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ClaytonMoore

New in Town
Messages
6
I'm new to the forum, so here's my first thread,
Does anybody have any experience with Bill Kelso's various Indy jackets ?
They seem to be priced far lower than any of the other jackets Bill offers. Are they better or worse than Wested Indy jackets ?
1663454692197.png
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
24,737
Location
London, UK
I imagine much will depend on what you're prepared to spend. For an Indy, I have been very happy with a Wested Raiders in their goat. Much lighter than the Aero goat (which is one of my favourite hides), but perfectly robust in my experience. I would have liked a nicer zip puller, but that's being picky. If I was inclined to wear it as often as one of my Aeros I might have been prepared to spend more, though for what they cost, they really are very good in my experience. I should hope the BK is appreciably better in some way shape or form given it's +/- 250% the price, but really it's much more than I'd want to spend on this particular design. A big attraction of the Wested for me was that it didn't cost as much as my other jackets, and I can take it and wear it travelling places I might be less than keen to take an Aero which would really hurt if it did get lost / damaged / stolen.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
24,737
Location
London, UK
wested started making legacy leather jackets, which are a bit more expensive than the regular ones but the leather itself is very good quality
Also worth considering fit & finish. The Hero version of the Raiders is much more tapered, sits off the shoulder, doesn't have leather facings backing the zip on the inside, and the collar sits differently, up off the back of the neck. The standard model, when it was first made for sale was "corrected" to better suit most folks as a functioning jacket, though the Indy hardcore prefer the Hero cut for screen accuracy. I might stick with the regular myself, not only for fit reasons. The standard model is available custom too, which allows for a wider choice in the range of hides. I had hoped post Covid to visit the Wested shop and get a sense of what these hides are like in person, but obviously that's not an option now. It would be interesting to see what zips they're working with these days; the only real complaint I have about the first one I picked up used was that the zip had a very modern looking puller that always just looked out of place to me.

They have a bit of information on the website about hides, though the pictures aren't loading for me:


Were I to order one again, I'd be very tempted to go for the novapelle. The goat has been nice; very light, think ELC goat rather than Aero, good for a leather I can wear in warmer weather. The one thing I would definitely do if doing a custom order would be to go for cotton lining in the sleeves instead of the satin, as if it does suddenly get warm, I found that got very sticky very quickly.

1663763571297.png


Only photo I can find of the Wested, from a day off at the tail end of a work trip in February 2013.
 

ClaytonMoore

New in Town
Messages
6
Also worth considering fit & finish. The Hero version of the Raiders is much more tapered, sits off the shoulder, doesn't have leather facings backing the zip on the inside, and the collar sits differently, up off the back of the neck. The standard model, when it was first made for sale was "corrected" to better suit most folks as a functioning jacket, though the Indy hardcore prefer the Hero cut for screen accuracy. I might stick with the regular myself, not only for fit reasons. The standard model is available custom too, which allows for a wider choice in the range of hides. I had hoped post Covid to visit the Wested shop and get a sense of what these hides are like in person, but obviously that's not an option now. It would be interesting to see what zips they're working with these days; the only real complaint I have about the first one I picked up used was that the zip had a very modern looking puller that always just looked out of place to me.

They have a bit of information on the website about hides, though the pictures aren't loading for me:


Were I to order one again, I'd be very tempted to go for the novapelle. The goat has been nice; very light, think ELC goat rather than Aero, good for a leather I can wear in warmer weather. The one thing I would definitely do if doing a custom order would be to go for cotton lining in the sleeves instead of the satin, as if it does suddenly get warm, I found that got very sticky very quickly.

View attachment 452575

Only photo I can find of the Wested, from a day off at the tail end of a work trip in February 2013.
 

Caber

One of the Regulars
Messages
120
Location
North of the Hanging judge
The one thing I would definitely do if doing a custom order would be to go for cotton lining in the sleeves instead of the satin, as if it does suddenly get warm, I found that got very sticky very quickly
I did cotton sleeves on a jacket once and it made a big difference in my opinion. I highly recommend listing to Edward's piece of wisdom
 

Brettafett

One Too Many
Messages
1,339
Location
UK
Edwards spot on.

BK is the creme de la creme; leather, pattern, detailing.... But you'll wait and you'll pay.

Wested's jacket are great on all levels, especially for the price.
Lots of options, depending what you're after.
I had the Hero Raiders in lamb, light and comfy.

No need to look elsewhere. If you want the best Indy repro, arguably... BK
If you want the next best, decent quality, detailing, etc... but best bang for the buck... Wested.
 

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