Rick's New Wested Designed By Platon

[rick5150]

Just out of the mail, so it needs to loosen up a bit, but what do you think?



My God, is it humbling to post pictures of yourself after someone like Tenyon

[IndyBlues]

Rick, that looks great on you. It seems to fit the way you like them to. Can't wait for more pics, AND details.
Give us the scoop!
Mike

[jweaver]

Very nice, Rick!

Tenyon is indeed easy on the eyes, isn't she?

[Jorenz]

Great looking jacket!!

[GCR]

Awesome jacket, Rick!!!

Despite the one or two little details that Wested missed I still think this is one of the best looking Westeds I have ever seen. If Wested made them like this regularly, I would have bought a new jacket by now. Hell, I would have bought two... ;D

The fit looks great, as if it were made for you. Color looks very deep and dark as well, just the way I like it. Beautiful jacket, all around. Congrats!

-GCR

[Deleted]

Rick,

That jacket does look great on you. How is the fit when it's zipped up?

I get the feeling you have quite a collection of leather jackets.

Cheers,
G-MANN

[pastimesteve]

Very nice Rick -- it looks like it was made for you. I agree that it's about one of the nicest Wested's I've seen in pictures (haven't seen one in person).

Steve

[aeriscanon]

Complete agreement here, too, Rick. That jacket looks great!

Despite whatever the SA inaccuracies are for the "diehards", if that thing has rectangular sliders on it, I'd be just fine with this as a standard issue "Raiders" jacket from Wested.

KT, any way you can plant a bug in Peter's ear to say "This is the basic formula most people would be happy to see on a Raiders jacket?" (If anything, how do they order it to come out like this without having to over-customize or send in a ton of specs?)

Fits you perfectly, Rick.

[pagey]

Very nice! And you wear it well. I almost snapped that one up myself.
Rick, what hat are you wearing? And are you still reblocking your hats with your hat-shaper?

[GCR]

aeriscanon said:

Despite whatever the SA inaccuracies are for the "diehards", if that thing has rectangular sliders on it, I'd be just fine with this as a standard issue "Raiders" jacket from Wested.

KT, any way you can plant a bug in Peter's ear to say "This is the basic formula most people would be happy to see on a Raiders jacket?" (If anything, how do they order it to come out like this without having to over-customize or send in a ton of specs?)

Excellent point here, AC.

The only minor details which I personally see (based on PLATON's pics) that need to be adjusted to make this thing perfect would be:

- Extend collar out to the mid-point of the stromflap

- Make the corners of the front pockets just a "bit" more rounded

Honestly, as far as I can see, that's it. The hardware on this was (I believe) a pair of metal sliders on each side, but they appeared to be stainless steel or some other silverish color, rather than black. An easy fix, if you can get ahold of some paint, or better yet, a bottle of gun-bluing finish. Plus, with all the different theories out there lately when it comes to the strap hardware, I don't think there is any "one" option that everyone will consider screen-accurate. Some will want the black loops / sliders, others will want the PLATON style tri-glides, others still will opt for the Todd style buckles.

But anyways, getting back to the point, if Wested were to wipe their slate clean and use this jacket design as their standard model for the "Raiders" style jackets going forward, it would be a whole new ball-game in the Indy jacket world.

-GCR

[agent5]

The hardware on this was (I believe) a pair of metal sliders on each side, but they appeared to be stainless steel or some other silverish color, rather than black

These are standard from Wested. They don't have the flat black ones. If you want them correct, you need to mail them in to Wested and they will be more than happy to add them on for you.

[GCR]

agent5 said:

The hardware on this was (I believe) a pair of metal sliders on each side, but they appeared to be stainless steel or some other silverish color, rather than black

These are standard from Wested. They don't have the flat black ones. If you want them correct, you need to mail them in to Wested and they will be more than happy to add them on for you.

I thought the old, dreaded "D" rings were standard from Wested? Anyhoo, I'd just as soon put the flat-black sliders on myself, as it was easy enough to swap them out on my current Wested. Why does Wested have such a hard time sourcing the black ones, again? Is it the price?

-GCR

[agent5]

I think to Wested they are black, even though they are anodized and are that funky tint. FS makes the black ones there at the factory so they don't get them from anywhere, but Dr.J at COW found a place that has the correct, flat black we need.
Aeris Canon and I discussed one night about us all pitching in and just buying some in bulk and sending them to Peter so there will no longer be excuses.

[GCR]

agent5 said:

I think to Wested they are black, even though they are anodized and are that funky tint. FS makes the black ones there at the factory so they don't get them from anywhere, but Dr.J at COW found a place that has the correct, flat black we need.
Aeris Canon and I discussed one night about us all pitching in and just buying some in bulk and sending them to Peter so there will no longer be excuses.

I know just the place you mean...Strapworks, right? Same place I got mine...snagged 8 of them, total. 4 for my current Wested and 4 more in anticipation of a future Wested purchase. If Wested can get the rest of the jacket right, I don't mind adding the strap hardware myself.

While the 8 metal loops / sliders, with shipping, only set me back a few bucks, I can see how that option would be cost prohibitive to Wested, who would have to order them in a considerable quantity.

-GCR

[Ragingblues]

The Strapworks link is in the "Where To Buy" section, for all who are interested but don't want to buy right this moment. I actually found the sliders from Strapworks before Dr J did, but didn't post anything about it. The only reason I was waiting to do so, was to make sure the 1" width would accomodate the 1" straps themselves without bunching them up. I wanted to know if the sliders sold by Strapworks were 1" inside or outside measurements. The actual inside measurement of the anodized sliders I had from Wested was 1".

Before I got a reply from them via email, Dr. J had posted his discovery of them as a source as well. He had placed his order already, so once they arrived... I tried to get the scoop on the actual measurement from him, but with no luck. Every post I made asking about it was just ignored. I wound up just buying some myself later on and replacing the ones on my second Wested.

Ken

[Kt. Templar]

The problem is the Strapworks pricing is very high when you look at the volumes Wested are talking about.

The history is this, Peter traditionaly buys his bits and pieces from what he calls his 'trimmings' suppliers, a couple of years ago there were 4 such suppliers in the London area, now there is 1. They don't have black rectangular sliders. They do have antique brass ones, and d-rings the going price of a box of 1000 (enough for 250 jackets obviously) is under £20/$40. The Strapworks price is $372.00 and that's not including shipping to the UK. Ok that's still only $1.48 per jacket, (maybe $2 by the time you factor in the shipping) but it is way over what it should be.
If it is important to you perhaps buy some sliders and ship them to Wested when you order and ask them to install them for you.

The flip side is perhaps Peter should suck up the price and just order a box.

[aeriscanon]

There's a price break at 1000. An order for 1000 sliders would bring it down to $100.00. Still not the same discount as with Peter's current supplier but less than that $300 mark.

Has anyone seen a pair of these up close in comparison to the sliders Wested uses now?

EDIT: DUH! RB, you have a set. They look sturdy to you?

[Tyrloch]

AC,

I have some of this hardware from Strapworks, and they look fairly sturdy to me. They look the same as the Wested rect. sliders but in black.

~Jace

[Ragingblues]

I agree with Jace.... they are very sturdy. I'll do a photo comparison if you like.

Ken

[aeriscanon]

Thanks, Tyrloch.
EDIT: RB, just saw you posted this while I was writing. Cool! Seems everyone who's gotten a set agrees on their quality.

Okay, so those who have seen these like them enough that they'll blend right in with a Wested without looking "cheap".

At $100.00 for a thousand (and the dollar being so weak in comparison to the pound) it really shouldn't be a matter of "Can't find the hardware" for Peter.

If he's not going to invest in the sliders that's one thing, but if the sliders were sent to his factory could people reasonably assume that when they request these black rectangular sliders they will get them? KT, I agree with you that Peter needs to put some of that business expense into "Necessary Hardware"and just order these.

That's what Agent 5 and I were talking about. If for some reason it's too expensive to ship business-method to England, would a donation shipment be less? If each of us put in a few bucks to cover a bulk shipment to send to Wested, would Wested at least make the effort to use these when jackets were ordered with them?

I really like how Rick's Wested looks here. It'd be GREAT if Peter would accept and confirm this as the standard jacket.

Rick, does that jacket have gussets? Squirrelage might still be a factor. If it has gussets, this would be the ideal jacket. (No matter who made what for which film when and why.) I'd be very happy knowing that's what came from Wested with a standard "Raiders" click and send.

[GCR]

Just figured I'd cast another vote for the sturdiness of the Strapworks metal loops (sliders). Seemed every bit as sturdy as the D-rings that they replaced. I highly recommend them.

-GCR

[aeriscanon]

I also realize my liking this jacket as it is is only my opinion.

I'm curious about the majority out there. Without getting into complete screen accurate detailing, would anyone else be happy enough with this as a standard Wested? That is to say, if Wested changed their pattern ever so slightly to this as a default spec, would it be more enticing or not enough to make a difference since there would still be some special mods needed?

I for one would have loved to know "this" is what I got regardless of what I did or didn't know at the time of ordering. I could look back at this jacket and say, "Oh, didn't realize the collar stand was off like that. I still like the one I got."

[GCR]

aeriscanon said:

I'm curious about the majority out there. Without getting into complete screen accurate detailing, would anyone else be happy enough with this as a standard Wested? That is to say, if Wested changed their pattern ever so slightly to this as a default spec, would it be more enticing or not enough to make a difference since there would still be some special mods needed?

If this was the standard Wested Raiders jacket offering, as is pictured above, I would buy another Wested without a doubt. As I said above, I would love to see Wested adopt this pattern as their default for Raiders. I only bring up the two very minor issues of the pocket corners and the collar / stormflap arrangement because I think both of these are very minor changes that could easily be incorporated into this pattern. I just figure that with this pattern being SO close already, it almost seems pointless to adopt it as a default without addressing those two little details.

Even without those two minor details, I still think this jacket rocks! I would love to see this as "THE" Wested Raiders standard design, no question.

-GCR

[rick5150]

gmann said:

Rick,

That jacket does look great on you. How is the fit when it's zipped up?

I get the feeling you have quite a collection of leather jackets.

Cheers,
G-MANN

I will try to get a few more pictures. The jacket is tight, but not like any other Wested I have. When I zip a couple of my other tight-fitting Westeds, they get wrinkles across the chest. This one is tight without the wrinkles, if that makes sense.

If this jacket and Todd's are everything I hope, there will be a drastic reduction in my Indy jacket collection. I am trying to weed out many of my jackets this year.

Pagey said:

Very nice! And you wear it well. I almost snapped that one up myself.
Rick, what hat are you wearing? And are you still reblocking your hats with your hat-shaper?

Pagey - thanks. That is my Adventurebilt. I do not really use the Hat Shaper or my custom block too much. I also have a wooden block that I got on ebay, but it has a hair to much taper for an Indy block. Depending on the turnaround time for a reblock, I may start using the blocks again.

Aeris said:

Rick, does that jacket have gussets? Squirrelage might still be a factor. If it has gussets, this would be the ideal jacket.

No gussets. I have not had the amount of ride-up that I keep reading about with my lambskins. I have had mine shrink like hell when they get wet, but that is a different story.

[tenyon]

The jacket really fits you well! You look good! Though of course accuracy is very important the fit of clothes are even more important (imho).


Ps: I'm now on a board with 80% male Indy look a likes...my eyes are not complaining.