Pretty darn nice IMO! Zipper was a little tough to get started, and it’s a tad bit musty, but overall I’m impressed! A great cut.
Good job Jay!
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Looks good Nick, I like the fitPretty darn nice IMO! Zipper was a little tough to get started, and it’s a tad bit musty, but overall I’m impressed! A great cut.
Good job Jay!
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Looks fantastic on you Nick! The brick knits put a whole new spin on the look of an A-2. The color combo with the mustard liner is really sharp looking too. For me these jackets provide another completely different look for an A-2. Enjoy the jacket! I think you look great in it.Initial impressions: it’s really a nice cut. You can tell it was copied from an original, it has the look going for it. The leather is also nice and drapey.
Gotta love those brick knitsLooks fantastic on you Nick! The brick knits put a whole new spin on the look of an A-2. The color combo with the mustard liner is really sharp looking too. For me these jackets provide another completely different look for an A-2. Enjoy the jacket! I think you look great in it.
This is the story. This info is available on the website and on several places in this forum as well. and now into Paul Harvey Mode....So where are these made? Do you make them yourself?
It is a very good question...this is all odd to me. the folks buying these on the forum own/have owned numerous Good Wears, ELC< originals, etc. Why purchase an entry level A-2? I just don't get it. I guess its just out of curiosity or the uncontrollable urge to buy another jacket (and that is reasonably priced to boot). Perhaps some therapy is in order? But..........enjoy! Jay, I am not knocking your jackets, looks like good stuff at the price point!
I don't see why this is an advantage- all the makers have this same experience- Eastman and Good Wear the most maybe.The Greeks and 5 Star also have used originals to make their patterns- it is a talent to see all the little nuances- one which I think Platon has and JC obviously. Hate to be an ass but I really have that talent- just not the skill to translate it into a finished product.The advantage we have at Headwind is our background in original jacket colleting and restoration. Me and my colleagues have restored and analyzed 100's of jackets between us. When something is wrong with a design, it's obvious to the trained eye and can be corrected before it becomes an issue.
This is actually not true as far as grain- WW2 jackets were for the most part grainy. It was inherent in the leather. Shinki's a pretty good representation of period leather. Depending on the batch Shinki looks almost exactly like original leather. The Italian horsehide is a bit trickier but it is a customer driven choice for the 2 BIG Makers I believe. And it does look very accurate in the long run when the leather has given up and isn't so stiff. The Pakistani acrylic sprayed chrome stuff looks pretty good now but who knows how long that will last. If it chips and has quick edgewear it's gonna look like a mid 80s Avirex.Veg tanned, aniline leather just does not compare. It is great that Shinki grains up quickly and they they "wear in" so fast but it isn't really what a WW2 era jacket would do. The realization is that there is no reason to pay four or five times what these low end jackets provide for the marginal difference.
The thing that interests me in these jackets is that they are at a price point that is right at what one would buy an Avirex jacket for 35 years ago with nylon taped Scoville zippers and polyester blend knits, making these practically free yet far superior in pattern and materials. You are basically talking something like $125 in 1985 dollars.
This is an absurd statement- epecially IMO in relation to Good Wear, Platon and Kelso and NorShor. These "amazing" jackets follow the "looking good from 20 feet" rule. They may have a relatively good pattern and OK leather but everything else is low quality IMO.They are amazing jackets. That said, in many respects these low end jackets are more accurate representations of originals,
These line of jackets are not meant to compete with the top tier MFG's. They are meant to be a better, more accurate, economy line of jackets. My other jackets are a different thing, and use the same high quality components as the top tier makers. Talon USA zippers, Japanese repro parts, Bemberg Rayon lining material, etc, etc.So where are these made? Do you make them yourself? I'm just wondering because AVI and 5 Star are made in Pakistan- are these also? You seem to be closing in on a pretty accurate pattern- how do you communicate this with your shop? I sometimes think that if the Pakistan shop were visited by the jacket expert some of the "lost in translation" feeling I get from these jackets would be fixed. Why the $350 price? You could get better zippers and better lining material and really bring the whole thing together IMO. Just curious.
At least he's in the right forum.I have not come here to sell jackets…..
The photo graphy makes this one look pretty burlappy:
No original or reproduction jacket was copied for our Bridge City Rider. It is simply my interpretation of the moto jackets that were put out in the late 40's and 50's. Moto jackets that emulated styles from the WWII A-2"s. Our jacket is different this one in a few major ways. Ours has no collar snaps, and the pattern is completely different. Thiers being more blousy in the torso like an A-2, while ours is very slim fit.You seem to be referring to the Arlo, where as I was referring to the jacket pictured in my post. Here's the Buzz that the design resembles...
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Buzz gave it a SAT label, so I don't know if it was copied from an SAT commercial jacket or they did that on whim!
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I may be old and developing long term memory loss …… but even I remember that one !I have not come here to sell jackets…..
Well it's not. I would say you have to have it in hand to make that call. Hard to feel though a photo