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Bill Kelso timeline of leather, with a little wear thrown in...

Skip

Well-Known Member
Alright, I'm well overdue for a review of my BK ANJ3. Bottom line--the best A-2, for me, is not an A-2. It's this jacket. I think it's luck more than anything, but it fits me to a T, just big enough in the shoulders and somewhat tapered to the waist. The 'liberty' leather is as described. It's fairly thick, smells great, and wears fairly quickly (all in comparison to my Eastman 'warhorse' A-2). It's showing some decent wear on the elbows, edges, near zipper area, etc (see photos). I love the ANJ3 design. It's far more comfortable than an A-2, makes the wearer look better, and lacks the fur collar that makes the G-1 a bit of a stretch to wear in public. The inside pocket sees a lot of use. My only experience with BK was this jacket, but I was fortunate to get it on time and as described. As I write this, I realize I have literally not worn my A-2 since this showed up about six months ago. It's a great jacket. ]

One hell of a jacket Clark, nice colour and it’s shaping up reall good, love the knit colour with that hide

...and I heartily agree ANJ3 all the way, my man
 

Skip

Well-Known Member
I suppose it's 'cause BK's Victory HH is much thicker than WarHH from Eastman and moreover Victory's structure looks noticeably more spongy - so, it just absorbs more waxes and that's why it fades its smell a bit faster after wax treatment.

That could be it
 

jeremiah

Well-Known Member
I don't know. My Victory Hide still smells good. Not as strong as when new, but when its out in the hot sun it starts to smell good.
That said, the aroma of leather comes from how it was tanned. most leather from the same tannery will tend to smell the same because the tannery is tanning with same recipe.
as this evaporates this is where the smell comes from. Even using acetone and isopropyl alcohol on my dubow I re-dyed I can still smell traces of the leather. Certainly what you subject your jacket to will impact how it smells though as it does soak up smells more readily than other fabrics.
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
The best smelling leather I've encountered is Horween CXL FQHH. It's faded a bit on my Aero Barnstormer now but it's still there. I reckon if you could bottle that smell and spray it on leather jackets you could charge an extra 10% it's so good.
 

Lebowski

You might not want to sell to this guy.
The best smelling leather I've encountered is Horween CXL FQHH. It's faded a bit on my Aero Barnstormer now but it's still there. I reckon if you could bottle that smell and spray it on leather jackets you could charge an extra 10% it's so good.
Well, if you sometime can compare it with Victory HH odour - I'm almost sure you'll be highly positively surprised (even if Horween CXL FQHH smells nice - sure, it really does, I know that of course) - surprised to know how even much more pleasant the leather might smell. Victory HH has the most pleasant smell ever. It's hardly possible to confuse the amazingly pleasant, just enjoyable odour of Victory HH with any other smell of any other leather. That's the point.
 

Skip

Well-Known Member
BK Dubow 27798 Liberty Horse

6 months ago I ordered a Dubow from BK IN Liberty Horse, in their version of original except that I chose Dark Seal over seal. The process was pretty straight forward as I already knew my measurements and super easy to order. 8 weeks later true to time I received it.

It had a problem in that the collar had been attached off centre, meaning that one side of the collar dropped about 1 inch more than the other side making it look lop sided. also the under collar join stitching where 2 pieces are stitched together to make the underside, was also off centre about 1 inch to the left. BK advised with pics, that they have an original showing this. I haven’t seen this before and asked them if they would redo or repair it.

I sent it back, BK footed the bill for the postage and advised they will make another with the centred collar seam. I received it 12 weeks later. I also requested if they could find the grainiest hide, still in Dark Seal but a lighter shade of such if they had it, and mismatch panels if it wasn’t too much trouble.

I’ve had it now since November, but really haven’t had a chance to wear it as: A) its getting too hot down under, B) My mother ended up in hospital and passed away a month later. Its only now that I have been wearing it on and off to wear it in ( the neighbours think I’m a little left of centre considering its been over 30 here most of the week.

First, I’m glad the first jacket had an issue as this one has loads of grain and some of the panels are more a darker version of seal than BK’s dark chocolate looking dark seal. I did ask if they had a lighter dark seal and they supplied. The fit is spot on, not tight, not loose and being a Dubow one of the most comfortable contracts of an A2 I’ve yet to wear.

Here at last is where I discuss the difference between this Liberty and what used to be Victory. The Liberty is thick but not as thick as the Victory hide of my ANJ3, Liberty is also more supple, meaning it doesn’t take long to break in, its comfortable from the get go, and like Victory it immediately begins to crease and show age/wear. But dare I say it maybe not as tough as the Victory hides, time will tell? Liberty almost feels like capeskin in its butteriness. As you can see it has loads of character, much of what you see in the pics has been just over a weeks worth of short wear, but it did come out of the box with plenty of grain already there, what you see is just me wriggling around in it making it more prominent. Sorry don’t have before and after pics but you know…other priorities.

This Dark Seal colour has less red in it than the Victory , and from what I understand is a russet base, so I imagine the russet will eventually show through with more and more wear. Its much less shiny than Victory and less squeaky when new. I am actually quite happy with this hide, and looking forward to see how it develops. Bare in mind this is just my opinion and preference, others may not like the way the russet will show through over time. Lining is dull orange as in originals, and knits dull berry in colour.

Overall I’m quite pleased with it and looking forward to some cooler weather, eventually! Yes I'm sweating

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Smithy

Well-Known Member
An absolute pearler Matt and the fit looks spot on.

And hot? One of my mates back in Melbourne just messaged me saying that he's thinking he should ask the pub if they've got a room to let as he's spending so much time there trying to cool off!

Hope things are getting better after your Mum's passing.
 

Lebowski

You might not want to sell to this guy.
Matt, thank you for your post and your review of new BK Liberty Dubow 27798!
The jacket looks nice on you!
 

jeremiah

Well-Known Member
Looks great Matt. Glad things were sorted for you on this one. Again, sorry about for your loss.

My VH arco isn’t any more shiny than that one.
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Maybe the shine varied? I meant it has some shine but no where on the level of my ELC.
 
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Skip

Well-Known Member
Hi Clark,

No I didn’t mate, but if this being their lastest (?) batch is anything to go by...

But I don’t think they’ll revamp VIctory if that’s what your suggesting, would be too expensive, especially in the market they’re in now. Back when they first started they had a lot of leverage in a market that wasn’t as expensive, now all the middle to high level players are bringing out some excellent hides and too many players in the market to be cost effective. Although they use the same tannery from what I believe, Bk Liberty is different to ELC Warhorse so they obviously still try fry for their own recipe

Thanks gents for the compliments

An absolute pearler Matt and the fit looks spot on.

And hot? One of my mates back in Melbourne just messaged me saying that he's thinking he should ask the pub if they've got a room to let as he's spending so much time there trying to cool off!

Hope things are getting better after your Mum's passing.

Thanks Tim,

it’s a more comfortable fit than my werbers even though they have similar fit measurements

Melbourne’s been copping some toasty days, some nudging around 40’C, not so bad here just humid. It is coming up to that month where everyone in Australia just wants to move on to March, as you would know. West of the divide they’ve been breaking records with most consecutive days over 40.

Matt, that looks superb! Mine is in process.... Cant wait.

What size is that?

Size 40 good sir. I went with shoulders 18, chest 21 3/4, length 26 1/2

Looks great Matt. Glad things were sorted for you on this one. Again, sorry about for your loss.

My VH arco isn’t any more shiny than that one.
View attachment 14090
Maybe the shine varied? I meant it has some shine but no where on the level of my ELC.

Thanks J
When new the early VIctory had quite a sheen, which subsequent hard wear has dulled considerably. It could be a batch thing, I think the VIctory hides used to vary a bit as they kept tweaking it

Interestingly my ELC Werber is as shiny ie the same as Bk’s Liberty as seen above, although ELC is thinner, not squeaky and takes a bit for wear to show
 

Nickb123

Well-Known Member
BK Dubow 27798 Liberty Horse

6 months ago I ordered a Dubow from BK IN Liberty Horse, in their version of original except that I chose Dark Seal over seal. The process was pretty straight forward as I already knew my measurements and super easy to order. 8 weeks later true to time I received it.

It had a problem in that the collar had been attached off centre, meaning that one side of the collar dropped about 1 inch more than the other side making it look lop sided. also the under collar join stitching where 2 pieces are stitched together to make the underside, was also off centre about 1 inch to the left. BK advised with pics, that they have an original showing this. I haven’t seen this before and asked them if they would redo or repair it.

I sent it back, BK footed the bill for the postage and advised they will make another with the centred collar seam. I received it 12 weeks later. I also requested if they could find the grainiest hide, still in Dark Seal but a lighter shade of such if they had it, and mismatch panels if it wasn’t too much trouble.

I’ve had it now since November, but really haven’t had a chance to wear it as: A) its getting too hot down under, B) My mother ended up in hospital and passed away a month later. Its only now that I have been wearing it on and off to wear it in ( the neighbours think I’m a little left of centre considering its been over 30 here most of the week.

First, I’m glad the first jacket had an issue as this one has loads of grain and some of the panels are more a darker version of seal than BK’s dark chocolate looking dark seal. I did ask if they had a lighter dark seal and they supplied. The fit is spot on, not tight, not loose and being a Dubow one of the most comfortable contracts of an A2 I’ve yet to wear.

Here at last is where I discuss the difference between this Liberty and what used to be Victory. The Liberty is thick but not as thick as the Victory hide of my ANJ3, Liberty is also more supple, meaning it doesn’t take long to break in, its comfortable from the get go, and like Victory it immediately begins to crease and show age/wear. But dare I say it maybe not as tough as the Victory hides, time will tell? Liberty almost feels like capeskin in its butteriness. As you can see it has loads of character, much of what you see in the pics has been just over a weeks worth of short wear, but it did come out of the box with plenty of grain already there, what you see is just me wriggling around in it making it more prominent. Sorry don’t have before and after pics but you know…other priorities.

This Dark Seal colour has less red in it than the Victory , and from what I understand is a russet base, so I imagine the russet will eventually show through with more and more wear. Its much less shiny than Victory and less squeaky when new. I am actually quite happy with this hide, and looking forward to see how it develops. Bare in mind this is just my opinion and preference, others may not like the way the russet will show through over time. Lining is dull orange as in originals, and knits dull berry in colour.

Overall I’m quite pleased with it and looking forward to some cooler weather, eventually! Yes I'm sweating

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That look awesome. I assumed the Liberty HH was monotone in color but your jacket proves otherwise!
 

Skip

Well-Known Member
Thanks Art, Nick

Not sure what you mean by monotone? If you mean it has slight variations, yes it does but mainly because I asked for mismatched panels from different batches of their dark seal.. I did try to get info on this but communication is not a strong point with Bk. Having said that I have never had an issue and when I did recently they were polite and helpful

The Liberty HH is nothing like VIctory where shade variations and the deep red undertone came through from new. I feel with Liberty the look is rather uniform but the top layer coat will wear to reveal the base tan

If you want variation I would ask for mis matched hides to make up different panels
 

Tommer45

Active Member
BK Dubow 27798 Liberty Horse

6 months ago I ordered a Dubow from BK IN Liberty Horse, in their version of original except that I chose Dark Seal over seal. The process was pretty straight forward as I already knew my measurements and super easy to order. 8 weeks later true to time I received it......

My first post on here in years. Doing a little BK Liberty Dark Seal HH research for a new jacket and this is the exact kind of info I was looking for. Great jacket Skip. I think I'm sold on the Liberty Dark Seal.
 
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