the shape of the jacket, a purely subjective thing. I intend to buy another one from aero, custom made this time one day... Sold.

I've onwed a 38 A2, same cut as the "real deal", in battered steerhide. Lovely light russet leather ! But not confortable cut : shoulders too narrow, armholes too small, back a little too short, lack of freedom of movement. It was close but not quite ! Sold.

I now own a 40 A2 38-1711-p in jerky horsehide seal. The zipper feels brittle and is a pain to use. The jacket is confortable, but very bulky, not very pleasant to the eye. 38 is too small, 40 looks too big to me ! The collar is especially too wide and too high, makes me look like a turtle with its head coming out of its shell !, my chin is often hitting the collar which is very rare with other jackets as I have a rather long neck. Still own it, don't know if I will keep it...

So mostly pattern problems for me, it seems...

I agree with almost everything you say,having went down the CXL route many years ago,Except the 38-1711-p,,I've owned mine 15years,hated it from the start, so uncomfortable, but it slowly, very slowly it stopped feeling like cardboard and one day became a favourite jacket of mine. Trust me,don't baby it,wear it in the rain ,get it soaked, the high collar takes shape .it's a keeper.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

CXL is combination tanned.

https://www.horween.com/blog/2010/03/23/chromexcel®-2

Lots of interesting information on that blog you posted. This comment from a reader is also informative:

"Vegetable re-tanning after being intially chrome tanned ensures that the leather ... would be more waterproof, like a chrome tanned leather, but it would also produce a patina that would be more similar to the patina produced by a veg tan leather after constant use and conditioning."

So I am assuming Aero goes with CXL because it is robust but also yields over time a "character." This is the most persistent complaint I see about Lost Worlds: it takes forever to break them in... one can wait a lifetime for them to really develop character.

 

[MrProper]

Your expertise is always welcomed.
CXL Steer vs Vicenza Horsehide vs Pinnacle how would you rank them in terms of soft to stiff?

I don't know Pinnacle. Of the other two, it depends on what you want to do with it. CXL is robust and like a rain jacket. I like it, at least my steer, which is not the heaviest jacket. My Vicenza is a little more comfortable to wear, but it's not ideal in the rain.
I think Vicenza is a bit more suitable for everyday wear for city dwellers.

 

[MrProper]

You mention LL Sheepskin but that is fur and leather, no?

No, the one from LL is veg tanned sheep without fur. Both of mine have wolltartan as a lining (satin in the sleeves). If I want to be really warm, I use my shearlings.

Sheep:

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

No, the one from LL is veg tanned sheep without fur. Both of mine have wolltartan as a lining (satin in the sleeves). If I want to be really warm, I use my shearlings.

Sheep:
View attachment 652256

My point about the cold and damp is not that the CXL will keep you warm, but that because it hardly really gets warm in Scotland things don't dry properly when used outdoors constantly (in my case, when I was hiking).

But thanks for the information about warmer leathers.... good to have an idea of that.

 

[MickeyPunch]

What made you come to that conclusion?

Just browsing the “what jacket are you wearing today” thread, I guess? Most people over heve has a big rotation, as expected, and there’s so many leather jacket days in a year, so in the end most will still look brand new even after a few years. A few sleeve creases (that set in pretty much in the first wear) and little else.

This is fine, but then makes me wonder why people would choose something like CXLHH which they’re likely never going to break in (if truly breaking in that leather is even possible).

Maybe someone who rides? I don’t ride, never did and never will (my mid life crisis vehicle of choice is a Miata, not a motorbike), but the people I’ve known who do ride don’t even wear leather anymore but something like this.

So people like OP who sold a CXLSH jacket for being too light and go for CXLHH because it feels like armour make me curious about what sort of activities they engage in that warrant that level of protection, because just doing e.g. yard work (which I don’t do because I don’t have a yard lol) feels like such a drag in a jacket like that, I’d rather wear a three piece suit and a tie for that.

That being said, to each their own of course, if they like wearing them even if there’s no practical reason for it then that’s fine, as I say I’m just curious.

 

[MickeyPunch]

I don't know Pinnacle. Of the other two, it depends on what you want to do with it. CXL is robust and like a rain jacket. I like it, at least my steer, which is not the heaviest jacket. My Vicenza is a little more comfortable to wear, but it's not ideal in the rain.
I think Vicenza is a bit more suitable for everyday wear for city dwellers.

How does CXLSH compares to Badalassi steerhide?