First Gen CWU 45P

[MikeyB-17]

Heck, that's a beaut. I sold my first bi-swing CWU, wished I hadn't, and bought another from Greyhound George. Not selling that one-wearing it regularly at the mo. That one's got the orange marker and all-not often you see that.
Technically, that's a J-CWFS. I think they only had one label at that time-the one in 'Suit up!' does.

 

[watchmanjimg]

That's a nice example, though even with the patches and signal marker I feel the opening bid amount is way too high. For whatever reason certain military items tend to be erroneously characterized as especially rare or valuable, and Nomex jackets are such items. I know people are willing to pay over $200 for CWUs, but I continue to find them all over the place for $50 and under. I even found a very nice CWU-36 at VintageTrends for $60. In fact, they have a bi-swing '77 by Centre Mfg. up for sale right now:

http://www.vintagetrends.com/military/i ... U%2D45%2FP

Every pre-CWU I've seen has had only one label, just like this example. I've seen second-pattern jackets with two labels, though I'm not sure they all did.

 

[watchmanjimg]

I understand that someone out there will pay that much. My point is that it's not necessary to do so. The link I provided is for a bi-swing CWU-36 priced at $60. I've paid far less than that for all of my bi-swing jackets. They're out there!

 

[greyhound52]

I got a 1977 model CWU-45 for 60 bucks off ebay with free shipping. Yup they are out there lurking. This is nice once with all the pieces however it may be a higher price then some folks (not including the Japanese) are willing to pay.

 

[Atticus]

I agree that one can pay too much for nomex jackets. I paid seventy or eighty bucks apiece for the first two CWUs I bought. But then I stared looking more carefully for bargains. About two years ago, I managed to score a first edition CWU-45 for 99 cents and shipping. It lacks the distress marker, and the spec tag has been removed, but, what the hell, it was only 99 cents. Since then, I've bought an Alpha CWU-45 and a Greenbrier CWU-36, both in unissued condition, one for 99 cents and the other for $9.99.

So, I guess I've got about $170.00 invested in my first two CWUs, and maybe $42.00 (or less) invested in my last three.

AF

 

[Weasel_Loader]

Yep, CWU prices can be all over the place. The prices people are paying for desert versions are simply nuts. I experimented with it and caught a BIN on a new summer weight for $60. Turned around and sold it for over $200. :roll:

Frankly, I would not pay a premium on ANY jacket (nylon or leather) based on the story of patches being original to a jacket. I would pay a premium if I knew the value of the patch on the jacket though. Wish I had a dime for every flight jacket sold on ebay that is patched totally wrong and being passed off as original "estate sale".

BTW, it's a nice early CWU but as everyone mentions, too expensive.