AVI Leather B-3 Review

[Enigma1938]

Just finished swapping the buckles.
The 5* ones are ok, maybe a little coarse.
I revised the pins on the buckles because the ends / tips were just cut off from the wire so I had them to make more pointier and bend the tip a little.
Well at least they are way better than the ones AVI used.

 

[Enigma1938]

To comparison AVI vs. 5*

 

[flyincowboy]

No sharp edges? Did you sand them?

 

[Enigma1938]

No sharp edges? Did you sand them?

Haven't noticed any sharp edges, I just matted the buckles down a little wirh a metal fleece because they were too bright shiny for my taste and as mentioned improved the tips if the pins

 

[flyincowboy]

Anyway they look better than the AVI ones .

 

[Chandler]

Interesting that there are so many customers making "adjustments" to their AVI jackets.

Different components here, adding a stencil in another thread. What does this tell us about AVI?

 

[Enigma1938]

Interesting that there are so many customers making "adjustments" to their AVI jackets.

Different components here, adding a stencil in another thread. What does this tell us about AVI?

Well it tells us that AVI provides good quality "basic" repros of famous flight jackets. They are on par with their price tags, not perfect but about 85% "there".
Some people may be ok with that but some nerds like me wanna try to get more out of it, trying to get another 10% accuracy.
As I mentioned a few posts before, I do it not because I HAVE TO do it for some reason, I just do it for fun and that said I do such modifications to jackets from various makers not only AVI.

 

[Chandler]

As I mentioned a few posts before, I do it not because I HAVE TO do it for some reason, I just do it for fun and that said I do such modifications to jackets from various makers not only AVI.

Out of curiosity, how much more did you spend to get the jacket where you wanted it?

 

[Enigma1938]

All materials besides the buckles were/are available in my smorgasbord and for the buckles I only had to pay shipping cost.
So I spent much more time than money.
If all that would cost me a fortune I wouldn't do it of course.

 

[flyincowboy]

I can understand that type of behaviour .Before knowing this forum and earing about the top end maker. i was in the same boat.When you get a basic look a like wartime jacket it need some improvements to look period correct.
So the "do it yourself "is most of the time the best way to get something close to originals. it all started with swapping the zipper the Dot snaps ,then replacing the waistbands and knittings by the right one. Aging the jacket too was part of the process.
Then you have your own personnal jacket!

 

[jack31916]

Just finished swapping the buckles.
The 5* ones are ok, maybe a little coarse.
I revised the pins on the buckles because the ends / tips were just cut off from the wire so I had them to make more pointier and bend the tip a little.
Well at least they are way better than the ones AVI used.
View attachment 137427View attachment 137429View attachment 137431

It's getting better and better !

 

[B-Man2]

Looks great !!
Nicely done Enigma !
Now I’m not knocking AVI … ( Honest Mortene) but the fixes that you made would take AVI about 5 extra minutes in the production line to complete, at a cost of about $20.00 if that.
So simple to do and have a better quality jacket at the end . Hopefully Mortene will see this and incorporate those changes .

 

[mulceber]

Looks great !!
Nicely done Enigma !
Now I’m not knocking AVI … ( Honest Mortene) but the fixes that you made would take AVI about 5 extra minutes in the production line to complete, at a cost of about $20.00 if that.
So simple to do and have a better quality jacket at the end . Hopefully Mortene will see this and incorporate those changes .

Agreed, it's several little things, but they'll make a big difference.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

Anyway they look better than the AVI ones .

Yes, that pin what used on AVI’s , is a cheap one.

 

[Enigma1938]

)Looks great !!
Nicely done Enigma !
Now I’m not knocking AVI … ( Honest Mortene) but the fixes that you made would take AVI about 5 extra minutes in the production line to complete, at a cost of about $20.00 if that.
So simple to do and have a better quality jacket at the end . Hopefully Mortene will see this and incorporate those changes .

I'm not knocking AVI either - I'm satisfied with my purchase, but I doubt that the B-3's provided from AVI will undergo any further development. For the ordinary buyers without a deep history interest (keyword accuracy) those jackets are good enough, and they are quality jackets indeed just differ in little details from originals.
I think AVI's focus is to just sell historical(ish ) jackets based on original exemplars but without going in tiny little details fanatically like good wear for example. I can also understand that it is not easy for a manufacturing company to search and gain the most historical correct materials, especially if you have planned to produce on a budget, in big quantities and in countries like China....

 

[B-Man2]

I'm not knocking AVI either - I'm satisfied with my purchase, but I doubt that the B-3's provided from AVI will undergo any further development. For the ordinary buyers without a deep history interest (keyword accuracy) those jackets are good enough, and they are quality jackets indeed just differ in little details from originals.
I think AVI's focus is to just sell historical(ish ) jackets based on original exemplars but without going in tiny little details fanatically like good wear for example. I can also understand that it is not easy for a manufacturing company to search and gain the most historical correct materials, especially if you have planned to produce on a budget, in big quantities and in countries like China....

Hi Enigma
Totally understand your point and I wasn’t knocking AVI either . I think they offer a nice product for all but the military jacket purists among us, for a very good price. I was simply saying that for just the smallest of add ons or fixes that they could draw in even the most ardent perfectionists among us. You’ve done a great job at showing us what a buyer with minimal effort could do with this jacket.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

Even a buckle , that can be expensive , if not a standard part, and can be easily sourced from open market.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

Even a buckle , that can be expensive , if not a standard part, and can be easily sourced from open market.

So, just use Bronson as an example, I don’t want to criticism them for many times , because I know it’s not something like, spend a few dollars more.

 

[Dumpster D]

I wonder if you could 'relic' some of those buckles the same way they age guitar chrome/parts. There's plenty of youtube videos on how to do that to give it the antique look.

..it's a trending thing to want a guitar that looks like an original these days too.

Also,

how did you remove the buckles and sew the new ones back on?

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

cut the thread , then get rid of the old buckle .