Eastman Vs Aero

[mambo]

Hiya Guys,

My name is Raymon, I live in the sunny and warm south of Spain.

Despite our weather, a friend of mine and myself have decided we have to have a B3 and to hell with the heat. We'll acclimatise in a sauna!

We have decided we like the 1940 RAF B3 with the fewer panels and would prefer to buy jackets that are as close to the originals as possible.

We have narrowed it down to Eastman and Aero leathers but would like your opinion on who makes the best and closest reproduction and more importantly why.

I have triled through posts and haven't quite found anything that answers my questions.

Basically I could break it down into various parts:

Who uses the best quality and leather/materials that are closest to the original?
Who uses the pattern that is truest to the originals?
Who uses the most correct zips?
Who uses the most correct stitching? (For instance I understand from one post that Eastman do not stitch their jacket sleeves correctly)

Plus any other positive or negative comments you might have. Time is not an issue in ordering as long as we get the right jacket.

I'd appreciate your help as we both want to get it just right. Also, what are the eastman rough wear jackets like. Are they and option given the fact that we want to be close to the original? this could be a consideration for us as due to the weather here, breaking in could take a very long time!

Thanks for your help.

Regards

Raymon

 

[Geir]

I can't think what you would want a sheepskin jacket for in the south of Spain, but to answer your question: The answer is Eastman. I have both an Aero and An Eastman duotone B3, both with three-panel back. I am not going to go into details, but the Eastman just seems right somehow and is more comfortable. But most importantly: The fleece of the sheepskin is shorter on the Eastman which would be important considering where you live. I need seriously cold weather to survive with the Aero B3 zipped up.

 

[Roughwear]

Welcome to the forum. I presume you are talking about a B-3, not the 1940 RAF Irvin. The earliest B-3 is the 1941 Rough Wear contract, which an excellent repro. Eastman's zips are always closer to the originals than Aero's. The current crop of B-3s use a repro Crown zipper which is spot on in terms of original Crown zips, but few B-3s used them as they were less durable than the Talon. Earlier ELC B-3s had NOS Talon zips, which I prefer.

As far as the 1940 Irvin is concerned it is superior to Aero Irvins. The Riri-made Lightning style zips are ok, and better than the Aero ones. Neither ELC or Aero have got the sheepskin correct. They tend to use lambskin, rather than sheepskin, which most original Irvins were made from. You can pick up an original Irvin for less than the price of an ELC 1940 model, unless you are a large size as the large Irvins fetch premium prices.

 

[mambo]

I can't think what you would want a sheepskin jacket for in the south of Spain,

Don´t say it too loudly! We are already having a hard time justifying the purchases to ourselves, let alone our wives!

Thanks for the reply

Raymon

 

[mambo]

Welcome to the forum. I presume you are talking about a B-3, not the 1940 RAF Irvin. The earliest B-3 is the 1941 Rough Wear contract, which an excellent repro. Eastman's zips are always closer to the originals than Aero's. The current crop of B-3s use a repro Crown zipper which is spot on in terms of original Crown zips, but few B-3s used them as they were less durable than the Talon. Earlier ELC B-3s had NOS Talon zips, which I prefer.

As far as the 1940 Irvin is concerned it is superior to Aero Irvins. The Riri-made Lightning style zips are ok, and better than the Aero ones. Neither ELC or Aero have got the sheepskin correct. They tend to use lambskin, rather than sheepskin, which most original Irvins were made from. You can pick up an original Irvin for less than the price of an ELC 1940 model, unless you are a large size as the large Irvins fetch premium prices.

Hi Andrew,

We mean the RAF Irvin I guess (we thought these were the UK version of the B3). It´s what Eastman call the Battle of Britain pattern:

http://www.eastmanleather.com/RAF40.htm

and Aero call the pre war model:

http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/prod ... php?id=106

I have looked all over the www for an original Irvin but haven´t seen one anywhere. Whilst my friend would have trouble, I wouldn´t at all with smaller sizes. I better keep looking.

Thanks

Raymon

 

[John Lever]

Raymon,
It pains me to say this but hold on to your money until next winter. The jackets from Eastman are way below par when compared to years ago. The skins were thicker with more dense fleece. They are beautifully made from a great pattern, but the skins are a disaster.
With time they can only get better.
Aero have a new tannery that used to supply Eastman, they will be using skins with shine with nice fleece.
Lewis Leathers also have a jacket in the works and it could be worth the extra money. It is still in pre-production, so again wait until next winter.

In a year or so the Irvin RAF jacket market will have completely changed with new jackets on offer.
Gary may well surprise us all, I hope so.

 

[Roughwear]

Welcome to the forum. I presume you are talking about a B-3, not the 1940 RAF Irvin. The earliest B-3 is the 1941 Rough Wear contract, which an excellent repro. Eastman's zips are always closer to the originals than Aero's. The current crop of B-3s use a repro Crown zipper which is spot on in terms of original Crown zips, but few B-3s used them as they were less durable than the Talon. Earlier ELC B-3s had NOS Talon zips, which I prefer.

As far as the 1940 Irvin is concerned it is superior to Aero Irvins. The Riri-made Lightning style zips are ok, and better than the Aero ones. Neither ELC or Aero have got the sheepskin correct. They tend to use lambskin, rather than sheepskin, which most original Irvins were made from. You can pick up an original Irvin for less than the price of an ELC 1940 model, unless you are a large size as the large Irvins fetch premium prices.

Hi Andrew,

We mean the RAF Irvin I guess (we thought these were the UK version of the B3). It´s what Eastman call the Battle of Britain pattern:

http://www.eastmanleather.com/RAF40.htm

and Aero call the pre war model:

http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/prod ... php?id=106

I have looked all over the www for an original Irvin but haven´t seen one anywhere. Whilst my friend would have trouble, I wouldn´t at all with smaller sizes. I better keep looking.

Thanks

Raymon

I would not buy a new BoB Irvin from Eastman these days as the fleece is inferior to their earlier produced ones. If you let me know your size I'll look out for an original for you.

 

[mambo]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the offer.

I will PM you over the coming days.

Regards

Raymon

 

[Clyde from Carolina]

Good luck, Raymon.

Love this:

Don´t say it too loudly! We are already having a hard time justifying the purchases to ourselves, let alone our wives!



If we were a practical lot, most of us wouldn't even be here. Or we'd have one or two jackets and be done with it.

Most of us aren't that practical at all. :lol: