MikeyB-17
Well-Known Member
Many of you will be familiar with my howls of agony every time somebody posts pics of their new RMNZ or GW M444 (and no doubt soon there will be ELC examples appearing too). I have wanted an M444 for several years, but the higher end repros are stratospherically beyond my budget. The design always seemed to me an excellent compromise between the lighter designs like the B-6, and the heavier ones like the B-3 and M445. When John Lever advertised this W&G M444 I was unable to resist, as many of you will also be familiar with my whimpers of remorse for selling my Aero B-3 a few years ago, but that sadly-missed jacket will be missed no longer since this arrived.
I believe W&G have been swallowed up by another outfit now, the company actually did manufacture jackets for the USN during the War, although the company that made this probably had very little to do with that original company. Nonetheless I think they had a reasonable if not stellar reputation, and I've always remembered the W&G M445 that Allen had made a few years ago, which always looked really nice to me. Never being able to afford an RMNZ or GW, this was about as close as I'm going to get so I went for it. Arrived on Wednesday and I'm delighted with it.
The sheepskin is beautifully soft and luxurious to the touch, and the goatskin facings are way more flexible and less bulky than the horsehide ones on my old B-3. I used to be a big fan of thick, heavy leather, but for some while I've found that thin, tough and flexible wins hands down in the comfort stakes. It's obviously not the last word in accuracy, the shearling is probably too thick for an M444, there's no pen slot under the pocket, and the zip is a 'brass' repro Conmar, but none of these things bother me one bit. The thicker shearling is warmer, the zip is at least not a modern paperclip style like I've seen on some repros, and I've never once used the pen slot on any Navy jacket I've owned. It has USN in yellow under the collar, and the collar has the correct double thickness section at the front, although as others have stated it's damn near impossible to do the zip up all the way, the collar shearling is too thick. I'm fairly unlikely to do it anyway. It has the Rayon 'football' gussets under the arms inside, and the inner storm cuffs, and is really warm without being uncomfortably hot. It's a size 42 and fits me really well with some room for layers underneath. It's also in really nice condition.
It may not have the workmanship or stitch for stitch accuracy of the higher end makers, but it's warm, comfortable and looks the part, and has finally replaced my old B-3. I now have to offload a couple of jackets to pay for it, bit that's the way it goes!
I believe W&G have been swallowed up by another outfit now, the company actually did manufacture jackets for the USN during the War, although the company that made this probably had very little to do with that original company. Nonetheless I think they had a reasonable if not stellar reputation, and I've always remembered the W&G M445 that Allen had made a few years ago, which always looked really nice to me. Never being able to afford an RMNZ or GW, this was about as close as I'm going to get so I went for it. Arrived on Wednesday and I'm delighted with it.
The sheepskin is beautifully soft and luxurious to the touch, and the goatskin facings are way more flexible and less bulky than the horsehide ones on my old B-3. I used to be a big fan of thick, heavy leather, but for some while I've found that thin, tough and flexible wins hands down in the comfort stakes. It's obviously not the last word in accuracy, the shearling is probably too thick for an M444, there's no pen slot under the pocket, and the zip is a 'brass' repro Conmar, but none of these things bother me one bit. The thicker shearling is warmer, the zip is at least not a modern paperclip style like I've seen on some repros, and I've never once used the pen slot on any Navy jacket I've owned. It has USN in yellow under the collar, and the collar has the correct double thickness section at the front, although as others have stated it's damn near impossible to do the zip up all the way, the collar shearling is too thick. I'm fairly unlikely to do it anyway. It has the Rayon 'football' gussets under the arms inside, and the inner storm cuffs, and is really warm without being uncomfortably hot. It's a size 42 and fits me really well with some room for layers underneath. It's also in really nice condition.
It may not have the workmanship or stitch for stitch accuracy of the higher end makers, but it's warm, comfortable and looks the part, and has finally replaced my old B-3. I now have to offload a couple of jackets to pay for it, bit that's the way it goes!
