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Ww2 hides vs. modern hides
- Thread starter Enigma1938
- Start date
ZuZu
Well-Known Member
Uncanny
ZuZu
Well-Known Member
That's what I like!
saucerfiend
Well-Known Member
Man, I'd love a 23380 that looked like this!
Harris_HTM
Well-Known Member
believe it or not, probably the nicest grain in my current collection of 15 leather jackets is this:
Five star USL horsehide I received in January, I've been wearing this a lot mainly indoors. Some panels ultra smooth, some panels super grainy.
Five star USL horsehide I received in January, I've been wearing this a lot mainly indoors. Some panels ultra smooth, some panels super grainy.
Enigma1938
Well-Known Member
Probably also a result of cost effectiveness like it was in ww2. Shawn has to hold the prices in purchasing material low to keep the budget prices for his jackets. So again like mulceber mentioned the tanneries can get rid of their "ugly" hides.
Harris_HTM
Well-Known Member
yes, this is exactly my thought as well.
Enigma1938
Well-Known Member
Btw nice constructive postings here so far, thanks to all. It helps to better understand this Topic!
Last edited:
johnwayne
Well-Known Member
Not sure I get the obsession with grainy vs smooth! Back in the day I would have thought/assume that logistics being what they were determined that prob most hides were from US horse/cattle/goat and doubt much close inspection was paid certainly once a wartime footing was established!
I couldn’t tell you if a US horse is likely to produce a quite different hide than say a European one? Doubt the inspectors could be that picky and prob only ever saw finished jackets. Yes before contracts were issued samples were sent as seen in Eastmans A2 ‘bible’ - I reckon that given what we’re paying makes us too picky but ‘given’ an A2 in 40’s to sit in your P51 we wouldn’t have cared!!!
I couldn’t tell you if a US horse is likely to produce a quite different hide than say a European one? Doubt the inspectors could be that picky and prob only ever saw finished jackets. Yes before contracts were issued samples were sent as seen in Eastmans A2 ‘bible’ - I reckon that given what we’re paying makes us too picky but ‘given’ an A2 in 40’s to sit in your P51 we wouldn’t have cared!!!
flyincowboy
Well-Known Member
Just one thing most of the time the leather is in the " DRUM" during the tanning process with some additive.. The more the hide are drummed the more the skin will have a more peebly aspect. Seen that process on calf skin used on car seats.
WingAndaPrayer
Well-Known Member
Is that the mid brown or seal?
Harris_HTM
Well-Known Member
seal
WingAndaPrayer
Well-Known Member
That actually looks brown. The last seal I had was closer to black
Harris_HTM
Well-Known Member
It depends on the lighting but I'd describe it more as a chocolate seal.
WingAndaPrayer
Well-Known Member
That’s not bad at all
PeterShiao
Well-Known Member
Eastman Leather A-2 “Pearl Harbor”
Newmexican
Member
18 hours a day and subjected to a lot of rain and freezing temps too. I would imagine these would also help.While the tanning process was different then, the fact that they wore their jackets about 18 hours a day certainly helped to break down the hides and help with the graining process .,I have had repros that look like this. At the risk of sounding like a sales rep for Good Wear Leather, I’ve seen and owned a few of jCs jackets that develop similar graining patterns. Another point is that cow hide and horse hide Grain up differently . As we all now know cow hide jackets were more prevalent in some of the contracts than we first thought. So is the jacket in the photo a cow hide or a horse hide A2. I’ve had cow hide A2’s that Grain up fairly quickly where as horse hide jackets take a lot longer .
Edit : just found this . It may help .
What are Leather Grains, Textures and Finishes? | The Leather Guy
Leather Grains, Textures and Finishes; What is the difference? Knowing what leather texture you love makes it so much easier to pick out the right kind for your project.theleatherguy.org
Smithy
Well-Known Member
This subject comes up at least once a year which is understandable with new members wanting to ask about it.
The answers are the same though...
Original A-2 hides were chrome tanned and the method used is different to now so there are differences in drape and appearance.
It's maybe oversimplifying but it's essentially on the money, and to keep it concise...
Modern veg tanned leathers usually have a better similarity in appearance to the surface qualities of original A-2s but the drape of the leather it far, far stiffer than an original A-2 would have had when new.
Modern chrome tanned leathers often have a drape which more closely resembles the drape that an original would have had but the appearance of the leather 9 times out of 10 lacks the variance, richness and depth that the old school, old method chrome tanning produced.
So therein lies the classic trade-off - drape versus appearance of modern leather choices for an A-2.
The answers are the same though...
Original A-2 hides were chrome tanned and the method used is different to now so there are differences in drape and appearance.
It's maybe oversimplifying but it's essentially on the money, and to keep it concise...
Modern veg tanned leathers usually have a better similarity in appearance to the surface qualities of original A-2s but the drape of the leather it far, far stiffer than an original A-2 would have had when new.
Modern chrome tanned leathers often have a drape which more closely resembles the drape that an original would have had but the appearance of the leather 9 times out of 10 lacks the variance, richness and depth that the old school, old method chrome tanning produced.
So therein lies the classic trade-off - drape versus appearance of modern leather choices for an A-2.
ZuZu
Well-Known Member
Perfect!
