AVI Leather B-3 Review

[ZuZu]

What the hell has happened to Jeff ?
And who’s this imposter pro-porting to be Jeff ???
Something is very wrong here!!!

Pocket's maybe a tiny bit too large?

 

[B-Man2]

Pocket's maybe a tiny bit too large?

Man … you make it easy to love you and say WTF!! all in the same thread

 

[OperationCoffee]

I've always thought that an enterprising repro company could set up shop in China and make stitch for stitch nearly perfect repros. It would take 6 months or a year of training- not in sewing but in getting all the little details down to perfect. If anyone can dot it on a larger scale it would be the Chinese- Buzz uses them right? Not a B-3 expert but to my eye this looks pretty gosh darn good...

I’ve wondered about that, does Buzz use China. Would love to have a definitive answer

 

[FlakMagnet]

“Jacket looks authentic and better than anything ELC made. My one complaint is that the person wearing it is Hungarian, NOT an authentic skinny 20 year old American man who grew up during the Depression” -ZuZu, maybe.

All jokes aside, nice B3, Greg!

 

[mulceber]

Yes, agreed! Looks like a great jacket! Enjoy!

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

I’ve wondered about that, does Buzz use China. Would love to have a definitive answer

Toyo use china subcontractor , building 95% of its jacket, and only sewing their labels back in Japan,perhaps.

 

[ZuZu]

“Jacket looks authentic and better than anything ELC made. My one complaint is that the person wearing it is Hungarian, NOT an authentic skinny 20 year old American man who grew up during the Depression” -ZuZu, maybe.

All jokes aside, nice B3, Greg!

Actually he (Greg) fits the profile! In the right way.

 

[Smithy]

The B-3 looks terrific but I can't believe the moustache has garnered no praises.

Love the jacket Greg and Morten has hit it for six with this offering, but the mo is even more impressive. Nice whiskers!

 

[Greg Gale]

Producing in China & Pakistan makes sense, but many repro companies have the product shipped from the country of production directly. Like WPG for example. They have no idea what their customers will get. I’ve seen pretty wonky stitches and panels on their Irvins.

The brilliant part about AVI is that it’s shipped back to Denmark first where Morten does a proper quality check. This way you have all the advantages of a chinese/pakistani jacket (price, materials) but not the risk.

If someone wants to fully support US/ EU workers, I understand that too and applaud it, but not everyone can afford that. This makes such jackets more accessible to everyone.

@Smithy thanks, been working on it

 

[Flightengineer]

Actually he (Greg) fits the profile! In the right way.

and the main thing is that Greg can fly, so I think we will see this flight jacket in the sky

 

[Griffon_301]

great review, great video and great pics!

what my bank account does not like about all that is that you have put their M-445 back onto my shopping list now

 

[John Lever]

Producing in China & Pakistan makes sense, but many repro companies have the product shipped from the country of production directly. Like WPG for example. They have no idea what their customers will get. I’ve seen pretty wonky stitches and panels on their Irvins.

The brilliant part about AVI is that it’s shipped back to Denmark first where Morten does a proper quality check. This way you have all the advantages of a chinese/pakistani jacket (price, materials) but not the risk.

If someone wants to fully support US/ EU workers, I understand that too and applaud it, but not everyone can afford that. This makes such jackets more accessible to everyone.

@Smithy thanks, been working on it

My m445 came to me directly from China

 

[CBI]

great video and review!!! Looks like a nice jacket! Enjoy!!!

 

[daw]

Enjoyed the review very much. Looks like a well-made jacket at a good price.

 

[Greg Gale]

Yesterday I wore my AVI B-3 to fly an old glider. It's made of an aluminum frame with canvas cover. As I was getting in, the sleeve of the jacket got caught on a sharp, bent edge that was sticking out. I was sure it cut the jacket, but no damage was done. The horsehide facing/ strengthening is actually a great design idea when moving around tight cockpits/ fuselage of a bomber where everything is made of sharp metal.

There's another thing: the more I wear it, the more the shoulder flaps start to fold down and out. I can see this in original photos too. What is the reason for this? Why does it fold outwards on its own?

 

[flyincowboy]

The shoulder flap / is a rank tab used to be stiched on the jacket . When unstitched it moves freely and fold on/ out . To me it's part of the charm of the B3 as well as the reinforcements panels and the front map pocket.

 

[Greg Gale]

Thanks! Yes it has its charm when flapping freely too. I'm not gonna sew a rank that I didn't earn so I'm just gonna let it flap.

I'm also thinking about my Irvin that is not getting any wear at the moment. About how the 2 jackets compare. I love the russet color of the Irvin, and the darker, yellowish fleece. It looks very classy. The B-3 is more like 'workwear'. But. The belt on the Irvin is not very practical, makes it harder to zip/ unzip the jacket. The zippers on the sleeves just get in the way and have no use in a modern environment - I'm not wearing huge gauntlets. The collar fastening works much better on the B-3, and the strengthened horsehide parts are also very practical.

But this doesn't mean an Irvin wouldn't have a place in your wardrobe next to a B-3. If I spent more time in cold climates I'd wear both, for sure.

 

[Enigma1938]

Thank you Greg for that nicely done review.
I searched quite a time now for a New B3 to replace my old Cab Clothing B3 but cannot bring myself to spend 1500 bucks or more for a top tier one.
Well to keep the story short:
I pulled the trigger on AVI's B3 too now

 

[Greg Gale]

I may have found the first bit of 'fault' with the jacket, but I'm not sure if it's just this jacket or B-3s in general. See, the snap on the underside of the right hand collar has the outer strap running on top of it, so it cannot be snapped down to the chest. How is this solved on original B-3s?

 

[Walt3r]

I may have found the first bit of 'fault' with the jacket, but I'm not sure if it's just this jacket or B-3s in general. See, the snap on the underside of the right hand collar has the outer strap running on top of it, so it cannot be snapped down to the chest. How is this solved on original B-3s?

It appears generic, mine is the same and looking at pics of other mfgs it's the same, I presume you only get around it by folding the strap flat against the under side of the collar