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Aero leathers pike brothers B15 vs Eastman B15

coalman

Active Member
Hello all,

Ok for the past 2 weeks I have been thinking about getting a B15 jacket from Eastmans priced at £499 , well thanks to another forum member who has brought to my attention that Aero Leather supply a B15 jacket for only £240 made by pike brothers.
I would appreciate other forum members thoughts on which one should I go for and have they got the mentioned jackets themselves.
Any piccies very much appreciated.

Regards

John
 

Pilot

Well-Known Member
Have a B-10 from Buzz Rickson's , as far as I know its similar to the ELC B-10, I can only give best marks for this B-10.
Saw a few Aero B-10's , they look OK, but IMHO far away from the Rough Wear B-10 in quality of materials used, in construction in factors of authenticity etc...The BR B-10 colar is fantastic....so is the rest of it.
Hope it helps.
 

Thomas Koehle

Well-Known Member
From the pics on the "Pike Brothers" homepage the jacket looks pretty decent

I remember when they did their first production run of their B10 the knittings where too loose for my opinion and the cut of the jacket was just not right

they improved their B10 more and more and due to that i`m sure their newer B15 should be OK

I'd go with the PB one
 
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Pilot

Well-Known Member
Good Morning from Seoul Incheon.
Just bought a Buzz Rickson's Rough Wear B-10...in Japan, ....terrific... Best I have seen so far.
 

Pilot

Well-Known Member
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Pilot

Well-Known Member
Lovely B-10 Pilot ;)
Thanks a lot...sorry for the lousy dark pics...going into the morning shift into Seoul.
Good and beauty about it, they sell for approx 240-280 Euro for the 42"-44" in the Tokyo shops/outlets, now since soon spring and summer temp.
The Indoneasian Chinese and Thai tourists buy all the stocks of smaller sizes for 80-120 Euro ...Spring sales in all BR outlets!
 
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Pilot

Well-Known Member
Yep, BR makes a nice B-10. Too bad more folks don't make B-15 repros.
WW2 jackets in general, but also B-15's: Some lousy fakers from Asia though...but not worth the penny
 
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269sqnhudson

Active Member
Well I just received an Eastman B-15A about 12 minutes ago...:) If you're still in the market for a B-15 I would HIGHLY recommend it.

I chose this over the B-15 or B-10 for a number of reasons but mostly because the fabric has such heft. I looked at all of them at the pop-up shop and felt the B-15A was considerably sturdier.

It just arrived and I am knocked out. It's stunning and my only concern has proven unfounded - the examples I saw at the shop had very 'orangey' oxygen tabs but this one has nice russet ones.

Measurements (always hard to find so thought might be of help):

Size 46 and a good relaxed fit on my size 46 chest
Pit-Pit = 26.5" (it has a rotated sleeve seam like a Star A2 so has a surprisingly sharp look while also being comfortable and snug on my 46-47 inch chest)
Waist across (above wool knit) = 23" (Sounds big but the alpaca's thick and your middle probably does measure more than you think...if you're a 46 like me :p) It's also a forgiving design that easily looks good on a range of middles unlike a G-1 or A2 for instance)
Back between Shoulders = 20.25"
Back Length = 27.5"
Sleeve from shoulder seam = 26.5"

The fabrics and stitching are all superb. The alpaca is fantastic, a lot softer than thought it would be. The rayon/nylon reinforcements in the armpits and along the inside waist are also really nice.

The real highlight though is the incredible NOS 1940s shell fabric. Really thick and feels very strong unlike the noticeably lighter B-10 fabric I saw at the pop up shop.

Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Tom
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