Tommer45
Active Member
This was from May 2007....
So here we go.. my second attempt at a jacket review. This one, as the name of the thread suggests, is a Schott 641HH Cafe Racer. It is my first horsehide jacket, and my second Schott (the first was a Vintage Brown 585.. which I recently sold).
My frist impressions of this jacket when I took it out of the box was that it is pretty heavy duty. I have stated in previous posts that the recent Schotts I have tried on felt very thin when compared to my Langlitz. This jacket isn't as thick as my Langlitz, but it is definitely thicker than a lot of jackets out there. I would feel confident that the jacket would hold up while sliding down the pavement.. I'd just have to remember to wear it! I give the 641HH high scores for feeling like a tough, bad*ss jacket.
I've never owned a horsehide jacket before, and I gotta say that I love the leather. It's different than any other jacket I've ever owned. The grain of the HH is beautiful.. I love it. I can't wait to see this sucker after a year or two of use. The HH is pretty shiny but it adds to the uniqueness of the leather. Like I said I don't own any other HH jackets so I don't know if the shine fades over time.. only time will tell.
The jacket is pretty stiff, as I assumed it would be. There will be no quick break-in here. Bending your arms requires some effort and sitting with the jacket zipped up is very uncomfortable. It appears that what I've read about the stiffness of HH is true... not that I doubted you guys.
Probably the only thing I would not consider "up to par" with a $600+ jacket (I ordered directly from Schott, so I realise I paid a premium price), is the stitching. Honestly, this category really doesn't mean much to me. If a jacket doesn't fall apart on me, than I'm happy with the stitching. But many reviews discuss stitching so I thought I'd throw it in. I hate to compare everything to my Langlitz, but that's the only other high-end jacket I own. The Schott definitely doesn't compare. There are numerous threads that were left an inch or two too long, which I carefully removed with a scissor. Following the stitching lines around the jacket, several of them look like a winding country road.. nothing too sloppy but still not perfect. Also, where rows of stitching come to an end, they were sloppily doubled and tripled over so as to not come undone. But again, these are not big concerns of mine and would never be a reason for me to return a jacket.
So let's start with some pics...
Ahhh the box... there's nothing better than the UPS guy dropping off your new jacket!
Like most new jackets, it is pretty stiff and can pretty much stand up on it's own. The HH has a nice shine to it...
The leather has some great grain to it right out of the box... I can't wait to see it broken in...
The 641HH has one inside pocket with no zipper or closure. The lining is sewn in (previous runs of this model had a zip-out lining).
The jacket has a bi-swing back and underarm footballs with two small air-holes in them. Notice the beautiful grain in the one piece back.
The zippers on the sleeves are Lenzip, which is based out of Chicago I believe. I'm not sure what brand the rest of the zippers are (the main zip reads "Schott"), but I know Schott usually uses Lenzip or Ideal (NY based).
The sides of the jacket can be tightened or loosened by way of side buckles.
The front chest pocket is a good looking feature, but when open there is barely enough room to fit a hand in there to reach anything that may be resting at the bottom of the pocket. If I had some loose change or my riding ear-plugs in the pocket, it would be a real pain trying to get them out. Looks nice, though...
The HH is pretty evenly matched all over the jacket, but I gotta say the left front panel has much more grain and texture than the right front. Maybe it just needs time to break in, but right now you can easily tell the grainy side from the smooth side.
And last but not least.. the Tag. A few years ago this jacket had a Perfecto tag, but I guess they decided to change that and use the standard HH tag.
Conclusion:
All in all I am very pleased with this jacket. As you can see in the picture of the tag, it is a size 50. I am a size 46 normally, and would have ordered this in a 48 because they run small. Since Schott and every other place I tried was out of size 48, I went with the 50. The only areas that this jacket feels slightly big in are the chest and shoulders. But even then I'd only take out about an inch from each of those. The waist, arms, wrists and neck are all perfect. Being that this will most likely be an everyday jacket as opposed to strictly a riding jacket, I am fine with it being a little big in certain areas. I am certainly not built like a gentleman from the 40s or 50s, and that is the build they use to make the cut of this jacket.
I loved my former Schott and I'm sure I will love this one too. It appears to be a great all around jacket, and puting it on gives you that "old school" feeling.. the jacket feels like it's from the past with the grainy HH and chain zipper pulls on the pockets. If I awarded my Langlitz with an A+, this jacket would get a solid A. It's a great piece of work from a company with tons of American history behind it.
Do unlike I do... and keep the shiny side up!!
Tommer
So here we go.. my second attempt at a jacket review. This one, as the name of the thread suggests, is a Schott 641HH Cafe Racer. It is my first horsehide jacket, and my second Schott (the first was a Vintage Brown 585.. which I recently sold).
My frist impressions of this jacket when I took it out of the box was that it is pretty heavy duty. I have stated in previous posts that the recent Schotts I have tried on felt very thin when compared to my Langlitz. This jacket isn't as thick as my Langlitz, but it is definitely thicker than a lot of jackets out there. I would feel confident that the jacket would hold up while sliding down the pavement.. I'd just have to remember to wear it! I give the 641HH high scores for feeling like a tough, bad*ss jacket.
I've never owned a horsehide jacket before, and I gotta say that I love the leather. It's different than any other jacket I've ever owned. The grain of the HH is beautiful.. I love it. I can't wait to see this sucker after a year or two of use. The HH is pretty shiny but it adds to the uniqueness of the leather. Like I said I don't own any other HH jackets so I don't know if the shine fades over time.. only time will tell.
The jacket is pretty stiff, as I assumed it would be. There will be no quick break-in here. Bending your arms requires some effort and sitting with the jacket zipped up is very uncomfortable. It appears that what I've read about the stiffness of HH is true... not that I doubted you guys.
Probably the only thing I would not consider "up to par" with a $600+ jacket (I ordered directly from Schott, so I realise I paid a premium price), is the stitching. Honestly, this category really doesn't mean much to me. If a jacket doesn't fall apart on me, than I'm happy with the stitching. But many reviews discuss stitching so I thought I'd throw it in. I hate to compare everything to my Langlitz, but that's the only other high-end jacket I own. The Schott definitely doesn't compare. There are numerous threads that were left an inch or two too long, which I carefully removed with a scissor. Following the stitching lines around the jacket, several of them look like a winding country road.. nothing too sloppy but still not perfect. Also, where rows of stitching come to an end, they were sloppily doubled and tripled over so as to not come undone. But again, these are not big concerns of mine and would never be a reason for me to return a jacket.
So let's start with some pics...
Ahhh the box... there's nothing better than the UPS guy dropping off your new jacket!
Like most new jackets, it is pretty stiff and can pretty much stand up on it's own. The HH has a nice shine to it...
The leather has some great grain to it right out of the box... I can't wait to see it broken in...
The 641HH has one inside pocket with no zipper or closure. The lining is sewn in (previous runs of this model had a zip-out lining).
The jacket has a bi-swing back and underarm footballs with two small air-holes in them. Notice the beautiful grain in the one piece back.
The zippers on the sleeves are Lenzip, which is based out of Chicago I believe. I'm not sure what brand the rest of the zippers are (the main zip reads "Schott"), but I know Schott usually uses Lenzip or Ideal (NY based).
The sides of the jacket can be tightened or loosened by way of side buckles.
The front chest pocket is a good looking feature, but when open there is barely enough room to fit a hand in there to reach anything that may be resting at the bottom of the pocket. If I had some loose change or my riding ear-plugs in the pocket, it would be a real pain trying to get them out. Looks nice, though...
The HH is pretty evenly matched all over the jacket, but I gotta say the left front panel has much more grain and texture than the right front. Maybe it just needs time to break in, but right now you can easily tell the grainy side from the smooth side.
And last but not least.. the Tag. A few years ago this jacket had a Perfecto tag, but I guess they decided to change that and use the standard HH tag.
Conclusion:
All in all I am very pleased with this jacket. As you can see in the picture of the tag, it is a size 50. I am a size 46 normally, and would have ordered this in a 48 because they run small. Since Schott and every other place I tried was out of size 48, I went with the 50. The only areas that this jacket feels slightly big in are the chest and shoulders. But even then I'd only take out about an inch from each of those. The waist, arms, wrists and neck are all perfect. Being that this will most likely be an everyday jacket as opposed to strictly a riding jacket, I am fine with it being a little big in certain areas. I am certainly not built like a gentleman from the 40s or 50s, and that is the build they use to make the cut of this jacket.
I loved my former Schott and I'm sure I will love this one too. It appears to be a great all around jacket, and puting it on gives you that "old school" feeling.. the jacket feels like it's from the past with the grainy HH and chain zipper pulls on the pockets. If I awarded my Langlitz with an A+, this jacket would get a solid A. It's a great piece of work from a company with tons of American history behind it.
Do unlike I do... and keep the shiny side up!!
Tommer
