Dakota Leather

[DustyUSAF]

Gents,

Is anybody familiar with Dakota? I recently took my USAF issued Cockpit A-2 back to our equipment issue guys because it was damaged. The "leather" cracked around the pocket and began to peel off! I've only worn the jacket a handful of times, so the guys there were nice enough to let me switch it out for another one. As luck would have it, there were no more 40Rs in stock. So the guy that runs the shop told me that they were now getting jackets from this Dakota leather place and that the jackets were much nicer. He went ahead and ordered me one in 40R. I have never seen these or tried them on. I didn't even know they made A-2s for the Air Force, but an order is being placed on Monday and one of those jackets is mine. I guess we'll find out.

P.S.- He also said that they were sheepskin and that the mil-spec actually calls for sheepskin (?) I've never heard that before. Could he have been confused and meant to say goatskin? That's all I've ever seen on an issued jacket other than horsehide.

 

[Jeff M]

Gents,

...
P.S.- He also said that they were sheepskin and that the mil-spec actually calls for sheepskin (?) I've never heard that before. ..

Sounds like he could use a bit of educating. Refer him here.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Or maybe the USAF has finally come full circle. The mil-spec for the original A-1 was capeskin (sheep skin).

AF

 

[Corky]

The Dakota Leather Co. Jackets on the internet look cheap to me. And overpriced at $25.00.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dakota-Leat...Jacket-sizes-med-xl-2xlrg-3xlrg-/270901978662

I suggest you get your next jacket from someplace reputable, like Gibson & Barnes.

 

[Jeff M]

The Dakota Leather Co. Jackets on the internet look cheap to me. And overpriced at $25.00.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dakota-Leat...Jacket-sizes-med-xl-2xlrg-3xlrg-/270901978662

I suggest you get your next jacket from someplace reputable, like Gibson & Barnes.

Woah.
Shipping almost costs more than the jacket.
I didn't know it was possible to find that much of any kind of leather...or psuedo-leather...for that cheap.
This the same "Dakota" leather?

I'd be worried that I'd get what I paid for.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Goodness! Off We Go, Into The Wild Blue Yonder!

To be sure...the supply guy must have been talking about Dakota Leather being a kind of leather as opposed to being a clothing company....with an DOD contract.

AF

 

[GHQ1]

Not sure where the market is for a jacket made from jagged scraps of leather -- there's more THREAD than leather in that jacket! It must be ungodly labor intensive with all that sewing.

 

[ButteMT61]

FrankenJacket. PASS!

 

[DustyUSAF]

Atticus, I think you're right. That has to be the case. I just don't see any way that these guys have a DoD contract. I'm just very confused.

 

[Worf]

Well suppose you have a lot of leather scraps hanging around and plenty of cheap labour with nothing to do. Frankenjacket!!!! Even if you only sell a couple that better than nuthin. A fast $25 beats the hell outta of a slow $100 as my Daddy used to say.

Worf

 

[Doctor Damage]

Dakota Outerwear apparently sells A-2 jackets with velcro patches. Link below, go to page 5.

https://www.dakotaouterwear.com/products.aspx?catid=22

 

[Doctor Damage]

Dakota Outerwear apparently sells A-2 jackets with velcro patches. Link below, go to page 5.

https://www.dakotaouterwear.com/products.aspx?catid=22

Just got one of these jackets and it's very good. I'm not a leather guy so I can't really compare it to anything, nor offer an objective assessment, although I will say that I had a Cockpit horsehide jacket for a couple days (send it back) and this seems nicer. Everything lines up properly and the fit is true to size, although sleeves are a bit longish (measurements below). It has handwarmer pockets behind the main pockets but as you can see in the photos they are invisible, thankfully. Inside there are two wallet pockets and a pen pocket. It's goatskin and the liner is a 65 poly 45 cotton blend. The colour is a super-dark brown as in the closeup photo, and the finish is a scotchgrain. The cuff knits have seams unfortunately, but are heavy duty. Zipper is a civilian YKK, works well, but is a bit small for the jacket and I think a chunkier one would much be better. There is no hook at the throat. Made in the USA. I can't find a RN number so I don't know which company made it.



measurements:
size = 42R
chest = 25"
length = 26"
shoulders = ~21"
sleeves = 25.5"
(they told me sleeves on the 42L are 28" long!)

There's only one flaw with this individual jacket: the left shoulder is a bit longer than the right, by about 1/4", which means when standing straight looking in a mirror it droops over the shoulder a bit on the one side. It's noticeable to someone like me--and would be to the people who post here--however it seems to compensate for my lopsided posture (dropped other shoulder) and you don't notice any difference in 'feel' when wearing it. I could order another one I guess, but it might have more bigger issues. One of my favourite sports jackets has slightly wonkly shoulders and as a retired tailor said about it I'm the only person who will notice it. I took it over to my parents' place and my mother didn't notice without being told and she said to forget about it. She's probably right, as mothers usually are, LOL

^ Update 2017: Further to this, I returned that jacket and got a 40L instead.
Here's the measurements for the 40L.
chest = 24"
length = 27.5"
shoulders = 20"
sleeves = 27"