FiveStar Leather- full grain or top grain?

[TrainDriver]

A day or two ago, someone made a Face Book post on FiveStar’s page about a jacket he received from FS. The jacket he received was full grain as opposed to too grain. He posted detailed pictures of the jacket showing hair follicles and natural scars in the leather, which to the best of my knowledge, is all buffed or sanded away during the top grain process.

I’ve since checked FS’s website and they don’t seem to make any claim as to whether they use full or top grain. I’m pretty sure the jacket I got last year is top grain. Does anyone know if FS has made a change to full grain? Or did this fella just happen to receive a one off?

 

[B-Man2]

A day or two ago, someone made a Face Book post on FiveStar’s page about a jacket he received from FS. The jacket he received was full grain as opposed to too grain. He posted detailed pictures of the jacket showing hair follicles and natural scars in the leather, which to the best of my knowledge, is all buffed or sanded away during the top grain process.

I’ve since checked FS’s website and they don’t seem to make any claim as to whether they use full or top grain. I’m pretty sure the jacket I got last year is top grain. Does anyone know if FS has made a change to full grain? Or did this fella just happen to receive a one off?

Was it a goat skin a horse hide or cow hide that you saw?
That might make a difference or he may have asked for that particular style of hide .

 

[TrainDriver]

Horse.

 

[TrainDriver]

Now that I reread his post it didn’t specify hide type…I assume horse.

 

[TrainDriver]

Now that I reread his post it didn’t specify hide type…I assume horse.

Now that I re-reread his entire post along with replies to questions, he did specify horse.

 

[B-Man2]

I think this relates more to the quality of the hide that 5 Star was using on their earlier offerings. However, I think you’d better off asking this question directly to 5 Star and Shawn as he would address any of your concerns.

 

[Smithy]

For fear of offending people, I'm just going to say...

...this endless search (and we've seen it for years and years) that goes on for top quality leather from budget makers is an endless (funny that) and fruitless quest.

You'll never get leather which looks like a GW or ELC from 5 Star or any other budget manufacturer. If you're good with that and understand it and don't mind it, then that's all good.

Otherwise you're chasing after the philosopher's stone - a lovely idea but one that doesn't exist.

 

[PickerWilly]

For fear of offending people, I'm just going to say...

...this endless search (and we've seen it for years and years) that goes on for top quality leather from budget makers is an endless (funny that) and fruitless quest.

You'll never get leather which looks like a GW or ELC from 5 Star or any other budget manufacturer. If you're good with that and understand it and don't mind it, then that's all good.

Otherwise you're chasing after the philosopher's stone - a lovely idea but one that doesn't exist.

This is spot on the money. I definitely get chasing a good deal on some good looking leather, but the price is always reflective of the quality of the hides, pay more, get more. If someone wants an authentic-looking jacket with good leather, it isn't going to be cheap. That's not to say FS jackets aren't decent looking, they simply aren't an Eastman or a Good Wear.

 

[B-Man2]

I think it’s important to keep in mind that lesser quality leather jackets offer options to those who don’t want to spend $1,500 on what is essentially a casual knock around jacket . Before I got into this hobby I could never imagine myself spending $500.00 on a leather jacket regardless of what it represented. After a few years of being in the middle of all of this, I decided I wanted the best jacket available at that time . However, some will never make that transition and are happy with a less costly jacket that meets all of their needs. 5 Star , AVI, and some of the other 2nd tier manufacturing companies provide options to those individuals.

 

[PickerWilly]

I think it’s important to keep in mind that lesser quality leather jackets offer options to those who don’t want to spend $1,500 on what is essentially a casual knock around jacket . Before I got into this hobby I could never imagine myself spending $500.00 on a leather jacket regardless of what it represented. After a few years of being in the middle of all of this, I decided I wanted the best jacket available at that time . However, some will never make that transition and are happy with a less costly jacket that meets all of their needs. 5 Star , AVI, Headwind and some of the other 2nd tier manufacturing companies provide options to those individuals.

Agreed wholly. I didn’t mean my comment to detract from the fact that their offerings are an entry point into the hobby. The more, the merrier.

I’ve not ever had the stomach to buy an Eastman brand new, so I’ve saved and always got them used in the rare instances that tall man sized Eastmans come up, but this helps on both the budgeting and affordability side of things.

 

[Smithy]

I've been riding this silly rodeo for over 2 decades now, not as long as some here, but long enough to have seen enough.

I'm just going to say this, if you develop a real, deep interest in A-2s for example, that's going to be a big itch. You can buy a 5 Star or other cheap A-2 but because you've developed that A-2 itch you'll see and want what you see in GWs and and ELCs and BKs, etc.

And therein lies the thing. You're better off saving your pennies and getting a high end A-2 than a cheap arse one, because moral of the story is, you'll always want a high end one if you genuinely end up loving A-2s.

Save yourself the decades of rubbish jackets and money down the toilet and just buy a top tier jacket to start with.

You'll save yourself a load of money and faffing around.

My 2c worth after doing this for far too long.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

Many buyers seem never understand , make up their mind (solid) before they spent their cash, instead of complaining on the internet, after they found out: it is not what I thought.

 

[TrainDriver]

All I was asking was if anyone knew if FS is using full grain now. Not asking if their jackets are as good as your favorite jacket du jour.

I did email them last year and got sort of a non-answer.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

Scar and other flaws on the surface , the only way to avoid that, is choose/pick high grade raw hide, before tanning process.

It is not about (FS) use FG leather or TG leather.

 

[TrainDriver]

This is the answer I got when I emailed them. To me, it doesn’t say much because it doesn’t say outright “full grain” or “top grain”.
Perhaps it will make more sense to someone else…

 

[mulceber]

To me that says Full Grain. If they have the natural grain on them, there’s no other way to read it.

 

[TrainDriver]

To me that says Full Grain. If they have the natural grain on them, there’s no other way to read it.

Yeah. I wasn’t sure because he mentioned “plated leather” which I had never heard before, but I think that is making the leather appear to have grain by embossing it. Embossing leather I’m familiar with, but I think there is a lot of different qualities and levels between full grain and embossed or plated.

 

[flyincowboy]

All depend on the cycle of tanning the hides in drum. the longer the cycle will be the more the leather will develop a grainy appearance. As simple as that.

 

[Guinea54]

Shawn told me the goatskin MA-1 jacket i was looking at was full grain goat leather. Everyone who gets the jacket seems to say it's a good value. IF you are like a leather super snob and need the best than yeah go spend 1000-2000 or 3,000 dollars for a jacket that has the nuances you're looking for. I got a schott lamb jacket under 300 from their overseas line and it's a great jacket. Very soft and supple. Feels solid and sturdy with great hardware and materials. Jacket is also insulated throughout even the sleeves... (something that seems rare with leather jackets)