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Improved Eastman RW 1401-P

Vcruiser

Well-Known Member
PLATON said:
Code:
PLATON wrote:
Nice, I applaud, but you haven't seen real vintage yet.

Well, real vintage is an original jacket surely ?

What I mean, I saw a super vintage looking antique victory horse hides at BK's last Friday. They would make an amazing jacket.

Another sales pitch. Nothing at all to do with ELC.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Yeah, sorry for that. I just mentioned it caused it was a coincidence.
Call it sales pitch if you wish, though I know you are totally unaffected and immune to it.
 

Vcruiser

Well-Known Member
PLATON said:
Yeah, sorry for that. I just mentioned it caused it was a coincidence.
Call it sales pitch if you wish, though I know you are totally unaffected and immune to it.

It just gets old. Where jacket Company 'customers' are the ones who most often promote their favorite jackets and makers...you still seem intent on coming across as only/mostly a visiting BK customer (at every opening..or you make an opening)when you are actually and obviously much more than that.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Hi,
anybody how knows me can testify that I am unbiased. Anybody who follows this forum knows that I have spoken very highly about ELC. I have bought 2 A-2s ELC jackets one RW and one Monarch and still own the Monarch. i firmly believe ELC jackets represent excellent value for their quality. I originally thought they were expensive but that was before I became familiar with the inside out of jacket making. I have also congratulated ELC in public for using their own Crown and Kwik zippers which make their jackets unique and unbeatable in accuracy of reproduction.

The issue of pocket placing is really trivial as if you are going to order a jacket from them you can ask the customization of placing the pockets a little lower. Not need to argue about it.

Not to mention that their B-3 is the best looking in my opinion.
 

Persimmon

Well-Known Member
Vcruiser said:
PLATON said:
Yeah, sorry for that. I just mentioned it caused it was a coincidence.
Call it sales pitch if you wish, though I know you are totally unaffected and immune to it.

It just gets old. Where jacket Company 'customers' are the ones who most often promote their favorite jackets and makers...you still seem intent on coming across as only/mostly a visiting BK customer (at every opening..or you make an opening)when you are actually and obviously much more than that.


Another dig at BK !!
Oh dear.

Why or why can't you just let other forum members make a contribution to a post.
Everyone has an opinion. We may not always agree with them though but we don't need to criticize them because they are different values to our own.

Hopefully a positive contribution might be more helpful to the post.
 

bfrench

Administrator
Vcruiser said:
PLATON said:
Yeah, sorry for that. I just mentioned it caused it was a coincidence.
Call it sales pitch if you wish, though I know you are totally unaffected and immune to it.

It just gets old. Where jacket Company 'customers' are the ones who most often promote their favorite jackets and makers...you still seem intent on coming across as only/mostly a visiting BK customer (at every opening..or you make an opening)when you are actually and obviously much more than that.

I have to agree with Van - it does get very old quickly when we have one repro maker doing a jacket ad every time someone posts an A-2 related thread.

Platon - give it a break and do like the other repro makers - let your customers give the reviews and you post anything new in the repro section.

After all, that's why we created the "Reproduction Manufacturers" section - for new product relating to the repro makers companies. Then if the members have direct questions they can get it there or by contacting you through your web site.

If you're having a problem contact me by PM anytime.
 

bseal

Well-Known Member
I'm sure someone at ELC reads these pages and therefore the pocket placement question will likely be addressed.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I have to agree with Van - it does get very old quickly when we have one repro maker doing a jacket ad every time someone posts an A-2 related thread.

I also agree with Van, that's why I apologized. So that we can move on and stay on the subject which is the ELC jacket.
 

ausreenactor

Well-Known Member
saucerfiend said:
PLATON said:
do the pockets appear too high when the jacket is worn?


What difference does that make? They're sewn on too high, it's wrong.

On a rotund girth a low pocket could have ability to be on the shady side of a stomach? Perhaps
it was moved 'up' to suit the 'modern physique'? Perhaps an application of 'The customer is always right.'
Maybe some commercial mods to the patterns that just stuck? It is certainly one of the easiest revisions to
make? If customers were concerned and it was affecting sales it would have been addressed long before
now.

'It it ain't broke'..... perhaps?

Couchy
 

Silver Surfer

Well-Known Member
all this chat about pocket placement got me to go around and measure the distance between the pocket bottom and waistband on my repros [elc, gw] and my originals. the measurements vary from jac to jac, to jac. on my originals the measurement is anywhere from 1" to 1 1/2". on some of the originals the distance is different from one pocket to the other. for instance, on an original rw 16159, one pocket bottom is 1 1/8" from the wb and the other is 1 3/8" bottom to wb. similar measurements on other originals as well. i have even seen measurements vary by as much as 1/2" from side to side on the same a-2. on the elc a-2s i came up with 1 3/8" for a rw 1401, and 1 1/2" for an older goat cable a-2. my gw 20960 has a measurement of 1". all of this leads me to say that elc's pocket placement is totally in keeping with originals. why are they higher then gw placement? i would venture to guess that gw uses a thicker hide then elc, so it does not fold entirely flat at the waistband seam, where as the elc hides will fold flatter due to a thinner hide, thus more distance. this isnt exact science, just simple measuring. point being, with originals pockets were placed using a pattern [as are repros], but not all of the work was done accurately by experienced personal. todays high end repros are made by folks that pay attention to detail as they have the time and financial incentive to do so. too high, too low??? angels on the head of a pin discourse.
 

foster

Well-Known Member
In a different thread here I showed my relatively new Eastman RW 27752 and the pockets are nearly 2" above the knit. It does seem a bit high. I believe the best guesses from that thread suggested it has to do with ease of placing additional insignia, particularly squadron patches. But that's still mere speculation.
 

Silver Surfer

Well-Known Member
i forgot to add that on larger sized originals, the pockets are often placed a little higher. what is even more interesting is that often as not, the pocket size on original a-2s [pick your contract] in a size 46, is the same size as a jacket sized 38. with collars on originals, the length will be added for a larger size, but not the height. repro makers will size up on these details for the larger jacs. conversely, smaller originals [size 36,38] often look screwy due to the same size pocket as a size 44. not to mention the collar which would be proper in length, but look odd [clowns collar] as they are the same height as a size 44+. war time mass production, i reckon.
 

flyboy

Member
I wonder if it isn't so that during WWII jackets - and I mean all flying, leather jackets - including Irvins - were made to the best ability by different makers, trying as good or as bad as possible to meet the requirement and standards from the government.
Of course they turned out differently. And it's only now - in this time and age - that we desperately try to figure out measures, the right pockets size and placement, stitch by stitch reality, hides, tanning, color of fleece etc etc for "the right A2" or "the right Irvin".
Maybe there just is no right or wrong. But several "rights" - and a lot of "wrongs"!
Just a thought. (Says he, who has wondered though hell and high water and back to get the ultimate Irvin repro ;) )
 

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
Whatever the reason for ELC's placement of pockets on their A2s, they are generally placed further from the waistband than on originals from the same contract. It is apparent even from the comparative picture of the original RW 1401-P next to the repro on the ELC website. Yes you often find anomalies in the alignment of pockets on original jackets and you also find anomalies in the dimensions of the pocket. Having measured the pocket sized on original RWs the sizes are not consistent. The pockets on a tagged size 42 RW 23380, which I recently sold were significantly smaller than those on my three size 44 RWS from other different contracts.
 

3onamatch

Member
Another thing to consider when buying an ELC jacket (besides the oddly shaped collar) is the fact that they apparently will no longer do alterations for customers. I recently tried to order a jacket in a 38 short, instead of the 38R offered, and was told shortening sleeve and torso length was no longer an option. That's a deal-breaker for me. Jacket's too expensive not to have it fit right.
 
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