Horsehide in the Rain: Keeping a Leather Jacket Through Winter
Horsehide in the Rain: Keeping a Leather Jacket Through Winter
Water, heat and a good hanger. What horsehide wants in the wet months.
The short answer
A good horsehide jacket can take rain. Let it dry slowly at room temperature, never near heat. Hang it on a wide hanger. Condition it only when the leather feels dry. Brush a roughout jacket rather than creaming it. That is nearly all there is to it.
When it gets wet
Blot the water off. Do not rub. Hang the jacket on a wide, shaped hanger so the shoulders keep their line. Leave it at room temperature, away from radiators, heat vents, fires and direct sun, and give it a day or more.
Heat is the enemy. A hair dryer or a radiator pulls the oils out of the hide too fast and can crack the surface for good. Time does the job better.
Conditioning
Horsehide holds its oils well, so it needs less conditioning than people expect. Once the jacket is fully dry, if the leather feels dry or stiff, a light coat of conditioner is enough. Less is better than more.
Roughout is different
Roughout means the raw side of the hide faces out. The Rough-RIDER COMMANDER Jacket is Horween horsehide worn raw side out with the finished side in, so it needs no lining. Roughout, rough out and rough-out all mean the same thing. The holiday preorder for the Rough-RIDER COMMANDER Jacket and the BLACK CHARCOAL COMMANDER Jacket is open now.
A roughout jacket wants a brush, not a cream. Brushing lifts the nap and freshens it. If you use any treatment, choose one made for napped leather, and keep saddle soap away from it.
Between seasons
Keep the jacket on its wide hanger in a cool, dry closet with room to breathe. Leather wants air, so a breathable cover is better than a plastic bag.
What the leather becomes
The Northern Dream Jacket is Horween vegetable tanned horsehide. I worked with Horween on that tan. It wears, ages and colors wild cool, and every winter adds to it. The creases become a record of where you have been.
Black Bear Brand leather jackets are made to order during preorder windows, three or four times a year. The Northern Dream Jacket has one preorder a year. The winter 2026/27 preorder for the Northern Dream Reversible Vest, in the same Horween horsehide and long curl lambskin, is open now.
A Way Of Life.
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BLACK CHARCOAL COMMANDER Jacket
Northern Dream Reversible Vest
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