I've been looking for a leather vest for quite a while now. I've come across one in a style that I really like, at a great price, but it's lined with that white Sherpa stuff. I'm tempted to buy it and rip that lining out. Raw leather on the inside would be fine with me, but I don't know how that lining is attached and what to expect (glue marks?) when it's out. Any advice appreciated.
It is in that range, although I'd hate to waste a good vest. I just don't need insulation, and I never liked that Sherpa fleece. It's hard to find a vest in good, thick, and brown leather that's not insulated and/or in the Western or the Orvis/LL Bean style. Sent from my LG-SP320 using Tapatalk
My favorite stand alone vest is in brown duck with the white sherpa lining. I think it is L.L. Bean. Now, I have about 15 other vests, but they aren't the stand alone chain saw type vest that I like so well about this one. They are made to be worn under an outer garment for layering warmth. This one is worn by itself, is tough and furnishes plenty of warmth when doing other activities. If the leather vest is available at a good price, you may come to like the sherpa lining. I do.
What sort of style are you after? It seems likely that someone would know where to find one without the offending insulation layer if you can show us a picture.
I've done it, but it was less than aesthetically pleasing. Glue had been used in assembly, so there were strips of glue and remains of the lining at the seams and in a couple spots on each panel of the vest. Removing the lining also changed the fit. It could have been fixed by disassembling the vest, removing the traces of glue and lining, then re-assembling with or without a new liner. More trouble than it was worth. I think I finally wound up using the leather for other projects. I've got another project going now, removing the sherpa liner from a denim jacket. If there weren't other reasons for doing so, it would be less trouble to start from scratch.
I've heard of fellows trimming down the sheepskin collars on flight jackets. Perhaps that's a route you could take to minimize the fuzz without compromising the vest entirely?
This is close, https://www.skintanleather.co.uk/leather-motorbike-waistcoat-bobby-159-p.asp , but I think only black. Must be somewhere stocks them. Johnson could doubtless do one to order.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to try the custom route down the line, once time and knowledge of options clarify my vision of the best vest in the West. For now I bought the one in the pictures; it came closest to what I had in mind. It's worth fifteen bucks, plus shipping, to test the proposition of wearing vests, which I haven't done since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, that's been bugging me lately. Who knows, I might even learn to live with the dreaded Sherpa. Sent from my LG-SP320 using Tapatalk
