Definitions

[FlyingYankee]

Looking for clarification on for the following terms. Not trying to be funny here, just looking to educate myself.

Capeskin

Timeworn

Warhorse

Also is Vegetable tanning superior to Chrome tanned.

Your help is highly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Jeff M]

Capeskin; A leather traditionally from the skin of goats from the Cape of Good Hope.

Timeworn: A marketing term used by manufacturers to sell leather they beat up some for higher prices. Saves the customer from having to beat it up themselves.

Warhorse: A marketing term used by some manufacturers to appeal to peoples desire to own something "special". Carries no intrinsic meaning. May have been applied to cow hide and not horse in some instances.

Vegetable vs chrome....I seem to prefer vegetable tanned hides...but no idea as to which is "better"...if either.

 

[Anonymous]

Capeskin is lambskin, not goatskin.

Warhorse is term used by some manufacturer to differentiate the smooth leathers he was previously using from the new very grainy ones that look like what we see on the waritme jackets.

Vegetable tanning is considered better than chrome tanning and surely more expensive as it is done with natural materials which are costlier than chemicals. Vegetable tanned leathers are also more expensive because it takes more time to produce them. About 6 months compared to about 1 week of chrome tanning.
Veg. tanned leathers have qualities that will show up after many years of use. I doubt anyone can tell if a leather is veg. tanned or chrome tanned by just looking at it, i.e. examination by naked eye. Also, tanning is the first stage of processing the leathers and there is a lot of things that happen afterwards during the process.

There are a very few tanneries that use veg tanning today. Maybe 1% worldwide. One of the natural ingredients in the veg tanning process is dog shit, so you can imagine what we're talking about. Most tanneries have switched to chrome to increase their production.
Tanneries who insist on using veg. tanning, sell the leathers for a fortune to very small markets and those leathers are used for luxury items mostly.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Veg tanned - maybe dog sh*t at was a component at some point but these days is typically oak tree bark. Modern tooling leather is veg tanned, the light tan to pink stuff.

Chrome tanned - chromium salts

 

[MikeyB-17]

Cape is the skin of the Cape Sheep from South Africa-its principal flight jacket use was in the A-1.

Timeworn and Warhorse are Eastman trade names-Timeworn is their artificial ageing process, Warhorse is their broken grain horse which is claimed to closely replicate WWII horse.

Veg and chrome tanning are, as explained, tanning processes using as the name suggests, vegetable-derived substances, or chromium salts. Chrome tanning was introduced later, my understanding is that early and pre-war jackets were veg tanned, chrome tanning was used for later war jackets. I recall ELC making a big deal out of introducing veg tanned leather back in the mid-90's, I also recall them saying their steer was chrome tanned. Nothing wrong as such with chrome tanning, most modern jackets are probably made that way, but veg tanning appears to be the preferred type in the repro flight jacket World. I have a veg tanned belt which is really nice leather, but I wouldn't have known it was veg tanned unless I was told.

 

[Anonymous]

Veg tanned - maybe dog sh*t at was a component at some point but these days is typically oak tree bark.

The ingredients inlcude of course tree bark, that's the main ingredient, but also dog shit. I heard some urine is put in the mix too. The full list of ingredients is not known as it differs from tannery to tannery. It's their secret recipe.