US Authentic Indy jacket; a review

Posted by Shawnkara from spider-tf021.proxy.aol.com on December 10, 2000 at 00:48:26:

I recently acquired a US Authentic Indy jacket from Patterson and thought I'd post a review for anyone considering it. It is a 'potentially' good 'Raiders' jacket but needed a lot of work. First off, the strap configuration is wrong and the cargo pocket flaps have a bizarre scallop shape. I didn't have to monkey with these things; Patterson had the alterations made when he ordered the jacket. It's made from an excellent grade of goat skin that is not as light weight as lamb skin and not quite as heavy as cow hide. Unfortunately it was the most putrid shade of reddish brown one could imagine, unless you've ever had a really sick cat with poor bowl control. It has a heavy duty cotton lining that, regretably, matches the color of the leather. The bi-swing pleats are some what lazy, though not quite as bad as Wested's used to be. They don't lay out completely flat but rather retain a 'boxy' look like Kenner's old 3 3/4" Indy figure. The pleats are not sewn all the way to the bottom but instead stop about half way down from the shoulder seam, relying on the sidestraps to keep them in check. The side vents (slits at the bottom of the pleats) do not overlap as they should, but instead are sewn parallel so that the side panels of the jacket fold over when the straps are tightend. This is not noticable; it's just an error in accuracy that sort of bothers me. It will be an easy fix when I have time. Also the jacket has no hand warmers. No gussettes, either.
Here's what I did to make it more accurate. First, I used black water based acrylic paint to dye the leather. I know this makes some of you cringe, but I've been using this paint on leather for years and have never seen it harm the leather. I just laid it out flat on the floor and applied the paint, using an old wash cloth to disperse the paint into the leather. That done, I used a wet wash cloth to remove any excess paint and let it dry. I then went over the whole jacket with a light sandpaper to strip away the just enough of the black as to let the brown show through a bit. This results in a deep brown devoid of gloss. It's important that you do this in a very bright light, as it's easy to over do it. I then went over the seams, edges and usual points to give it the right distressed look. I also replaced the strap rings with silver D rings. The ones it came with were black and round and thick enough to use on a parachute harness. After all this it is a pretty good "Raiders' jacket. However I would not reccommend it as an option for an Indy jacket. Besides all the work it carries a price tag of $420.00, nearly what you'd pay for a Flight Suits Expedition. But for what I paid and the work I was willing to put into it, it's a great jacket. And I can take some comfort in knowing that I have a fairly accurate but unique Indy jacket that no one else will have.

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:    I recently acquired a US Authentic Indy jacket from Patterson and thought I'd post a review for anyone considering it. It is a 'potentially' good 'Raiders' jacket but needed a lot of work. First off, the strap configuration is wrong and the cargo pocket flaps have a bizarre scallop shape. I didn't have to monkey with these things; Patterson had the alterations made when he ordered the jacket. It's made from an excellent grade of goat skin that is not as light weight as lamb skin and not quite as heavy as cow hide. Unfortunately it was the most putrid shade of reddish brown one could imagine, unless you've ever had a really sick cat with poor bowl control. It has a heavy duty cotton lining that, regretably, matches the color of the leather. The bi-swing pleats are some what lazy, though not quite as bad as Wested's used to be. They don't lay out completely flat but rather retain a 'boxy' look like Kenner's old 3 3/4" Indy figure. The pleats are not sewn all the way to the bottom but instead stop about half way down from the shoulder seam, relying on the sidestraps to keep them in check. The side vents (slits at the bottom of the pleats) do not overlap as they should, but instead are sewn parallel so that the side panels of the jacket fold over when the straps are tightend. This is not noticable; it's just an error in accuracy that sort of bothers me. It will be an easy fix when I have time. Also the jacket has no hand warmers. No gussettes, either.
:    Here's what I did to make it more accurate. First, I used black water based acrylic paint to dye the leather. I know this makes some of you cringe, but I've been using this paint on leather for years and have never seen it harm the leather. I just laid it out flat on the floor and applied the paint, using an old wash cloth to disperse the paint into the leather. That done, I used a wet wash cloth to remove any excess paint and let it dry. I then went over the whole jacket with a light sandpaper to strip away the just enough of the black as to let the brown show through a bit. This results in a deep brown devoid of gloss. It's important that you do this in a very bright light, as it's easy to over do it. I then went over the seams, edges and usual points to give it the right distressed look. I also replaced the strap rings with silver D rings. The ones it came with were black and round and thick enough to use on a parachute harness. After all this it is a pretty good "Raiders' jacket. However I would not reccommend it as an option for an Indy jacket. Besides all the work it carries a price tag of $420.00, nearly what you'd pay for a Flight Suits Expedition. But for what I paid and the work I was willing to put into it, it's a great jacket. And I can take some comfort in knowing that I have a fairly accurate but unique Indy jacket that no one else will have.

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