Recent content by gramballard

That is fascinating. And scary. I have a pair of 405s from over twenty years ago: old logo, duck cotton lined and full grain leather uppers. The modern boots share only a superficial resemblance to the classic product. The older boot uses leather where the modern one uses leatherboard on the...

Just chiming in on the comfort issue. Alden's roots as a shoemaker were as makers of orthopaedic footwear, so arch support in the correct last for your feet is generally really good. The Trubalance last is pretty forgiving for a lot fo foot types so unless you have particular arch needs the 405...

Stunning. Congratulations on a great find. Pre-1970s peacoats are probably the best value vintage militaria out there. The quality of materials and workmanship on these is pretty remarkable. Imagine how much the high-end reproduction manufacturers would charge for a coat like this even if they...

I'd steer clear of the new calibre Speedmaster. Just seems to me that Omega are trying to position it as a luxury item rather than what makes all previous Speemasters so special: that they are ultimately a tool watch. Very reminiscent of when Rolex fundamentally changed the Submariner away from...

Sleeve shortening is really one of the simplest tasks for a tailor working on an A-2 type Jacket.

The Hilts watch was definitely a Rolex Speed King with a 30-31mm steel case worn on the issued two-piece OD cotton twill band.

At 38mm and 42mm these are far too large to be any kind of repro. The trend in upsizing vintage watch designs thankfully seems to be receding so this company has kind of missed the boat on that. Given that they feature a $10 movement they're massively overpriced too.

Basically the only stitching we can see which looks inconsistent is on the label. I could certainly live with that. I can't blame Dave for shunning this forum and others as he seems to catch far more flak than practically any other maker. That's completely unjustified. I've owned a couple of...

No way that Chromexcel would have been used for jackets for the USAAF or USN. It's been around as a sporting boot or shoe leather for a long time but no-one would have used it for military clothing. Where you saw the term Oil Tanned leather in old LL Bean catalogues for boots and moccasins this...

Based on your photos I'd say the Bronco is possibly goatskin while the Sheeplined is most likely horse, maybe steerhide. With regard to the zipper stoppers I think the Sheeplined is an ad-hoc repair with whatever type of small metal fabrication was to hand.

Both great A2s

I would actually characterise the Bronco collar as 'short, square and with defined tips' while the Sheeplined collar is more a 'Generic A2 Collar' like this jacket.

I don't think that's a Bronco, it's a United Sheeplined. Note the shoulder seam under the epaulette rather than behind it. Sheeplined was from the same garment making family as Bronco so they shared common traits like bevelled pocket corners. The pocket flap however is distinctly Sheeplined.

I'd surmise that this is a genuine mid-market offering. I think the price seems very fair for what the buyer might reasonably expect to actually receive. A horsehide jacket made by a skilled operative to a very decent pattern and with a more than acceptable specification in terms of knits, zip...

This is exactly the business model used by BK in the beginning.