-
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
A2 Horsehide rainproofing
- Thread starter Mxhex
- Start date
dinomartino1
Well-Known Member
no, no and thrice no
Shanghai-Mayne
Well-Known Member
Buy surplus water proof jacket, or ECWCS L5
dinomartino1
Well-Known Member
It's not a stupid question so don't get offended but most here would consider it sacrilege.
mulceber
Moderator
Leather is pretty darn water-proof - it is, after all, skin. Water doesn't get in through your skin, and nor does your blood get out through your skin, after all. The only weak spot is the stitch holes. If you were REALLY worried about water getting through the stitch holes (realistically, it's more likely to get in through the knits, and the collar), I suppose you could apply some beeswax to the stitches, but it would likely darken the leather in those patches and really isn't worth the effort. Any rain that gets through the stitch holes will already have gotten in through the above-mentioned areas.
Last edited:
ZuZu
Well-Known Member
Actually- I hate to be contrarian but leather is not waterprooof. It's water resistant to a certain point but it can definitely get soaked in a downpour and depending on how it was tanned and treated it can definitely shrink. I know this from experience- in fact all this was a huge topic back in the day on this very forum. So then you get into the various treatments- vaseline, Pecards, mink oil etc. Ad infinitum...
Water does funny things to leather- sometimes cool and interesting often sad and bad. I'm sure many originals we see today were worn in the rain back when and it gave them patina and character- but the leather we have today isn't WW2 stuff so not going to react the same. Getting your modern leather jacket sopping wet is a risk. Light rain is fine.
B-Man2
Well-Known Member
I think the adverse reactions were mostly based on MxHex’s question about using spray can water proofing on his jacket. Which I would still say “ No Way” . If you want to give your jacket an increased level of water repellency ( Notice I said water repellency NOT WATERPROOF…. There’s a difference, )
I’d suggest a very very light coat of Pecards Or vaseline. Be aware that there will probably be a light color change to your jacket if the leather is light colored. However the treatment will increase your jackets water repellency.
I’d suggest a very very light coat of Pecards Or vaseline. Be aware that there will probably be a light color change to your jacket if the leather is light colored. However the treatment will increase your jackets water repellency.
foster
Well-Known Member
I used to own an ELC copy of a Rough Wear A-2 which I am convinced had some sort of clearcoat to the hide. I bought it direct from Eastman while at a show in the UK about a decade ago. It would shed rain quite nicely. I ended up selling it later, but I still believe there was some sort of surface treatment to it. Maybe it was not intentionally a waterproofing treatment, but rather some post-tanning modification to make it more capable of repelling water.
mulceber
Moderator
Good point. I've experienced the shrinking myself. I was more thinking about whether the water would actually be able to get through the leather to your skin, which I suppose it could after a VERY long while, but it's not something I would worry about. Maybe don't go swimming in your leather jacket, but I wouldn't fret about ordinary exposure to water.
Chandler
Well-Known Member
My 1401, that I still own from the mid-90s, doesn't appear to have a clearcoat, but the finish is impervious to the point of bulletproof! Yeah, rain doesn't effect it.
Pretty sure it's a spray finish of some sort. The only character to the hide is the graining it's developed over the years. Nothing else phases it.
Silver Surfer
Well-Known Member
Hahahahahaha
Silver Surfer
Well-Known Member
If ya put some rain proofing on your a-2, you will wake up one morning and say, “I did what"?.” for the most part, the dyes and finishes used on a-2s is pretty much “rain resistant”. Thus, no need to spray them. Also, many of us around her like to wear our a-2s in the rain, cause it brings out the hide texture, and helps to make the jacket conform to our bodies.
ZuZu
Well-Known Member
I get it. Leather jackets and A2s specifically were definitely used as inclement weather jackets especially in England- so they were worn out in the rain for sure. They'll definitely keep you dry for a while.
Juanito
Well-Known Member
Man, my experience with Eastman horsehide is exactly the opposite. I bought what I think was Eastman's first horsehide A-2 in the US in 1990 via Charles when HPA was Nose Art Unlimited.My 1401, that I still own from the mid-90s, doesn't appear to have a clearcoat, but the finish is impervious to the point of bulletproof! Yeah, rain doesn't effect it.
Pretty sure it's a spray finish of some sort. The only character to the hide is the graining it's developed over the years. Nothing else phases it.
Anyway, I wore it just as I would my old Avirex jacket, walking the 13 blocks from the bar to home in torrential rain. In the Avirex, I might get damp through the shoulder seams. In the Eastman, I was totally drenched and my white t-shirt was completely orange. The leather was no worse for the wear after it dried out about two days later, but it sure soured me on veg tanned, anniline finished jackets.
Second Eastman rain issue was maybe 10 years ago or so. I had one of the war horse Roughwear jackets. Beautiful leather. I got caught out in the rain and it turned it stiff, literally like cardboard. I tried all sorts of things to soften it back up but there were portions of the jackets that remained cardboard stiff.
Enigma1938
Well-Known Member
Best way is to wear the wet leather jacket until it dried so it can constantly move and the leather won't get stiff.
