Worthwhile Alternative to Aero Leathers???

[nicholasb]

What about this for a Highwayman alternative with stud down collar. They may do the Zip sleeves for you + no Tax for people living outside EU. Its not FQHH but could be good still - I think someone on here has one.

Cirrus Lancaster Jacket

http://www.flyingjacket.com/products/leather-flying-motoring-jackets/adam-jacket/

 

[nicholasb]

Also check this thread for Vanson Horsehide.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?55253-Vanson-Enfield-in-Cordovan-Horsehide-pics!

 

[wallis]

I have had a Johnson jacket for over 15 years. Wore it last night. It's great. Cow. Very heavy.
They have heavier, which they use for Highway Patrol jackets. It looks very nice.
I have had an Aero jacket for a few months now. Horsehide. Kinda stiff, dense but not as thick and heavy.

Johnson Leathers can get the same leather Aero gets, the Horween horse. They have a stash of vintage NOS zippers.
They know vintage styles. They know motorcycle styles. They can put armor in your jacket. They are a pleasure to
work with.

Nothing against Aero. But Johnson is at least as good, in a somewhat different niche. I encourage you to call Alan.

They need a better website, I would never have known based on the info and pics on their site. I'll contact Alan.

Why did you decide against Langlitz? I own ~10 moto jackets and unless you are a very serious sport rider that needs some extra protection, their Cascade is awesome to say the least. I just had one made and it fits me 100% perfectly, much better than my Aero cafe...which is also nice, but more of an cool everyday...but less custom jacket. The Langlitz leather is really top notch.

I'm looking for a jacket that I can wear on the bike, but primarily for casual wear. I have a couple bike specific jackets already. I'm looking for a jacket that I'd wear for short rides and when I park the bike I can go into a nice restaurant. That's if it even gets worn on the bike. Langlitz style isn't favorable for casual wear.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I'm looking for a jacket that I can wear on the bike, but primarily for casual wear. I have a couple bike specific jackets already. I'm looking for a jacket that I'd wear for short rides and when I park the bike I can go into a nice restaurant. That's if it even gets worn on the bike. Langlitz style isn't favorable for casual wear.

Here's one of my riding jackets(Vanson Enfield). Great dual purpose..but not so cheap new. Got this off eBay.....

 

[wallis]

@HD

Beautiful!

That's my goal with an Aero Highwayman. Longer sleeves, an extra inch or two in length, zippered sleeves, button down collar.

 

[Mojo1975]

Here's one of my riding jackets(Vanson Enfield). Great dual purpose..but not so cheap new. Got this off eBay.....

Great jacket HD! I think we have some of the last Vanson Enfields (we're constantly getting stock that we don't even have time to put on our website!) left in the country on our racks. Vanson's are so sought after, despite the poor economy.

The OP wanted an Aero without the risk and wait times. He's in luck, as we have the Aero Cafe' Racers, Aero 1930s Slimfit Halfbelts, and Aero J106s on the rack in his size (38) available in our shop! If the jacket reaches him and he feels he needs more body length, sleeve length, pockets, snaps, etc., we put in the amended order to Aero without any added cost to the consumer. However, our off-the-rack selection of Aero already has added body and sleeve length, so most customers are quite pleased with the off-the-rack purchase!

OP--If you're looking for a riding jacket in an Aero, the Highwayman is probably not your best choice. I'd go for an Aero Cafe' Racer...that's what our riding customers choose when they have Aero standard-collared and mandarin-collared jackets to try on and choose from.

The Aero Cafe' Racer is truly a work of art, and a proper riding jacket!!! With that said, the new Schott CAF-1 is our best selling riding jacket this summer. With the new heavy steerhide, the CAF-1 feels like a five-year-old competition weight Vanson and is a stunning riding jacket!

Also, I wouldn't dismiss the Aero 1930s Halfbelt as a riding jacket. The profile of the jacket is much slimmer than the Aero Highwayman! I just picked up, off our own racks, a great Aero which will be my 2012 Fall and Winter riding jacket! Check out the Lewis Leathers Racing Boots too (our new addition to the shop's stock!)!!! www.insurrectionvintage.com / www.insurrection-racing.com

 

[wallis]

@Moto1975

Thanks for the reply.

At $1100, I'd rather go straight thru Aero and have it custom made to my specs. The off the rack jackets make more sense for people in the Seattle area who can try them on.

As for the Vanson Enfield... do you have a 38 or 40 in stock? Steerhide, hh, cow?

Tell me about your house brand jackets...

 

[Mojo1975]

@Moto1975

Thanks for the reply.

At $1100, I'd rather go straight thru Aero and have it custom made to my specs. The off the rack jackets make more sense for people in the Seattle area who can try them on.

As for the Vanson Enfield... do you have a 38 or 40 in stock? Steerhide, hh, cow?

Tell me about your house brand jackets...

We do have the equivalent to a size 38 Aero Highwayman currently in our shop--The Vanson Enfield 40 in competition weight cowhide (if you're a 38 in a Highwayman, the 38 Enfield will be WAY too small on you!).

Regarding Aero, we do a lot of full-custom Aero jackets for folks in the United States at the same price as our off-the-rack jackets!

As for our house brand, a lot of folks really like the jackets. Give us a buzz today and we can give you the scoop. There's a ton of differences between Aero, Schott, Vanson, Pacific Cycle Leathers, etc., both in sizing and hide selection. We'll get you sorted out!!!

 

[Brettafett]

Take a hard look at Lost Worlds Inc. out of NY City. Heavy horsehide, tremendous build quality and ample selections w/o too long of a wait.

Good Luck

Regards,
coffee

Had a Dubow repro from them awhile back. Very nice horse hide, very solid, jacket was well made. Just a bit too 'armoured' for me.

 

[Brettafett]

What about Wested UK, www.wested.com/, the famous Indiana Jones jacket maker ;-)! They have a few models and do customizations galore... Not sure of the current hides though. Had a Raiders years ago and it was well made, just very light lamb that didn't suit my rugged expectations... Have considered many times to order a Horse hide jacket. Well priced to boot. I wouldn't say in the class or Aero mind you.

 

[Edward]

What about Wested UK, www.wested.com/, the famous Indiana Jones jacket maker ;-)! They have a few models and do customizations galore... Not sure of the current hides though. Had a Raiders years ago and it was well made, just very light lamb that didn't suit my rugged expectations... Have considered many times to order a Horse hide jacket. Well priced to boot. I wouldn't say in the class or Aero mind you.

I'm actually wearing a Wested Raiders today, in their goat. I've never handled anything other than one of their Indy jackets so I can't comment on the quality of other models. A lot of glaring inaccuracies in design if you want a good flying jacket, though - their B3 for instance is presented as the jacket from Memphis Belle, and it has handwarmer pockets. But that's to design rather than quality, and some folks might want that. Of their Indy jackets, the standard is lambskin. Not to my taste (I'm a little too hard on jackets for that), but certainly it is the hide Ford wore in the first three films at least (I'm less clear on just what they supplied to the production - my understanding was that they only supplied to Raiders. The site appears to suggest otherwise, but I believe that's just me being wrong or it poorly phrased rather than an attempt to deceive). I'm not the expert the COW guys would be on the details, but the jacket looks right to me. I opted for a goat Raiders model (OTR, not MTM), buying used on eBay, mint worn once, for less than half the new price. At the new price they are good value, but you will get a sizeable reduction if you are happy to buy used. It's not on a par with my Aeros, but then it only cost me a small fraction of the price of any of my Aero jackets. The goat hide is very definitely much lighter than Aero's goat (I have an A2 and an AN6552 in Aero's goathide). Ideal for my purposes: I wanted a lighter leather I could wear in the Summer, and the loose-fit, boxy design of the Indy jacket, also its lack of knits, is good for that. This lighter goat still feels plenty strong enough that I'm not worried about tearing it any more than I would be the Aero goat just through wearing it out and about. I would definitely take the Aero FQHH if I was going to be dragged under a truck, mind... Overall, a very acceptable jacket, well worth what I paid. Yes, the Aero option would be much better (I'd go for their goat if you want it to drape like Indy's, or medium horse - not FQHH), but if like me you deliberately want something light for the Summer and/or want an Indy jacket on the cheap so as to save money for other designs you'd rather put the bigger money into, I wouldn't look past Wested. Not in the UK. Wouldn't be my choice for the military jackets, but otherwise nice. Just be careful which hide you select and don't expect it to be on a par with one of the premium makers at several times the price.

 

[Brettafett]

I'm actually wearing a Wested Raiders today, in their goat. I've never handled anything other than one of their Indy jackets so I can't comment on the quality of other models. A lot of glaring inaccuracies in design if you want a good flying jacket, though - their B3 for instance is presented as the jacket from Memphis Belle, and it has handwarmer pockets. But that's to design rather than quality, and some folks might want that. Of their Indy jackets, the standard is lambskin. Not to my taste (I'm a little too hard on jackets for that), but certainly it is the hide Ford wore in the first three films at least (I'm less clear on just what they supplied to the production - my understanding was that they only supplied to Raiders. The site appears to suggest otherwise, but I believe that's just me being wrong or it poorly phrased rather than an attempt to deceive). I'm not the expert the COW guys would be on the details, but the jacket looks right to me. I opted for a goat Raiders model (OTR, not MTM), buying used on eBay, mint worn once, for less than half the new price. At the new price they are good value, but you will get a sizeable reduction if you are happy to buy used. It's not on a par with my Aeros, but then it only cost me a small fraction of the price of any of my Aero jackets. The goat hide is very definitely much lighter than Aero's goat (I have an A2 and an AN6552 in Aero's goathide). Ideal for my purposes: I wanted a lighter leather I could wear in the Summer, and the loose-fit, boxy design of the Indy jacket, also its lack of knits, is good for that. This lighter goat still feels plenty strong enough that I'm not worried about tearing it any more than I would be the Aero goat just through wearing it out and about. I would definitely take the Aero FQHH if I was going to be dragged under a truck, mind... Overall, a very acceptable jacket, well worth what I paid. Yes, the Aero option would be much better (I'd go for their goat if you want it to drape like Indy's, or medium horse - not FQHH), but if like me you deliberately want something light for the Summer and/or want an Indy jacket on the cheap so as to save money for other designs you'd rather put the bigger money into, I wouldn't look past Wested. Not in the UK. Wouldn't be my choice for the military jackets, but otherwise nice. Just be careful which hide you select and don't expect it to be on a par with one of the premium makers at several times the price.

Hi Edward, any pics of your Raiders?
I loved the fit of mine, a HH is still on the list, but I its a long list...

 

[Seb Lucas]

The Wested jackets are pretty hit and miss. Remember they make costumes, not workwear. In recent years fans have insisted that the patterns be made to look more like the film jacket. Peter may have had a hand in producing the originals (to patterns supplied by Western Costume) but there has traditionally been little evidence in his product.

 

[wallis]

I think I've made my mind up that Aero is the way to go. Amazing workmanship, the best quality hides, lots of different styles, and fantastic customer service. Now I'm thinking about a 50s HB, a Highwayman, or the new Pioneer. The 30s HB is too slim fitting for me. By no means do I want a baggy jacket, but I don't find that super tight fit to be very masculine. This, in my opinion is the perfect fit (and a fellow forum member I believe):

 

[Edward]

The Wested jackets are pretty hit and miss. Remember they make costumes, not workwear. In recent years fans have insisted that the patterns be made to look more like the film jacket. Peter may have had a hand in producing the originals (to patterns supplied by Western Costume) but there has traditionally been little evidence in his product.

I have heard they're not the most accurate reproductions of the Indy jacket. I do struggle to imagine that the B3s they sell are the same jacket they sent to Memphis Belle if any of them were the jackets we saw on screen. That said, back when I watched that I wasn't into flying jackets and assumed the Sean Astin character was wearing an Irvin, so I may have missed some details...

 

[Edward]

I think I've made my mind up that Aero is the way to go. Amazing workmanship, the best quality hides, lots of different styles, and fantastic customer service. Now I'm thinking about a 50s HB, a Highwayman, or the new Pioneer. The 30s HB is too slim fitting for me. By no means do I want a baggy jacket, but I don't find that super tight fit to be very masculine. This, in my opinion is the perfect fit (and a fellow forum member I believe):

I think that's a 50s Halfbelt in the photo... The standard Highwayman is definitely pretty boxy, moreso than an A2 (even allowing for the difference made by the A2 knits). I love mine, but it is a different beast than the 3os Halfbelt (got one of those too). Sounds like the 50s Halfbelt or the Pioneer would be good for you. Maybe also the Bootlegger if you fancy a different front style. The Bootlegger, if memory serves, is the same body as the 50s Halfbelt, but with a different front.

 

[wallis]

I think that's a 50s Halfbelt in the photo... The standard Highwayman is definitely pretty boxy, moreso than an A2 (even allowing for the difference made by the A2 knits). I love mine, but it is a different beast than the 3os Halfbelt (got one of those too). Sounds like the 50s Halfbelt or the Pioneer would be good for you. Maybe also the Bootlegger if you fancy a different front style. The Bootlegger, if memory serves, is the same body as the 50s Halfbelt, but with a different front.

Yeah I'm thinking it's a 50s HB too.

I'll take a look at the bootlegger.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yeah I'm thinking it's a 50s HB too.

I'll take a look at the bootlegger.

Type in 'Aero' in the Search box top right above this thread. There are many different threads on Aeros...and pics of members wearing them scattered about. Will give you a much better idea of different style fits than just Aero's website.
HD

 

[ForestForTheTrees]

Any newer pics? Looks like,it was breaking in nicely. May have to look at these guys down the road when money is available.

Here you go...

 

[pauleway]

The wait isn't 7 months for an order, closer to 2-3 months at the moment.

I received my Aero Custom 50's Half-Belt made of the green/black Waterfront Wool in 8 weeks!