Buzz Rickson, opinions

[Peter Graham]

Buzz Rickson are generally regarded as one of the top repro manufacturers, especially for nylon and cloth jackets but a recent post on tanker jackets made me wonder how accurate they really are. I've owned three Buzz jackets. The first one being a copy of the 1st model Lion Uniforms MA-1. This jacket was beautiful, with top notch stitching, really heavy duty nylon and accurate Crown zippers. A beautiful jacket but I didn't have an original to compare it to. The second Buzz I bought was a B-15a mod which I did have an original to compare it to and it failed on a lot of counts. The shell and cut were great but the lining was nothing like the alpaca of the original jacket. More like a synthetic/wool mix. There were areas of strengthening around the pockets that were missing plus the wrong shoulder decal and a lot of other details made this jacket just not right.
The only Buzz jacket that I own now is an M-42 jump jacket. Again, I don't have an original to compare it to but it's a lovely jacket. Buzz go on about their 'authentic' Conmatic zippers but that's a brand name that didn't exist until the 50's so they are wrong there for a start. I'm really enjoying my jump jacket but I didn't pay anywhere near full price for it and I'm starting to think that Buzz Rickson jackets are over-rated and over-priced. Opinions ?

 

[SuinBruin]

I have a BR WWII CPO shirt and also own several originals. The fabric is not nearly as nice on the BR -- it's much fuzzier and scratchier than the real ones. The most glaring error, to me, is the buttons -- the BR uses fouled anchor buttons whereas all the originals I've seen have unfouled anchor buttons. This is a small but rather obvious detail. Overall the BR is a nice shirt and well made but it's not close to being a perfect repro.

 

[ausreenactor]

I have a shit tin of the them and I purchase the base models to inadvertently appreciate as the retail prices spiral up and up.
Someone is buying them at full retail. ELC/BR Europe is consistently out of stock. I would buy from HPA first if I was in the new
market.

I rate the nylons and cloth jackets. There are many variations on the zippers depending on the model. I have a 2nd pattern Tanker with the Conmatic; however, I have had a first pattern with a NOS Conmar and another with a NOS Crown. Whether or not the Crown was ever used is to be debated. But it is a good looking zipper. Until it snaps The M-41 I have is pretty impressive. If I factor in the Yahoo Japan price they can not be topped for value. Full retail, whole other story. Two first pattern BR Tankers went for under $150 a piece this week in great shape. That is a great price. Not $400 plus...

Just my US$0.0206 cents worth (Aussie dollar still kicking ass).

Couchy

 

[Rutger]

I love them, the flight jackets (mod) that is. I can't compare with contemporary originals, the only two originals (L2B, MA1) I owned are/were from a later era, early seventies. I considered stony's Rolen MA1, but somehow it being old keeps me from buying it.

They are expensive when new, I follow the market of ebay and VLJ, and they have been going down on the second hand market, even when (like) new.

The L2, L2A and MA1 have been on sale at ELC for about 4-5 months with the price reduced by 30-35% to about 300 GBP, which to me means they couldn't sell enough of them, had too much stock, and the reduced price was just about enough to have them sold finally.

I guess the sale price to be a price with still a minor profit, and that price being almost the sharpest possible.

Since the sale ELC are out of stock on several types now.

 

[767fo]

I have the olive drab cotton B-15 and I think it's a great jacket. The mouton is of very good quality and the nos Conmar is a nice detail. The jacket is warm and a nice change of pace from wearing leather.

 

[mindful]

buzz gear is nice looking and i have quite alot of there gear and imo they make great repros compared to original military clothing but in retail everything has a massive profit specially if made in other country's. but on the good side Japan brought all the old stock zippers ect and machines from America and are doing a good job, only thing is they market buzz mccoys at the more maturer clients that's way the products are so expensive.

 

[Anonymous]

I bough an A-2 in bronco hide from them and it was a complete disappointment

 

[MikeyB-17]

The only Buzz I've had was a B-15D which was a really nice jacket. Never handled a real one to compare, but the nylon was heavyweight, the mouton collar was superb and the repro Crowns really nice. It was a cracking jacket, but it went during one of my purges.

 

[saucerfiend]

I bought a Buzz B-2 from HPA earlier in the year. Incredible detail and construction. But, I have to say, this European HH is terrible IMO. It feels like a cross between rubber and plastic. The hide flops around when you wear it making rubbery type noises. I water soaked the back of the collar to get it to lay down flat. It was like kneading rubber. Here's the weird part... when I was done, my hands actually smelled like the inside of a new tire. Glad I paid the discount price of 1200., from Charles. If it was the full 1600., from BR it would have gone back. Any way, here's a few pics.

Brian

 

[mindful]

that b2 will look great after some hard wearing in its a nice jacket

 

[269sqnhudson]

I can pick a few faults in the Tanker, sure, but I've had a few absolute crackers from Buzz: L-2, L-2A, WEP & M-41.
Oddly while the construction is likely the best you can find, even on the Tanker, I just tend to find odd details appearing on Buzz jackets; the Crown zips on the L-2A which weren't used, the odd greenish label on the most recent Tankers and 'locally-made' camo WEP jackets the likes of which I just couldn't find any evidence of having existed in the 60s.

Also while the L-2 and L-2A were a great fit in terms of chest to length ratio the M-41 and Tankers have got shorter and shorter (my 2005 size 44 Tanker is fine, my 2009 size 44 was ridiculously short)

Just be selective is my approach. A really high priced jacket may not be the best repro.