Master supply co leather jacket

[Guppy]

This is not even a big purchase, merely a minor one. It’s just a quarter of the price of a custom jacket, a sixth of a Japan-made jacket, but given that you had to think that hard about it, the answer has always been a no, you just didn’t realize it at the time. We usually make snap, instinctual decisions but take a long time to come up with justifications for them.

I don't that's accurate in my case. Master Supply Co just recently appeared on my radar, and piqued my interest. I like to research big purchases. $600 isn't the most I've ever paid for a leather jacket, by a long shot, but it's still a lot of money to toss around impulsively, at least for me. After taking a look around and considering it for several days, I've decided to hold off for now. I might still consider it in the future, and watch where the brand goes. It's fair to say they're not on the level of the brands we usually discuss on these forums, but if they continue to improve their products, it's possible they could become contenders in the low/mid tier market. I see concerns, but also potential.

 

[jchance]

I don't that's accurate in my case. Master Supply Co just recently appeared on my radar, and piqued my interest. I like to research big purchases. $600 isn't the most I've ever paid for a leather jacket, by a long shot, but it's still a lot of money to toss around impulsively, at least for me. After taking a look around and considering it for several days, I've decided to hold off for now. I might still consider it in the future, and watch where the brand goes. It's fair to say they're not on the level of the brands we usually discuss on these forums, but if they continue to improve their products, it's possible they could become contenders in the low/mid tier market. I see concerns, but also potential.

If you are merely curious and don’t want to drop the full retail price on the experience, you can let someone else pay for that mistake and buy used instead. eBay has several for sale, and the sold prices are usually 50-60% of the retail price. If you end up not liking it, you can turn around and sell it with little loss.

That’s a big “if.” You appear to be an optimist but I haven’t seen any evidence of continuous improvement. Reddit has a ton of reviews of this brand and they haven’t been positive, to say the least.

 

[Guppy]

If you are merely curious and don’t want to drop the full retail price on the experience, you can let someone else pay for that mistake and buy used instead. eBay has several for sale, and the sold prices are usually 50-60% of the retail price. If you end up not liking it, you can turn around and sell it with little loss.

That’s a big “if.” You appear to be an optimist but I haven’t seen any evidence of continuous improvement. Reddit has a ton of reviews of this brand and they haven’t been positive, to say the least.

Oh, I'm well aware. Not the size or models that I'm interested in, and who knows how long it will take find one listed. I'm pretty patient but even so...

 

[MrProper]

Could be. My father use to say zippers and button on that side determined men garments while women garments would be on the opposite side.

This is only the case with buttoned jackets and is due to the fact that women used to sit differently on the horse (side saddle). With the buttons on the “men's side”, the wind got into the jacket through the gaps between the buttons. So buttons on the other side and all is well.

 

[El Marro]

This is not even a big purchase, merely a minor one. It’s just a quarter of the price of a custom jacket, a sixth of a Japan-made jacket, but given that you had to think that hard about it, the answer has always been a no, you just didn’t realize it at the time. We usually make snap, instinctual decisions but take a long time to come up with justifications for them.

It’s like you have a window into my mind or something. This pretty well describes my process of acquisition. The larger the purchase the more time spent “researching“ but the truth is that my mind was made up the moment I saw it

Like this 72 Monte Carlo for instance.

 

[shadowtek]

So I ended up here mainly because they have a natural campus style jacket with the shawl collar and I’ve been having a tough time finding that anywhere in a size 50-ish and preferably cow. I stumbled upon master supply co so started to research them. They have two seemingly nice options? Any recommendations for one somewhere if not them? Aero doesn’t have a natural one but maybe they’ll custom it? Mister freedom is too small, trying to stay under a grand ideally.

I tried five star a while back and it’s fine but also no natural leather option and it’s HH which was really too thick for me. So I’ll probably offload it.

 

[Guppy]

Following up on this thread...

I decided not to buy the Tombstone jacket, due to some of the small details not being quite what I wanted. But I did end up buying a Hardline. I'm back to talk about it.

The TL;DR version of this is that I like the jacket, and I like the company.

My experience is only a single anecdote, but from the other information I've been able to pull together, I think Master Supply Co is overall a good company and moving in the right direction. Their customer service really impresses me.

So let's get into this.

The jacket itself. The Hardline is a hybrid trucker style jacket which takes elements from Type I and Type II jean jackets, adds handwarmer pockets and a bit of length to accommodate them. It's not a replica or traditional but it's looking back to grab inspiration from the past and create something new. Nothing wrong with that; it's maybe a bit off-target for people looking for vintage style, so I get why some here aren't into them.

Materials

The leather they used in the Hardline jacket is different from what MSC has offered in the past. It's 1.5mm, veg tanned, tea core cowhide. I am not entirely confident in my skills of getting accurate readings from my measuring gauge, and it's tough to do that on a finished jacket anyway since it's not easy to find a single ply thickness of leather to measure. But I tried to take measurements and based on what I was able to read, I think what they shipped me is within spec. I was a little skeptical at first because to me it felt thinner than I was expecting, and it felt lighter. But on the scale it weighs in at 5 lbs, and the gauge is telling me it should be 1.5mm or so. I can't tell you if it's really cow, or if it's really 100% veg tanned, but if we take them at their word, it is. It seems like pretty nice leather. It is rather stiff, and will take some time to break in, and they advertise that fact. MSC also currently offer several of their jackets in unfinished hide, and I don't know where else you can find that in their price range.

I have no experience with their previous products but from talking to them they have been upping the quality of the materials they use and they do that to stay ahead of their copycats. There have been a few ebay sellers based in Pakistan who are using their images and trying to copy their patterns, and because MSC has their production based out of Pakistan as well, there have been rumors that these knockoffs are being made by the same factory. According to MSC, this isn't true; MSC say they own their factory and they have full control over what materials they are using there. I have no way to verify these claims, but no reason to doubt, either. If you tried MSC in the past and weren't impressed with the leather, it might be worth looking at them again.

Lining is a red cotton, lightweight, and otherwise not remarkable. Nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't stand out as something they put extra expense into. It's fine; average, I'd say. If they wanted to go the extra mile with it, I would first make the inside pockets larger, and open at the top, filling out most of the front of the jacket, sized similar to a Type III-A jacket with handwarmer pockets has its generous inside pockets. Then I'd up the thread count of the lining material and make it a slightly heavier weight fabric.

Construction

I like the pattern. It's similar to a Type II Levi's trucker, but the ****** pockets are raised a bit higher, to make room for the handwarmer pockets. They feel more like Type III pockets than Type II pockets, although Master Supply went with Type II pleats in front rather than the V-seams of the Type III. Due to the pleating, the stiffness of the leather ie especially evident through the front, and I expect that this will mean it will take especially long for the front of the jacket to break in fully, and expect some draping issues as a result.

The stitching is well done, certainly equal to or better than any jacket in my closet that I consider acceptable. Not perfect, but neither are there any glaring flaws that would deserve to be called out. The people who put this jacket together did a good job with their tools. The ****** pockets feature decorative stitching, giving it more of a western vibe than it already has, which may or may not be your cup of tea, but I think it's a good balance between too plain and too fancy.

Fit

I normally take a size L, or a 42-44 in most things. Based on MSC's sizing chart, I decided to go with XL for my order, and it seems to be the right choice. I'm currently about 5'9" and 190 lbs with a 43 in chest and 36 in waist.

The jacket does feel a bit long on my 5'9" frame, and would probably be a perfect fit for someone closer to 6'0", and for me I wouldn't have minded if it was maybe an inch shorter in the body. I'm told that they will do a custom measured jacket to your dimensions if asked, and it seems that this is offered at minimal additional expense, although a custom made jacket will not be returnable due to it being non-standard sizing. I didn't feel it was worth exchanging for a remake with custom sizing, but if I had to do it over again from scratch, I might have requested it. Sleeves feel about right, maybe slightly long, and as they break in the creasing should take up most of that. But again I could see dropping 1/2" to 1" from the sleeve length to dial in the fit perfectly.

Master Supply has a variety of jackets in this pattern, made from different leathers or in different colors, with different names. It seems that they are tweaking the design and playing around with this and that to both improve the product and to entice repeat customers, or to induce purchases due to FOMO for a particular color or leather type selling out and not being offered again. As a customer, it'd make more sense to me to consolidate all these different named products into one, give that design a name, and then offer configure-to-order options for the different leathers, colors, etc. That's more a business decision than anything else.

Customer Service

Every time I've emailed Master Supply, I've gotten a response from Josh in under an hour, regardless of when I sent it. I generally send messages in the evening or night time, and I assume he sleeps but it seems like he's always ready to answer questions or talk about product. His responses feel genuine, more like I'm having a conversation with a human being than with a corporation. His engagement with me has felt genuine. I couldn't get him to divulge company secrets but other than that he was forthright with answer to my questions and seemed responsive to my suggestions and ideas as well. He also is one of the photo models on their website, and he was kind enough to answer a question about his outfit even though it wasn't one of their products that I was asking about.

Brand/Image

I don't have much to say on this topic; you either like what they are representing or you don't. Some have said that they think that Master Supply is spending too much money on ads, or that it must seem that way because their ads are all over social media. I guess to me that just means that they are targeting with their ads effectively. It's their business to decide how much they want to spend on advertising. Most businesses need to spend money to advertise, and the ones that are successful without significant advertising are few and far between. As Josh put it to me, they are not putting themselves out there not to get noticed.

Value

Their price point is mid tier, and to me it's nice to see another option in this tier, producing a decent product that is worth the money. Because there really aren't that many.

They're not trying to compete with high end companies like Thedi, Aero, Freewheelers, or Langlitz. So it's not fair to compare them to those. But for about half the price, they're not half bad. Not by a long shot.

I'd say they are also above Cidu, Tailor Brando, and other Chinese made low cost jackets, from what I've seen from them. For not too much more money, it's possible to get a new Vanson, and Vanson is definitely superior without any question, but Master Supply do offer something different enough that I think they can be a legitimate option for some. It's possible to get a 15% discount code without too much trouble, and at that price, you are not going to find a lot of better options. Certainly you can find some good bargains on higher end jackets for $500-600 in the used market, and that's also something to consider. But that's a hunt and requires patience and luck, especially if your size isn't common.

Bottom line, I think they are worth a look, and if you looked at them once already they might be worth another look now, and keep an eye on them for the future, too. If they keep developing their product line, they will be interesting to watch.

 

[shadowtek]

@Guppy Thanks for sharing all this, it was what I was hoping to find in the thread, just a breakdown on it and it seems very middle of the road perhaps. Any pics of it too? I’m considering the natural cow solaire or the chore coat. It feels weird to me the solaire has the western flair on the back stitching but also haven’t been able to find anything like this in my size.

 

[Bfd70]

@Guppy did you post pics? If so they are not showing up for me

 

[MrProper]

Following up on this thread...

I decided not to buy the Tombstone jacket, due to some of the small details not being quite what I wanted. But I did end up buying a Hardline. I'm back to talk about it.

The TL;DR version of this is that I like the jacket, and I like the company.

My experience is only a single anecdote, but from the other information I've been able to pull together, I think Master Supply Co is overall a good company and moving in the right direction. Their customer service really impresses me.

​

So let's get into this.

The jacket itself. The Hardline is a hybrid trucker style jacket which takes elements from Type I and Type II jean jackets, adds handwarmer pockets and a bit of length to accommodate them. It's not a replica or traditional but it's looking back to grab inspiration from the past and create something new. Nothing wrong with that; it's maybe a bit off-target for people looking for vintage style, so I get why some here aren't into them.

Materials

The leather they used in the Hardline jacket is different from what MSC has offered in the past. It's 1.5mm, veg tanned, tea core cowhide. I am not entirely confident in my skills of getting accurate readings from my measuring gauge, and it's tough to do that on a finished jacket anyway since it's not easy to find a single ply thickness of leather to measure. But I tried to take measurements and based on what I was able to read, I think what they shipped me is within spec. I was a little skeptical at first because to me it felt thinner than I was expecting, and it felt lighter. But on the scale it weighs in at 5 lbs, and the gauge is telling me it should be 1.5mm or so. I can't tell you if it's really cow, or if it's really 100% veg tanned, but if we take them at their word, it is. It seems like pretty nice leather. It is rather stiff, and will take some time to break in, and they advertise that fact. MSC also currently offer several of their jackets in unfinished hide, and I don't know where else you can find that in their price range.

I have no experience with their previous products but from talking to them they have been upping the quality of the materials they use and they do that to stay ahead of their copycats. There have been a few ebay sellers based in Pakistan who are using their images and trying to copy their patterns, and because MSC has their production based out of Pakistan as well, there have been rumors that these knockoffs are being made by the same factory. According to MSC, this isn't true; MSC say they own their factory and they have full control over what materials they are using there. I have no way to verify these claims, but no reason to doubt, either. If you tried MSC in the past and weren't impressed with the leather, it might be worth looking at them again.

Lining is a red cotton, lightweight, and otherwise not remarkable. Nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't stand out as something they put extra expense into. It's fine; average, I'd say. If they wanted to go the extra mile with it, I would first make the inside pockets larger, and open at the top, filling out most of the front of the jacket, sized similar to a Type III-A jacket with handwarmer pockets has its generous inside pockets. Then I'd up the thread count of the lining material and make it a slightly heavier weight fabric.

​

Construction

I like the pattern. It's similar to a Type II Levi's trucker, but the ****** pockets are raised a bit higher, to make room for the handwarmer pockets. They feel more like Type III pockets than Type II pockets, although Master Supply went with Type II pleats in front rather than the V-seams of the Type III. Due to the pleating, the stiffness of the leather ie especially evident through the front, and I expect that this will mean it will take especially long for the front of the jacket to break in fully, and expect some draping issues as a result.

The stitching is well done, certainly equal to or better than any jacket in my closet that I consider acceptable. Not perfect, but neither are there any glaring flaws that would deserve to be called out. The people who put this jacket together did a good job with their tools. The ****** pockets feature decorative stitching, giving it more of a western vibe than it already has, which may or may not be your cup of tea, but I think it's a good balance between too plain and too fancy.

​

Fit

I normally take a size L, or a 42-44 in most things. Based on MSC's sizing chart, I decided to go with XL for my order, and it seems to be the right choice. I'm currently about 5'9" and 190 lbs with a 43 in chest and 36 in waist.

The jacket does feel a bit long on my 5'9" frame, and would probably be a perfect fit for someone closer to 6'0", and for me I wouldn't have minded if it was maybe an inch shorter in the body. I'm told that they will do a custom measured jacket to your dimensions if asked, and it seems that this is offered at minimal additional expense, although a custom made jacket will not be returnable due to it being non-standard sizing. I didn't feel it was worth exchanging for a remake with custom sizing, but if I had to do it over again from scratch, I might have requested it. Sleeves feel about right, maybe slightly long, and as they break in the creasing should take up most of that. But again I could see dropping 1/2" to 1" from the sleeve length to dial in the fit perfectly.

Master Supply has a variety of jackets in this pattern, made from different leathers or in different colors, with different names. It seems that they are tweaking the design and playing around with this and that to both improve the product and to entice repeat customers, or to induce purchases due to FOMO for a particular color or leather type selling out and not being offered again. As a customer, it'd make more sense to me to consolidate all these different named products into one, give that design a name, and then offer configure-to-order options for the different leathers, colors, etc. That's more a business decision than anything else.

Customer Service

Every time I've emailed Master Supply, I've gotten a response from Josh in under an hour, regardless of when I sent it. I generally send messages in the evening or night time, and I assume he sleeps but it seems like he's always ready to answer questions or talk about product. His responses feel genuine, more like I'm having a conversation with a human being than with a corporation. His engagement with me has felt genuine. I couldn't get him to divulge company secrets but other than that he was forthright with answer to my questions and seemed responsive to my suggestions and ideas as well. He also is one of the photo models on their website, and he was kind enough to answer a question about his outfit even though it wasn't one of their products that I was asking about.

Brand/Image

I don't have much to say on this topic; you either like what they are representing or you don't. Some have said that they think that Master Supply is spending too much money on ads, or that it must seem that way because their ads are all over social media. I guess to me that just means that they are targeting with their ads effectively. It's their business to decide how much they want to spend on advertising. Most businesses need to spend money to advertise, and the ones that are successful without significant advertising are few and far between. As Josh put it to me, they are not putting themselves out there not to get noticed.

Value

Their price point is mid tier, and to me it's nice to see another option in this tier, producing a decent product that is worth the money. Because there really aren't that many.

They're not trying to compete with high end companies like Thedi, Aero, Freewheelers, or Langlitz. So it's not fair to compare them to those. But for about half the price, they're not half bad. Not by a long shot.

I'd say they are also above Cidu, Tailor Brando, and other Chinese made low cost jackets, from what I've seen from them. For not too much more money, it's possible to get a new Vanson, and Vanson is definitely superior without any question, but Master Supply do offer something different enough that I think they can be a legitimate option for some. It's possible to get a 15% discount code without too much trouble, and at that price, you are not going to find a lot of better options. Certainly you can find some good bargains on higher end jackets for $500-600 in the used market, and that's also something to consider. But that's a hunt and requires patience and luck, especially if your size isn't common.

Bottom line, I think they are worth a look, and if you looked at them once already they might be worth another look now, and keep an eye on them for the future, too. If they keep developing their product line, they will be interesting to watch.

Instead of a picture of the jacket, I only see this symbol. Is that just me?

 

[Guppy]

Instead of a picture of the jacket, I only see this symbol. Is that just me?

View attachment 721365

I don't know where that came from... I posted from my mobile browser, and the screen size makes seeing all the controls a hit or miss affair. I thought that image was weird, and when I scrolled up/down it kept appearing every few paragraphs, which made me think it was some kind of advertising being injected into the posts. I still don't know what it is, but I'll see if I can go back and delete it.

I don't have photos of me wearing the jacket right now, and won't be able to furnish any anytime soon. My house is undergoing remodeling and stuff is packed away and covered under tarps and whatnot. So I don't have my tripod and I don't have anyone who can assist right now. The jacket looks the same as what they show on their website, though. I'll see if I can come back and post some pics in a few weeks when the project is all done.

 

[Guppy]

@Guppy Thanks for sharing all this, it was what I was hoping to find in the thread, just a breakdown on it and it seems very middle of the road perhaps. Any pics of it too? I’m considering the natural cow solaire or the chore coat. It feels weird to me the solaire has the western flair on the back stitching but also haven’t been able to find anything like this in my size.

I prefer people make up their own minds, but my impression after handling the one jacket in person is that it's a good value for the price. I wouldn't call it middle of the road. If we call sub-$500 the low end, $500-800 mid-tier, and $800+ expensive, then by definition their jackets are aimed at this mid-tier price point. But I think that both the materials and construction are hitting a bit above "middle of the road" -- particularly the leather.

In the past 5 years or so, inflation has seen the former mid-tier makers creeping into "expensive" territory, and "expensive" makers starting to get hard to justify or maybe even getting out of reach of many customers. This creates an opportunity for a company such as Master Supply Co. to come in and offer a competitive product. Of course I wouldn't expect them to exceed what the higher priced makers are doing, but I do think that it's selling the brand short to call it "middle of the road". At least judging from the one jacket I purchased from them.

Keeping in mind that many of the vintage jackets were not luxury items, but were working class, everyday items of quality, if we can like and admire old Buco, Fidelity, Natal, Brimaco, Excelled, Lesco, and Sears, it seems to me like looking down at MSC because they're not Thedi, Freewheelers, or RMC is snobbery. It's certainly not a "mall jacket" by any stretch.

 

[Mister Rivets]

It's apparently a thing in Europe... I find left hand zippers to be annoying.

I ask Thedi to put the zipper on the wrong side.
All my jackets are on the opposite side of the, you get use to it

 

[shadowtek]

Took a shot on Master Supply’s Natural Leather Solaire. Excited to see how it goes once it comes in too.

Apparently they just put a hold on new orders of the natural leather jackets because humidity can affect the color and veg tanning. They said they don’t want their quality and consistency to suffer, so they are putting a hold on those for a couple weeks during the worst of the summer. So kudos to them for doing that and communicating what’s happening too. They were super responsive to all my questions.

 

[Drzdave58]

Took a shot on Master Supply’s Natural Leather Solaire. Excited to see how it goes once it comes in too.

Apparently they just put a hold on new orders of the natural leather jackets because humidity can affect the color and veg tanning. They said they don’t want their quality and consistency to suffer, so they are putting a hold on those for a couple weeks during the worst of the summer. So kudos to them for doing that and communicating what’s happening too. They were super responsive to all my questions.

I like the looks of their natural veg tanned cowhide field jacket. They should patina nicely.

 

[shadowtek]

Master Supply Natural Solaire arrived.

I've been looking everywhere for a Cossack or shawl collar leather jacket. My ideal was one that was veg-tanned, button closure, and natural leather so I could patina it on my own. I'm a bigger guy and usually if you are lucky enough to find a company with this style they don’t have a size big enough for me(50-52). So, finding a jacket in my size and checking all those boxes was an incredible feat that Master Supply nailed with something off the rack.

The stitching seems good and tight. I’m not a stitch expert but looked good to me and compared to other jackets I have, it seemed fine, I guess time will tell too.

The leather is a full grain, veg tanned cowhide that I’d classify as light-medium weight and thickness. It’s close in weight and thickness to my Schott unlined 582 but slightly thicker. It’s very soft out of the box but has some minimal stiffness present. More then lamb but less then hh or heavy cow. There are some small marks and imperfections on the leather here and there, but mostly looks incredible for natural veg tan and like it should age well. Having done leatherworking of my own natural veg tan is very hard leather to work with as humidity and even extra oil on your hands will mess with it really quickly. Given that, it arrived pretty clean although not perfect. I found a few areas where maybe someone packing it or such got some hand oils on it or some humidity in shipping got it a little but I’m not gonna stress that. Leather is rarely if ever perfect anyway especially on a large item. It seems fairly uniform though to my eyes for most of the jacket.

I have broad shoulders and chest, my body is column shaped and I used my measurements from other jackets to line this one up. I actually prefer to wear my jackets with t-shirts usually as I live in a warmer climate so I only allowed for a little bit of room. They recommend allowing for 8-12 cm room from your chest size for your jacket size but I only gave myself 4-5ish cm or about 2 inches.

As soon as I threw it on I was in love. It actually fit my chest and arms perfectly how I wanted. Many off the shelf jackets before just weren’t quite right but this sat nicely on my frame. A tad snug in the stomach area but that’s my own fault and I was expecting that. I don’t usually button or zip up jackets anyway or not for long at least.

The hardware seems solid, also love the side brass? Zinc? D-rings kinda old school Indy style cinch strap. Buttons are sturdy and it has a couple pit vent holes. The sleeves I was worried were too long, but when I stretched out my arms it was perfect. My arms at my side it was maybe a half inch too long but pretty close to where I like my jackets to hit. The easy fix for me is I guess I can tighten the cuffs to the second button too if needed.

I was worried about the western theme for most of their natural leather jackets (and products really) but this one seemed to not be as heavy into the western style as their others so I may be able to pull it off in more casual settings too. I’d love to see them branch out their styles more. Even if it doesn’t fully work I have other jackets for that reason.

Love the green cotton lining, it’s a great color and once the jacket darkens some the green and brown/tan are really gonna work well together I think.

It’s designed in Canada, manufactured in Pakistan. Having owned a HH Five Star too I’d say this feels like better quality control and you pay some for that. The fit and finish feels better too. I’ve seen good jackets come from all over, I have jackets from the UK, US, Germany, Italy and this fits fine right alongside them. The quality is solid to me and if it’s not, they’ll be fast to fix it or refund. I found a 15% off coupon and it was worth the $500 to me.

The customer service was impeccable, responsive and helpful. Josh over there assured me if anything didn’t seem right or didn’t fit well they would swap it out or adjust it and work with me to get the fit right. He gave me advice on care, patina, and answered all my questions.

Hope this helps someone like me out there looking for more info on this style sometime in the future.

View attachment 723507


View attachment 723512

 

[Guppy]

No fit pics yet, but I've been wearing my Hardline jacket around the house for a few weeks, and the grain is starting to emerge through the topcoat. It's looking really nice. Tight grain, really pleased with it, honestly. The topcoat is quite shiny, so helps the camera pick up the grain in detail.

 

[ZeroDelta]

Master Supply Co. is a Canadian brand known for durable, high-quality leather jackets. Their jackets are made from full-grain cowhide or buffalo hide and are praised for ruggedness, classic design, and reasonable pricing. Most customers report good value and solid craftsmanship, though some note that stitching or finishing isn’t as precise as premium heritage brands. Overall, they’re considered a reliable option for stylish, long-lasting leather jackets, and customer service is generally responsive.

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