asiamiles
Well-Known Member
Recently took delivery of this. Buzz produced these for last winter and when I saw it I was immediately impressed, especially by the thick, fluffy lining, but it wasn't only the price that was the problem; when I tried on the 38 it was too big, while the, being too tight under the arms, 36 was too small. Still, when a used 38 turned up on Yahoo at a reasonable price, I couldn't help myself and nabbed it.
When I received it I had a surprise. The lining wasn't what I remembered, being the more commonly found alpaca wool one found on flight jackets like the B-10 and B-15...curiously wikipedia says about alpaca "While similar to sheep’s wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and bears no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic. Without lanolin, it does not repel water. It is also soft and luxurious," which calls into question why the linings on Buzz repro's are so "prickly". I checked in the pocket and found the model number had an M rather than BR prefix, so the jacket must have been made quite a few years ago...I was unaware that Buzz had made these before last year, not having seen them in any of the BR catalogs I've had. However, any disappointment about the lining quickly dissipated when I found the jacket fitted much better than the recent model; it was true to size and other than the sleeves being about an inch too long it's just about perfect. The condition is excellent too.
I really like this jacket. I can't really wear a Tanker because they're too short on me. But anyway, I prefer the non bi-swing back of the Deck jacket and the cloth used is much nicer. The main differences between this Special Winter Deck Jacket and the regular Zip Deck are the colour (khaki rather than blue), alpaca rather blanket lining, the presence of a windflap, and the lack of any "US Navy" stencil on the back. Some of these I would consider major pluses, the others, at least minor pluses. Here's a photo of what should be a "keeper":
When I received it I had a surprise. The lining wasn't what I remembered, being the more commonly found alpaca wool one found on flight jackets like the B-10 and B-15...curiously wikipedia says about alpaca "While similar to sheep’s wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and bears no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic. Without lanolin, it does not repel water. It is also soft and luxurious," which calls into question why the linings on Buzz repro's are so "prickly". I checked in the pocket and found the model number had an M rather than BR prefix, so the jacket must have been made quite a few years ago...I was unaware that Buzz had made these before last year, not having seen them in any of the BR catalogs I've had. However, any disappointment about the lining quickly dissipated when I found the jacket fitted much better than the recent model; it was true to size and other than the sleeves being about an inch too long it's just about perfect. The condition is excellent too.
I really like this jacket. I can't really wear a Tanker because they're too short on me. But anyway, I prefer the non bi-swing back of the Deck jacket and the cloth used is much nicer. The main differences between this Special Winter Deck Jacket and the regular Zip Deck are the colour (khaki rather than blue), alpaca rather blanket lining, the presence of a windflap, and the lack of any "US Navy" stencil on the back. Some of these I would consider major pluses, the others, at least minor pluses. Here's a photo of what should be a "keeper":
