What Jacket Are You Wearing Today?

[Tom71]

That *****, did he literally have to cut the zipper open? Where the first two repairs covered by Aero?
You would think having to deal with three repairs in 18 months would push them to use better quality zippers...

He used a heavy pair of pliers. I was totally stuck in the jacket, soaking wet from the outside and steaming inside the heavy HH in the heat of the little workshop. I told him to put efficiency before caution. Must have been quite the sight...

Aero have been absolutely forthcoming with the repairs. They didn’t charge anything and sorted me out friendly and quite fast. No complaints at all.
Still, if the same thing happens with the same jacket (and no other jacket) over and over again, there must be a flaw in the design.
Sending the jacket to Scotland again and wait another three months just to NOT use the heavy jacket in spring/summer is no option. The boot maker prides himself to be good with leather repairs, and he will have a go at the jacket over the weekend.

 

[Mrfrown]

Damn! Bates?

Yep!

You’ve definitely seen it before, just maybe not zipped all the way up.

It has fantastic range of motion, and is very comfortable for the weight. The sleeves are definitely itching to reach forward. I don’t ride motorcycles but it worked just fine on my bicycle heh.

The leather is thick, heavy, with serious topcoat. Must’ve been beastly when new. Whoever had it before me wore the hell out of it to get it to where it is now.

It has the stiff kidney panel which is meh for my purpose but I decided not to try removing it.

 

[Mrfrown]

@King B Dang man that Cal looks to be in perfect condition!

@Tom71 That sounds terrible man. Gotta say though, removed from the situation as I am, you paint a pretty funny picture with your words. A soaked, fuming man. The leather armor that won’t budge. An obliging shopkeeper. Dunno, sounds like the kind of thing you can laugh about later once the problem is solved and you can say “NEVER AGAIN HOOKLESS!”

 

[Monitor]

He used a heavy pair of pliers. I was totally stuck in the jacket, soaking wet from the outside and steaming inside the heavy HH in the heat of the little workshop. I told him to put efficiency before caution. Must have been quite the sight...

Aero have been absolutely forthcoming with the repairs. They didn’t charge anything and sorted me out friendly and quite fast. No complaints at all.
Still, if the same thing happens with the same jacket (and no other jacket) over and over again, there must be a flaw in the design.
Sending the jacket to Scotland again and wait another three months just to NOT use the heavy jacket in spring/summer is no option. The boot maker prides himself to be good with leather repairs, and he will have a go at the jacket over the weekend.

It's the small Hookless, no. 5, right? I never had any problems with it but man, heard it happen so many times... I know this has been discussed to death and back but FQHH CXL and tiny #5 zippers just shouldn't go together.

 

[El Marro]

I like this idea - just have never tried one. Suggestions on what ones to find and try would be welcome...

Check out Goorin Brothers. They offer a lot of different shapes, styles, and colors of flat caps. I have found that for my face I really like the low profile Ivy caps.

 

[Tom71]

It's the small Hookless, no. 5, right? I never had any problems with it but man, heard it happen so many times... I know this has been discussed to death and back but FQHH CXL and tiny #5 zippers just shouldn't go together.

Yes, the No. 5. I have another Aero with the same zipper, and it works just fine, albeit on thinner leather.

The guy at the workshop thought, that both zipper and general workmanship were very good, but that the zipper tape was sewn to far inside the jacket, putting a constant stress on the zipper when engaged. Personally I believe, the waistband of the HWM is just to chunky for this feeble zipper.
Anyway, I’ll give the guy leverage in trying out his repair as he thinks fit. Couldn’t leave the jacket there earlier as it was still raining cats n dogs.

 

[Tom71]

@King B Dang man that Cal looks to be in perfect condition!

@Tom71 That sounds terrible man. Gotta say though, removed from the situation as I am, you paint a pretty funny picture with your words. A soaked, fuming man. The leather armor that won’t budge. An obliging shopkeeper. Dunno, sounds like the kind of thing you can laugh about later once the problem is solved and you can say “NEVER AGAIN HOOKLESS!”

Thanks much.

In fact, I can chuckle at the whole episode by now, but I tell you my initial reaction was much different!
I am just happy that the guy helped me out (despite having to make amends iro “social distancing”) and that he feels fit to have a go at the repair. Nothing worse than your favourite foul weather jacket that you don’t grab anymore in constant fear of zipping it up.

 

[navetsea]

is that war time zipper? I mean I wonder how allies won the war, this can easily cause the loss of a battle right?

 

[handymike]

No, this is wartime zipper.

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

Vintage Cal Leather CHP View attachment 306806 View attachment 306807 View attachment 306808 View attachment 306809 View attachment 306810

fantastic!!! I'm taking a drive to Cal shop tomorrow. They're about 45 minutes from me. Going to give the last one I bought a little TLC--fix the zipper, some loose stitching, and depending on price put in a new liner. The leather is too nice to let it just be a banged up jacket that gets no love. I gave it a good wash over the weekend. Amazing the water color LOL. And some conditioning. Thing is gorgeous. I'll try and take some pics tomorrow of the shop and the team there if they let me.

 

[handymike]

That’s awesome! Yes, pics are a must...next should be Bates!
They’re right next to the Long Beach Airport.

 

[Shine]

Aero Seven natural cxl hh

 

[Imuricecreamman]

Aero Seven natural cxl hh View attachment 306872

That's a spectacular hide!

 

[King B]

Completely cool! Really perfect fit, look, everything.

Cheers mate!

 

[King B]

Wow! My favourite so far in your impressive collection.

I appreciate that mate. I recently acquired a modern Cal. Leathers Jacket that I'll put up soon. I purchased loooooads of jackets during the first UK lockdown and I have well over 150 jackets.

 

[MrProper]

Aero Seven natural cxl hh View attachment 306872

really nice... but an Aero with a Buco label?

 

[King B]

@King B Dang man that Cal looks to be in perfect condition!

@Tom71 That sounds terrible man. Gotta say though, removed from the situation as I am, you paint a pretty funny picture with your words. A soaked, fuming man. The leather armor that won’t budge. An obliging shopkeeper. Dunno, sounds like the kind of thing you can laugh about later once the problem is solved and you can say “NEVER AGAIN HOOKLESS!”

Thanks mate. It was a real fine. Very little wear on the leather, zips look original and the leather is still quite stiff. I am well chuffed!

 

[ABCD]

really nice... but an Aero with a Buco label?

Aero made j100 j24 and apparently also the seven with a buco label.

 

[King B]

fantastic!!! I'm taking a drive to Cal shop tomorrow. They're about 45 minutes from me. Going to give the last one I bought a little TLC--fix the zipper, some loose stitching, and depending on price put in a new liner. The leather is too nice to let it just be a banged up jacket that gets no love. I gave it a good wash over the weekend. Amazing the water color LOL. And some conditioning. Thing is gorgeous. I'll try and take some pics tomorrow of the shop and the team there if they let me.

Cheers mate. The leather is amazing. Looking forward to seeing yours.

 

[MrProper]

Aero made j100 j24 and apparently also the seven with a buco label.

Somehow I almost thought something like that. Thank you