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ELC B-15

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
I recently bought a mint ELC B-15 on ebay. It is numbered 15 so it is clearly an early production model. Does anyone know when ELC started making B-15s so I can date the jacket?
 

deeb7

Gone, but not forgotten.
Roughwear said:
Does anyone know when ELC started making B-15s so I can date the jacket?

Andrew, it was fairly recently.

I'm assuming they were newly released when I saved the pictures ... June 2006.
 

TankBuster

Active Member
I saw that one. It was a good price. It did look different from the current production
models though. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe the collar? At any rate though, it was a fair price for a size 44. I almost pulled the trigger, but kept hesitating.
 

havocpaul

Active Member
They came out in the summer of '06, I had an early one but sold it later on; I wasn't sure about the 'purpley' collar and the zipper, I wonder if they'll add the Crown zip now?
 

Swing

New Member
Peter Graham said:
havocpaul said:
I wonder if they'll add the Crown zip now?
Which would be totally wrong for a B-15. They seem to put those Crowns on everything now whether it's correct or not.

Well, the supply of vintage Talon's is probably getting small, and ELC and Aero no longer have permission to use the Talon name on reproduction zips (I doubt Aero ever had permission). That's why ELC is using Crowns now, and the Hookless name on their 30s Talon.

~Swing
 

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
Peter Graham said:
Can you post some pics ? I'd be interested to see it.

I will do. The jacket is just like new and I think the price was very reasonable. The seller suggested the jacket was several years old.
 

Grant

Well-Known Member
Yeah, that would be totally lame if ELC had to use Crown zips for their cloth jackets. The ELC B-15 I saw used a strange reproduction of a black anodized Conmar but with the name Eastman stamped on it. I guess they couldn't use the Conmar name either.

Grant
 

Grant

Well-Known Member
Here's a photo of a Conmar I've seen used on alot of B-15's and close to the one ELC copied.
B-15zipfront.jpg
 

Peter Graham

Well-Known Member
Grant said:
Here's a photo of a Conmar I've seen used on alot of B-15's and close to the one ELC copied.
B-15zipfront.jpg
That's the standard Conmar used on cloth jackets although I believe the B-15 was the only jacket that used the blackened version.
 

Curahee

New Member
Why don't they use Talon repro's ? all the other vendors do like GW-Buzz-RM-The Few etc.
And btw, ELC uses a nice brass copy on their B-10 so what's the big deal here ?
 

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
Curahee said:
Why don't they use Talon repro's ? all the other vendors do like GW-Buzz-RM-The Few etc.
And btw, ELC uses a nice brass copy on their B-10 so what's the big deal here ?


You could send Gary an email and ask him.
 

Swing

New Member
Curahee said:
Why don't they use Talon repro's ?

Because anyone wanting to use the Talon name on a reproduction zip will have to pay for the right to do so. RM and the Few may be willing to do that, but ELC isn't. ELC used to have permission to make Talon zips, two or three owners of Talon ago, but no longer does. They own the rights to Crown, so they put repro Crowns on their A-2s now. They put their name on the Conmar reproduction, and are using up their existing supply of repro Talons (like the brass ones on the B-10).

~Swing
 

Peter Graham

Well-Known Member
Andrew, lovely repro. The collar looks a bit odd, but only because we are used to seeing originals with worn collars. That's probably what they looked like when issued.
 

Hawkeye

Member
Is that the same reason why Eastman uses their name on the Lightning repros as well? Who would own the Lightning trademark now?
 
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