BABuchanan's jacket quest is over. He has a...

[Biker Jacket Jones]

...Gibson & Barnes Expedition.

With one inside pocket.

ADFKSWEEBABUCHANANJUSTGOTAG&BWITH1INSIDEPOCKETWHY

Let me explain my "breach of protocol".

Everyday, I would hit eBay up for "indiana jones jacket" just to see if anything fitting my size and specifications came up. Many lambskin jackets came up, many my size, and a few with my little quirks (pockets, lining, etc.), but hardly any ever came up that fit everything I wanted. These were very rare, maybe one every three or four months. And there would always be one little thing wrong. Pocket, price, lack of on hand money to buy it, etc.

Then it happened. A Gibson & Barnes Expedition showed up on eBay. Lambskin. 40T. Starting bid $150. I knew right away I wanted it. I looked up their Standard Size Chart. Even used their measuring instructions here. The figures matched. I knew then and there I wanted it. The auction started on December 14th, and ended on December 21st. Barley enough time to squeeze it in in time for Christmas. The auction is here for those that wish to see it.

Long story short, I came out the winner with a bid of $183.95. The seller said he could ship it on December 22nd and have it here by Christmas Eve, December 24th, which he did. Of course, I played fair and didn't open it until today just to make it more... uh... special, magical, whatever you want to call it.

This morning, I opened the box (which, by the way, was a small 12"x6"x6" box, and had a UPS label with a posted weight of 4 pounds). The jacket looked black in the box, but, whatever. I tried it on. PERFECT FIT. Sleeves hit just right. Length was just right. Oh my. After looking at myself, the jacket was obviously not black, but a very gorgeous dark brown, darker than even the picture on the front of Gibson & Barnes' front page. This thing was a knockout. It also looked quite new, just like the seller said it should be, with the claim that he bought it two (now three) weeks ago and wore it 4-6 times to work before realizing he got it too long.

Some might wonder why I made an exception for my inside pocket rule. It's simple. I have common sense. When I saw the jacket on eBay, I knew I couldn't let a $528 jacket go like that without getting it. You just don't let a $528 jacket go away for $183.95 like that. Buying it made absolute perfect sense.

The quality is immediately apparent. The stitching looks rock-hard solid. The zipper is YKK and is on the left side, which I'll just learn to live with. It smells wonderful. The action back is in the lining, just like in the description here. There's some leather that runs up the sides of the lining of the vents that make up the vented bottom.

This counts as a Christmas miracle for me. The right jacket with a super low price, the right material (lambskin), and the right size, and it all happened just in time for Christmas. What are the odds? Perhaps incalculable. But I've been praying about this, and it looks like Someone [sic] knows how to work Christmas miracles.

For those here who own an Expedition, I would like to know a couple of things. First, is the zipper YKK on your jacket? And second... uh, I forgot. I might have a few more questions later. I'm still slightly taken aback by the whole thing. And pictures... I will try to post some when I get them ready.

Of course, this isn't it for me. I'm going to be wanting to know some leather care facts, so you'll be hearing from me some more in the future.

I want to wish everyone here a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year.

[dunleavy]

good buy...post pics. post a few of the SINGLE inside pocket..muahahah!! jk..but seriously good buy.. ebay is great, it really is. I got an original US wings VIP (usa made) on ebay for 115 bucks!

[Biker Jacket Jones]

I just remembered what my other question was. It was also related to the zipper. So, my questions are:

• (answered--yes)Is it normal for the zipper to be YKK?
  
• (answered--they should, indeed, be here)Second, if you look closely at the picture here, you can see strips of leather attached to the zipper pull on the left side. My jacket lacks that. It's just a plain brass zipper with no leather pull strings or whatever those things pictured all. My question is are those present on the Expeditions y'all have, or did the guy who sold them to me possibly have them removed for some reason?
  
• Third, is there a way to actually verify what type of leather is used? I mean, it probably is lambskin as advertised, since the guy said it was and is probably an honest guy (unless he just forgot, which I actually saw with a Wested jacket a guy on eBay listed, where he originally said lambskin, and later changed to goatskin, and there was even a Gibson & Barnes jacket on eBay a few months back where the seller changed the description from lambskin to goatskin), and the jacket did fold neatly into a 12"x6"x6" box, which would probably be harder to do with goatskin. Again, the seller said he was able to fold it because it was lambskin, and lambskin is thinner than goatskin, but I just want to have that extra security. The Gibson & Barnes label doesn't say.
  
• Forth, what kind of lining does the Expedition have? Again, the Gibson & Barnes label doesn't say. It seems like satin, but it seems a little more... durable than the satin used in my sport coats. It certainly feels quite nice. It might be a nylon of some kind.
  
• (answered--yes)Fifth, what is the "3/4-inch-wide leather stand" that the description refers to? Is it the strip of leather underneath the collar that's directly a part of the jacket, or is it something that should come with it?
  
• Sixth, is it possible to reattach the leather strips on the zipper pull mentioned in question two?
  
• Seventh, is it normal for the side straps buckles to be gray rectangular sliders? The Gibson & Barnes Expedition page mentions "black-oxide rectangular D-rings".
  
• And eighth, how do I go about using the side straps to tighten or loosen the fit? Should I even use them like that at all, or just leave them alone?
  

And yes, dunleavy, I do intend to post pictures when I get a chance. The many good reports here on the Expedition did make my decision to bid on this jacket that much easier. I felt a certain peace about what I was doing, like the extra inside pocket thing didn't even really matter. I still wish I had it, but I somehow don't miss it as much as I thought I would at first. I can just tell this jacket is the Cadillac of jackets just by the way it looks and the details about it. Everything, from the underarm gussets and the way the action back is even the in the lining makes this jacket fell like its worth the $528 Gibson & Barnes sells it for. Again, I would like to thank this community for the feedback on this jacket. You all influenced my decision, and made it soundly easy. I've been posting around for around nine months with no jacket to show for it, but I finally do have a jacket to show for it, and man, is it the bomb. I intend to retire my main sport coat to strictly formal uses instead of the everyday town wear I use it for, and use my Gibson & Barnes Expedition for everyday town wear. Again, the information on this message board helped me out. I read every post of every thread in the jacket section, and you guys helped me out. I registered here instead of COW because while COW restricted access where I didn't know the nature of the community, Ragingblues made this message board public to guests. Keep this community public, and continue to post and make it informative.

[Pennsylvania Jones]

Okay, the way I work is that I read the threads from the bottom-up. Unfortunately, this meant that I read your thread about leather-care before this one, and something got screwed up for me. Completely out of continuity. First, you're looking for a jacket. Then comes Christmas and you immediately ask for how to care for your jacket. That kinda ruined the surprise that this thread was supposed to convey.

All confusion aside, enjoy your G&B.

Steven

[Noah]

Congratulations on finally getting a jacket! Nice find. Thats a really good price for a G&B.

Looking forward to your pics of the jacket.

[Deleted]

babuchanan


You asked somewhere, Yes my Expedition has a YKK zip.

I hope you get many years of wear out of your jacket.

Cheers,
John

[twistedotter]

First off, congrats on your jacket! It was a happy day when I got mine, too. I now have two G&Bs, several Westeds, and a couple of US Wings. Had a Todds, but the sizes are all over the map, so I gave it away. Anyway, that being said, it is the lamb Expedition that I reach for 99.9% of the time. Best jacket I've ever owned.

The zipper on the Expedition I ordered direct from G&B is YKK and it does have the leather pull tab. Some folks don't like it, so I'm not surprised someone removed yours. If mine was gone I really wouldn't miss it. On my second Expedition (goat) the previous owner replaced the entire zipper with a period-accurate silver steel zipper and there is no leather pull tab. More SA effort than I'm really interested in, but there you go.

I've yet to need to use any kind of leather treatment and I've put my jacket through just about everything (threw it in the shower, dried it in the dryer, rain, slept on it, sat on it, you name it). Still no need for Pecards or anything like it. If you do treat it with anything, make sure you use the minimum amount needed and don't do it while the jacket is wet. Leather is still an organic substance and you really don't want to trap excess water in the leather. Mold is not your friend. I would have to be sincerely worried about super dry spots or cracking before I would even consider treatment. Best thing you can do is just wear it all the time.

Sorry, I don't know what the liner is made of, but it definitely seems more durable than the liners of any of my other jackets. Liners wear out, though. It takes a few years, but I've had them replaced for about $100. Don't sweat it. Small price to pay on the best made jacket out there. Just find a tailor that has been doing it a while or -- better yet -- send it in to G&B.

By the way, if yours is a lambskin in seal (refers to the color...and it sounds like yours is since it is so dark) you did get a VERY good deal. I would have taken that deal in a heartbeat and I already have two of their jackets. Excellent! I can tell you from experience that there is every reason to believe that your great-grandson could be wearing this jacket. They are superbly made. Enjoy! And welcome to the club.

[Biker Jacket Jones]

The leather zipper pull being missing is only a minor thing. I would have liked for my jacket to arrive, but, eh, I only paid around $200 for it, so I can live with that. Still, are those things easy to reattach, or do they have to be ripped off in an 'unclean' fashion? Are they the same size between sizes? If so, if somebody has any that they took off or don't want anymore, I would like to have them.

The leather on my jacket doesn't in any way feel dry or cracked. And as far as it being seal or not, Gibson & Barnes only offers one kind of lambskin and one kind of goatskin, and both are said to be dark brown, so I'm assuming that it would be seal. Like I said, it has a nice smell, and looked black in the small box it came in. In normal lighting conditions, it definitely has a notable brown color, but it's VERY dark brown.

I know that I this isn't the case, but something about having this jacket just makes me feel like I'm in some sort of exclusive club. I know I shouldn't think that way and I don't actually feel that way, but still... it's a G&B!

On Sunday, the day after I received it, I took a trip, which provided a good chance to try it out in diverse conditions. Some things I noticed: It provides good protection against freezing temperatures if you zip it all the way up. On the other hand, you can zip it down, and wear it in some pretty warm stuff. Just what I wanted. Of course, it got really cold on one occasion, so I tried on my overcoat that's online here over it, one I use to wear over my suits. It's quite warm. It's basically a single-breasted wool peacoat with a quilted lining. It's a medium, kind of like how Gibson & Barnes (and most other manufactures) considers a size 40 a medium. The overcoat fitted over my G&B with no problems. The gussets work, too. While they don't completely stop all riding when I lift my arms, I don't feel restricted while doing so, either. Side straps appeared to be held together with gray rectangular sliders. Is this normal? In any wise, the side vents do let me reach for my side pants pockets in a way similar to how sport coat side vents let you do the same. While I can't really tell if the pleated back panel is making any difference (since I have no other leather jackets to compare this with), it looks very nice.

After carefully searching for imperfections, I found a few minor things. One is on the right sleeve. There's a very tiny piece of leather that looks like it's ripped off, still attached. The piece is very small, the size of one of the tiny "grains" that the leather skin is made of (and by my ruler, a sixteenth of an inch in width). It doesn't even show up on camera. I'm unsure if it was like that when it arrived or during the trip. I wish it wasn't there, but it doesn't really concern me. Another thing is there are about two threads of stitching next to where the side straps begin on each side of the front sticking up in the air. Again, it's hardly notable, something only a perfectionist such as myself would notice. The threads are again quite small (again, my ruler says a quarter of an inch), and don't look like the kind of loose threads that can snowball into long "runs" (I've had this happen to both jackets and slacks on suits I've had, and it's never fun to deal with). One of the threads on the left side doesn't even look like it came from anywhere and is just excess stitching that doesn't belong anywhere, while there's a tiny black hole on the right side where it looks like the thread should go. Again, they look harmless, but I'm just wondering if this is normal.

It's kind of ironic, actually. I began looking at Indiana Jones jackets after I searched online (and on Wikipedia at that) for alternate jacket types with zip fronts and plenty of pockets to replace my sport coats for daily wear. Leather jackets interested me (and I always kind of wanted some leather-wear, anyway), so I searched on Google online for pictures. One of the very first pictures (even ahead of Wested, etc.) I saw was Leather Attractions picture. The Indian Jones design fascinated me, and met my requirements fully (I'd always respected the Indiana Jones franchise, even though I wasn't really a fan, and hadn't see a film in years). The $150 price attracted me, but something about the website seemed amiss. It was wise for me not to consider them, for I later found out that that website was a scam (and if you click the URL, you'll see that it finally looks like the website kicked the bucket). I came here looking for information to assemble the best jacket for my needs from the various manufactures. Screen accuracy was always the lowest priority, with practicality ruling, and I wasn't even considering Indiana Jones exclusively (for example, Casino Royale). Yet, at the end here, I wound up with the jacket that, from what I've read here, is not only tops in Raiders of the Lost Ark accuracy--even down to the one inside pocket issue--, but is also tops in durability for lambskin. Quite a turnaround there.

I do have pictures of the jacket, but none of me actually wearing it. I hope to find a chance to upload and post the pictures soon.

I've updated my questions post above. Again thank you all for the feedback. Happy New Year everyone!

[twistedotter]

Yeah, I noticed that G&B doesn't list seal as on option any more. Seal was an (more expensive) option a couple years ago when I ordered mine. If yours is from that era, you've got something a tiny bit more special. In any event, congrats!

[Biker Jacket Jones]

It isn't if the seller's description about buying it two weeks prior to listing it were accurate.

[twistedotter]

Based on what I've seen and heard I think they only have the seal now. Cool. It was the only one that everyone wanted anyway. I'm making a pilgrimage to their shop early this year, so I'll ask.

Oh, and the 3/4" leather stand is the leather under the collar, not an external extra piece.