What's the BEST, heaviest jacket?

[rmh]

Hi,

first time posting, just sighned up.

I have an adventurebilt Fedora from Steve and just ordered my second one. Also have an Adventurebilt shirt and holster being put together.
And have a pair of Aldens and Wells lamont gloves from Wallmart.
Also, I ordered an 8ft whip from Northern Whip Co. from Joe over there.

But I was wondering about the jacket. I'm not looking for a 'costume' but REAL sturdy, long lasting equipment/clothes done Indy style.

I had ordered a bunch of things: shirt, jacket, bag straps, gunbelt from Todd's Costume but wasn't satisfied with the quality.
Todd's seems great if you want everything on abudget and just want the look, but I'm looking for the best quality, the real-deal in everything.

I want to order a Wested jacket but am worried about the quality again.

Does anyone exactly HOW good their Raiders jacket is?
And which material of leather is considered the heaviest that they produce it in?

And if its not that heavy, which Indy style jacket is the heaviest-most authentic, usable, durable jacket they have?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.
Rich H.
[e-mail]

[Deleted]

Welcome to the Lounge.

I have tried quite a few different Indy Jackets and the Heaviest I have tried was U.S. Wings. Even the Lambskin is tough as well as heavy. However they are not the most screen accurate.

Cheers,
John

[Midland Whips]

Welcome to the lounge I have a raiders jacket from wested in novepelle and its very heavy and durable. Also great for the winter too. Washed goat is great for S A on a raiders but its thinner and lighter. I would go wested if i were you (custom made) any style, Raiders or LC in any hide you like, Not too sure if the TOD is on the custom order list tho

[GCR]

I think there may be a need for some clarification...are you looking for the HEAVIEST leather choice, or the TOUGHEST and most DURABLE jacket? Or best the best combination of heavy / durable and screen-accurate?

For the straight heaviest jacket, I'd echo G-MANN's choice of U.S. Wings, though as he points out they do leave a few things to be desired in the "screen-accuracy" department.

Wested's horse or cow hides are both fairly heavy and durable, but there have been some issues with QC (mainly with the stitching) on Wested jackets in the past. I've owned two Wested jackets (both lambskin) and never had a problem with either one, though.

G&B has a strong reputation for being tough, durable and well made, though their goat hide is not necessarily "heavy". They do offer a lifetime warranty on the stitching and zipper, though. I also believe they were, at one point, offering expeditions made from Buffalo hide. Something tells me that would be right up your alley if you're looking for "heavy & tough".

Anyways, best of luck in your jacket quest, and welcome to the Lounge!

[greyfedora]

Well, if I understand your question correctly, I would suggest horsehide.

[Havana]

Welcome! Sounds like you may be looking for cowhide or horse. I'm not sure which is heavier. I've only had experience with Wested's horse. It's not as thick and heavy as some other horse hide jackets out there but to my knowledge, it's the only Indy style HH jacket available. I do also have a 6 year old thoroughly abused Wested lamb with no quality issues.

[rmh]

Hi guys,

and thanks very much for all the warm welcome.

I'm trying to get opinion from as many sources as possible before ordering.
I'm definetly looking for tough, durable, heavy and scree-accurate if such a thing exists.
A leather jacket that will look spot-on Indy as well as be good allthroughout the year, good for hiking, adventuring and just wearing out-and-about-town.

Steve Delk told me that he owns both a Lambskina nd a Cowhide and said for durability and weight to go with the Cowhide.

So here are two more questions thrown out there:

Is the horsehide heavier than the cowhide?
And how dark is the Wested Raiders jacket? Would you say it is too dark-black looking?
Or does the brown show up pretty well?

If I wanted a slightly more true-brown color should I get a Last Crusade jacket instead or just get both and see?

Thanks again for any help?
Rich

[Ragingblues]

Welcome to Indy Lounge!

Unfortunately, you will have to choose between rugged toughness and screen accuracy, as the two oppose each other. No jacket offering is perfectly screen accurate, but using any leather that isn't thin and drapey will completely change the look and fit.

How important that is to you is another issue, of course. If you don't mind having the design pretty close to what you seen on screen, while choosing a tougher leather for durability... just know what you're giving up by doing so. The different hides look and feel different as well, so keep that in mind. If a cowhide jacket (for example) gives you the toughness you want, know that your jacket will look more like the KOTCS and less like the others. If that's not an issue, then you're set.


Ken

[Kt. Templar]

People do arrive at the Indy jacket from all sorts of directions. So will have come having previously work only biker jackets and will wan the reassuring weight that those have others won't care. All of them have their pros and cons.

My first jacket was a lambskin, it's a fantastically light and versatile jacket, I hardly took it off for 2 years!

Others I have had along the way are Cow (too heavy for my liking) Horse, lighter than cow a good compromise, and novapelle which is a lightish weight semidistressed cowhide. This is the one I am wearing for the cooler weather, it looks great and has some heft, you feel like it's a leather jacket, lamb often feels similar to wearing a denim or cotton jacket weight wise.

All of the above are Westeds, my only personal experience of other vendors are a US Wings Antique Cow and Goat A2's both are middleweight but their fitting didn't suit me. One had a major flaw in the leather.

[coronado3]

I think the goat G & B is what you are looking for... SA and tough as heck, right?!?!

[Col. Hogan]

My two cents. Unless you have a prop department full of replacements I would go with horsehide. If you want the raiders look go with a todds. Its thin lambskin and drapes well. For real life go with horsehide. For reel live go with lambskin.

[Kaplan]

Jan 16, 2009 15:15:19 GMT -5 coronado3 said:

I think the goat G & B is what you are looking for... SA and tough as heck, right?!?!

Very true.

I have a Tony Nowak CS jacket that is particularly heavy (compared to other jackets I've owned in cow, goat, and lamb) and very well made.

However, for some reason I toss my G&B lamb and TN jackets aside and reach for my G&B goat every time. It just has the look and it takes a beating.