Temperature is 0' C. Wearing my A2....

[wop54]

I took the dog out for a walk this morning. I decided to wear my brand new ELC A2 Star, shirt and sweater underneath. Well, i confirm that you feel COLD in 0' C Gotta wait a couple of months... I'll wear it at home, no matter what wife and kids think ). Cheers , Carlo

 

[Milu]

It's Irvin weather.

 

[greyhound52]

Carlo,
I tend to draw the line at about 40 F for my A2 even with a sweatshirt underneath. Time for the MA-1, CWU-45, or B-15C jackets.

 

[jacketimp]

I took the dog out for a walk this morning. I decided to wear my brand new ELC A2 Star, shirt and sweater underneath. Well, i confirm that you feel COLD in 0' C Gotta wait a couple of months... I'll wear it at home, no matter what wife and kids think ). Cheers , Carlo

an A2 is not for the cooler climes......

 

[zoomer]

With intelligent layering, I routinely wear A-2s down into the 20s°F.
The jacket has to have room inside, especially in the armholes.

Scheme 1
[tee or tank shirt] [cotton turtleneck] [light wool sweater, ie merino] [scarf] [A-2]

Scheme 2
[tee shirt] [cotton t'neck or heavy shirt] [wool vest] [scarf] [A-2]

Scheme 3
[cotton t'neck] [heavy wool sweater] [scarf] [A-2]
Of course with a roll neck sweater you can omit the scarf.

The trick is never to wear more than 3 sets of long sleeves, total, including the A-2.
For a smidge more freedom of motion under the arms, you can substitute the tank shirt (wifebeater) for a tee.

I avoid sweatshirts because they're cut so baggy. A slim cut Buzz Rickson-type would work, I think.

I would wear my Pike Bros. B-10 more in this temperature band, but it is so thinly lined that my A-1s & A-2s are actually warmer.

 

[greyhound52]

Zoomer,
I use the BR sweatshirt or RM sweatshirt which as you state are not baggy but trim fit. I do have an ELC A-1 mechanics sweather that with a tee shirt underneath will work with the A-2 and keep you plenty warm. I can understand why pilots used them under their A-2s.

 

[tgd31968]

I too wear mine in cold temps. It is about 3 F tonight, and I had my A-2 on, but I would not have wanted to be out for more than a few minutes.
typically I wear a long sleeve shirt, a polyester fleece vest (you know the fleece type vests and jackets that have become popular in the last few years). In fact, I bought a brown one with a tan collar at JCPENNY which color matches my A-2 nicely.
I am usually warm enough with all that on, but I notice that the vest makes things snug enough to pull up the sleeves a bit. Often my shirt sleeves end up poking out a bit from the jacket. Annoying, but the same thing often happens with my B-3. It always seems that my left shirtsleeve pokes out of my b-3 sleeve, but the right does not. While on my A-2, the right pokes out when I wear the fleece vest, and the left does not. Very odd, and very annoying.

Terry

With intelligent layering, I routinely wear A-2s down into the 20s°F.
The jacket has to have room inside, especially in the armholes.

Scheme 1
[tee or tank shirt] [cotton turtleneck] [light wool sweater, ie merino] [scarf] [A-2]

Scheme 2
[tee shirt] [cotton t'neck or heavy shirt] [wool vest] [scarf] [A-2]

Scheme 3
[cotton t'neck] [heavy wool sweater] [scarf] [A-2]
Of course with a roll neck sweater you can omit the scarf.

The trick is never to wear more than 3 sets of long sleeves, total, including the A-2.
For a smidge more freedom of motion under the arms, you can substitute the tank shirt (wifebeater) for a tee.

I avoid sweatshirts because they're cut so baggy. A slim cut Buzz Rickson-type would work, I think.

I would wear my Pike Bros. B-10 more in this temperature band, but it is so thinly lined that my A-1s & A-2s are actually warmer.

 

[bfrench]

Hi, Folks,

Just came in from being outside for 45 minutes at -13ºC (8ºF) with just a hat, gloves, t-shirt and an M-422a jacket.

Was helping the neighbour getting his import started so he could go to work - oh, the joys of retirement. It wound up being a loose battery connection - just tightened it and then a boost to get him on his way.

It actually wasn't bad while moving around but if I were going to be out all day with periods of not moving around too much I'd have worn a vest like in the pic below - insulated body and arms - and that's all you need plus the jacket still fits.

Bill French

 

[zoomer]

8°F here and just shoveled out (isn't it EVER too cold to snow?). But I wore the M-444 and sueded sheep helmet.

 

[Curahee]

Hey Zoomie, what's your take on this combo ?

 

[tgd31968]

Hey Zoomie, what's your take on this combo ?

That is not the first time I have seen pic like that. My take on it is that the gunners and other crew could at least move around and help keep warm, and also they were wearing the blue bunny suits which I think were electrically heated, right?

The pilots on the other hand had to sit for most of the mission, which had to be cold when not moving around. I would guess that during actual contact with the enemy, the cold was forgotten, but during the long boring hours of flight it would be hard to ignore.
My 0.02 worth.
And, btw, I have considered doing exactly the same thing on my last couple business trips. It has been below zero F, and I had both my A-2 and B-3 in the b-6 weight skin, and I thought about putting the b-3 on over the A-2.

Terry

 

[Clyde from Carolina]

Don't recall if I got the idea from an original photo or not, but I have worn an A-2 as an under layer under heavier coats. I think it looks pretty dashing under a Trench Coat, for example. When you get inside the soiree or whatever, peel off the damp Trench and you still have the A-2. Works for me.

 

[Chandler]

(isn't it EVER too cold to snow?).

Unfortunately, that's an old wive's tale, it's more to do with humidity than anything.

Chandler

 

[zoomer]

Hey Zoomie, what's your take on this combo ?

Ill-advised for almost any situation except that of pilot/copilot - spending long hours totally immobile in an unheated environment.

I tried wearing an A-2 under a sheepskin one morning when it was -15°F. Even after 5 min in a not-very-well heated car and walking out in the cold for 2 min, I was already uncomfortably hot and sweaty. By the time I got indoors it was unbearable - both jackets had to come off.

 

[Steve Canyon]

It's Irvin weather.

Or 'B3 weather': my wife and I on the ice floor of a local frozen pond, January 2009. Temp. about -7C./ 19.5 F.

(The ELC B3 (with mahogany steerhide facings) arrived in May 1990 by the way....)

 

[1911A1US]

Here in the northeast at 20 degrees F,I will wear a Duofold undershirt,5 button army sweater and my A2,that combination works well for me that is.

 

[jack aranda]

I found an imported, fatigue-green, zip-up, wool Swedish sweater in a surplus store on Haight Street (yes, THAT Haight Street) a couple of weeks ago. Very warm, only $20. Mark's civilian A-2, GW A-2, Aero A-1 all toasty warm well down into the low 40's with the sweater. And, it doesn't hang below the knits, shlub-style. Temps in SF have a wet cold in them right out of the Gulf of Alaska; it seems to penetrate whatever you can put on. But, so far the sweater, A-2 combo is winning.

 

[wop54]

I took the dog out for a walk this morning. I decided to wear my brand new ELC A2 Star, shirt and sweater underneath. Well, i confirm that you feel COLD in 0' C Gotta wait a couple of months... I'll wear it at home, no matter what wife and kids think ). Cheers , Carlo

Temperature today is around 12 c'. Sunny, a fresh breeze blowing from the still snowy hills... I feel good in my A2 (sweater and shirt as layers). Probably, had my M422a arrived, it could be even better. I wish weather was like that all the year round..(not sticky hot summers and bloody cold winters... ) Cheers, Carlo