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Help! i got caught in the rain in my jacket and I don't know what to do

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
It’s not a problem. The tanning process protects the hide. Honestly speaking wearing it in the rain brings out the grain in the leather and helps to form the jacket to your body making it look better. Most of us wear our A2 jackets in the rain all the time .
 

Dimitry M

Well-Known Member
It’s not a problem. The tanning process protects the hide. Honestly speaking wearing it in the rain brings out the grain in the leather and helps to form the jacket to your body making it look better. Most of us wear our A2 jackets in the rain all the time .
so go run and dance around in the rain?
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
so go run and dance around in the rain?
If that’s what you’d like to do . Maybe you haven’t read that some actually wear their jackets in a hot water shower to shrink them a bit . I’m not suggesting that you do that, but it just goes to show that if you happened to get caught in the rain with your new US Authentic A2 , you’re not going to hurt it. It will simply bring out some grain and make your jacket look a little more realistic .
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
How wet is it? If it’s soaked shove some towels into the sleeves to hold their shape and put a pillow inside of it and zip it up. If it’s just drops here and there just wipe them off . DONIT put it near a heater or try and dry it off with anything hot like a hair dryer. Let it air dry.
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
I know we all have to start somewhere in this hobby but seriously it's a leather jacket not a gossamer pixie dress made by the elves of Narnia FFS.

Do you think the flyboys back in WWII were having the vapours because they got caught in a shower from their Nissen hut to the officers' mess? "Major! There's no way I can fly this afternoon's mission, I got caught in some drizzle in my A-2!"

No. And neither should you. Leather jackets and especially A-2s and all those flying jackets we love look the way they do in those great photos from the war because of the simple fact, they were worn, they were worn hard and in all conditions, these guys had far more to worry about.

The sooner you start to wear your flying jackets in the spirit of those who wore them originally, the sooner your jacket will look more like a wartime one and just as importantly, you'll enjoy wearing it a lot more too. One of the most liberating things you can do with this hobby is to stop giving a shit about worrying about wearing the things. That's the best advice I could ever give.
 

busdrivermike

Well-Known Member
Every jacket I own and ever owned has done motorcycle duty [except my b3]and has been stuck in the
Rain, [always rains when I leave my rain suit at home] splashed with mud from puddles , splattered with all manner of bug guts
And they all look better for it even the ones soaked through
The ones soaked through I let air dry then give them a pecards treatment, that’s the advice I got from my dad
And some old timer bikers and it’s worked for me.
I’ve only seen a few peoples leather jackets get wrecked from a good rain, suede ones, a couple lamb skin mall/fashion ones
They stretched out and got all droopy and misshapen And a friends cheap no name heavy leather distressed bomber bought at a yearly special trucked in leather sale, it had to be re dyed as the distressed look kinda ran in parts then flaked off when it dried he had it re dyed a solid brown by a shoe repair shop.
 
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Smithy

Well-Known Member
... which takes a bit of a leap of faith if your jacket has cost you ... but character really comes with wear after all.

It does take a leap of faith and that's one of the reasons you do see all this hand rubbing and angst now that prices have gotten to silly levels from some makers. Guys can spend a good chunk of their salary on a jacket now so I don't blame them for initially being reticent about wearing the thing. But stressing out about wearing them creates two massive problems:

1) If you don't wear it hard it won't develop the kind of wear and patina we love to see in wartime photos of jackets

2) Stressing and worrying about your jacket every time you are wearing it completely defeats the enjoyment of wearing a leather jacket. If you're constantly fretting about the weather when you wear it, worrying about getting scrapes on it, worrying about eating food, having a drink wearing it, worrying about if it's OK to hang it over a chair - Gosh! Maybe it might get a funny crease if I do that!

Those kinds of things completely rob the enjoyment of wearing the things.

I'd rather wear the shit out of a jacket over 10 years for it to fall apart and enjoy every minute of it, than have a jacket for 30 years and worry every minute about wearing the damn thing.
 

Kermit3D

Well-Known Member
In the beginning I was like you Dimitry, I was afraid of the rain, car belts, satchel, door corners, ...

But now I'm over it, and it's a strange pleasure to say : "I might make a mark on my jacket :eek: !!... oh but wait :rolleyes:, ... it will give it character ... I can't wait to get my first scratch ! :p"...
I confess that I am more relaxed when I wear my A-2 than when I wear my cyclist jacket.
 

MikeyB-17

Well-Known Member
I have been known to kick my A-2 around the patio (not my current one, although it certainly doesn’t get babied), especially after watching Catch-22 (the film). Guys here use them for gardening, working on their cars and generally abusing them. They were designed for military flying, they got rubbed by parachute straps and seat harnesses, they got oil and lubricants on them, they got scraped against cockpits and aircraft interiors. And I guarantee none of them got treated with Pecard’s or any other kind of dressing-OK I grant you, wartime jackets were issued, nobody had paid for them like we do nowadays, but the things were not designed to be treated like a Saville Row suit. The only thing I do try to be a bit careful with is the knits, which can be a weak link, and are getting more expensive to have replaced. I suggest, next time it rains, put it on and get out in it, and give it a good soaking!
 

Dubpynchon

Well-Known Member
It'll help soften it and make it more comfortable, like my FQHH Highwayman. I'd even emailed Aero asking if the shoulders were meant to be so stiff. Ah my younger naive days!

'Unhappy memories,
Yet I welcome you...
You are my long-long youth!'

The quote‘s taken from the start of Melville's 'Army of Shadows', a film about the OSS which I just watched. Actually my memories weren't unhappy (it's only a flippin' jacket) and it wasn't that long ago, but still... great film.
 
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Dimitry M

Well-Known Member
When i take it off i stick my fingers under the knits and grab the leather and liner so as not to pull on then
 
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