Do You Find This Happen on A2 Jackets Often?

[lipmann01]

Have you ever seen pulled threads / snags in knit cuffs or the waistband on a relatively new repro A-2 Jackets before? As seen in the pictures, the leather shell looks almost mint but the cuffs look way more beaten up. Do you think these snags will develop into holes in the long run with normal wear?

This particular jacker is a Lost Worlds Dubow. Seems like the Lost Worlds knit cuffs are much more fragile than my Aero A2. Some say that ELC A2s have the most fragile knits. I’d love to hear some experts’ opinion on this. Do original A2 knit cuffs prone to tears easily like the above pictures? Or do they feel more robust like the Aero A2s?

 

[B-Man2]

Hey Lip
Welcome to the forum.
Knit cuffs are always going to be a weak link on A2 jackets , simply because of the fact that they are knits . I’m going to take a guess here that when you take off your jacket, you pull it off by the knit cuff. If that’s true , start taking your jacket off by reaching up the sleeve and using the leather sleeve to take off your jacket rather than using the knits. If you continue to use the knits they will stretch, separate and start to tear small threads which will lead to wholes. One last thing ... knits can get hung up on sharpe corners of watches.
Hope that helps to slow the knit tearing down a bit.
cheers

 

[lipmann01]

Hey Lip
Welcome to the forum.
Knit cuffs are always going to be a weak link on A2 jackets , simply because of the fact that they are knits . I’m going to take a guess here that when you take off your jacket, you pull it off by the knit cuff. If that’s true , start taking your jacket off by reaching up the sleeve and using the leather sleeve to take off your jacket rather than using the knits. If you continue to use the knits they will stretch, separate and start to tear small threads which will lead to wholes. One last thing ... knits can get hung up on sharpe corners of watches.
Hope that helps to slow the knit tearing down a bit.
cheers

Your tip on how to take off the jacket is great and also how I’ve been taking off my Aero A2. I thought I was being too careful but now I’m glad myself isn’t the only one in the world who uses this practice. I however acquired this Lost Worlds pre-owned and your speculation might be true about how the previous owner(s) wore the jacket. I’m glad though as the price of this LW was more than reasonable! I could just wear it without worrying too much about it.

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

Do original A2 knit cuffs prone to tears easily like the above pictures? Or do they feel more robust like the Aero A2s?

Hi @lipmann01,
Originals were made with a very good material but of course they are at least 77 years old and some of them have survived 2 wars.
Below is an original from 1943.

 

[Brettafett]

Further to what B-man2 said, when I hang my jackets up for the day, I turn the wrist-knits inside out, ie inside the jacket.
That aside, there are so many pics from WW2 showing airmen with wrecked knits... Some even removed them completely lol

 

[Griffon_301]

Owning Eastmans mostly I can confirm their knits are of mixed quality at best, at least on my jackets...
My G-1 has torn knits on both sleeves and the waist and while I initially was rather shocked that after only 4 years the knits started to come apart, I now view it as a kind of feature...we aim for broken in leathers on the jackets that show wear and tear but we hate the same on the knits? Well, as long as the knits on the G-1 don't come apart completely I will not have them repaired ...

Incidentally the knits in the M-422a and my A-2 look much better and more durable, the ones on the A-2 seemed to be of a very good quality...

The best knits are the ones in the BR jackets, not matter if it's the 37J1 or the deck jackets or L-2s...

I guess the main problem on my jackets is the watch crowns so pay attention when wearing watches and jackets...nowadays I take off my watches before the jackets...

 

[Edward]

My 3 year old ELC has the wear and tear holes on the front edge of the left hand knit only. That’s my watch. I wear an Apple Watch. Smooth curves! so it goes to show that even a soft edged watch will cause this from constant friction of wrist turning. Driving, checking the time, reaching out for things... my right hand cuff; still perfect. :/

 

[Micawber]

Yes, pulled an holed knits on repro's are common, as were raggedy knits on originals in WW2 too. Kinits used by repro makers vary in quality and depends on their favoured knit supplier when the jacket was made. New repro jacket price is not indicative of the quality of the knits used.

I am in the "just wear the bloody thing" camp, knits are fairly easy to replace or have replaced and this was sometimes done when worn during WW2. Repro jackets are not newborn babies that need to be laid down on soft pillows in a crib when not in use. Wear them and treat them like the workwear they were designed to be.

Shock horror.

 

[lipmann01]

Hi @lipmann01,
Originals were made with a very good material but of course they are at least 77 years old and some of them have survived 2 wars.
Below is an original from 1943.
View attachment 38367
View attachment 38366

Discovering a jacket in this condition after so many decades was just like discovering a well preserved Chinese Emperor’s tomb. Unbelievable find!

 

[lipmann01]

Further to what B-man2 said, when I hang my jackets up for the day, I turn the wrist-knits inside out, ie inside the jacket.
That aside, there are so many pics from WW2 showing airmen with wrecked knits... Some even removed them completely lol

I’m intrigued to see pictures of airman removing the knit parts completely! The sleeves must look extra short that way. However those pictures might be the inspiration for Indiana Jones’ jacket?

 

[lipmann01]

we aim for broken in leathers on the jackets that show wear and tear but we hate the same on the knits? Well, as long as the knits on the G-1 don't come apart completely I will not have them repaired ...

That is a very good point! We want leathers that show stories with knits that just came out of the factories lol I must say I am among one of these guys.

Worn in leathers with fresh knits just don’t look natural and you sir are right, the knits should age naturally with the leathers. Well, the reason for this post was because I found that the knits started to tear long before the leathers looked remotely broken in. Sometimes I wish I could just have the mentality of a WWII airman who’d just treat the jacket as a work ware but also something significant, and of course their bravery and patriotism. Now I’m treating the jacket like a god lol

 

[B-Man2]

Hey Lip
If you do a search on the forum or check the “ Sticky Section “ at the top of the home page, there are some pretty good postings on how to repair or replace knits. From my own bag of tricks I have found that if you can catch a snag or the beginning of a hole at a very early stage, I take contact cement , ( not crazy glue) but the contact type that usually comes with a small brush attached to the lid. I then take a plain wooden tooth pick and just lightly coat the outside of the very tip of the tooth pick ( the key word here is lightly as in as lightly as possible. Then I carefully take that tooth pick and insert it into the center of the small hole and lightly touch any of the fibers that look stretched out or torn . I then back the toothpick out and wait about 30 seconds and then squeeze the hole together so that all of the Stretched fibers attach to each other. Make sure you don’t have any excess glue on the outside of the cuff. Hold the hole together for about 2 minutes and then lay the jacket off to the side for a couple of hours. When you come back the torn fibers are sealed and will not unravel and further damage is stopped in its tracks. Once again the key here is very light glue as little as possible on the tooth pick and practice. If you make a mistake and have some cement showing at the sight of the repair, I’ve taken a furniture repair magic marker as close to the color of the knits as possible ( dark knits are easier to match with a dark furniture marker) and lightly go over the excess glue on top of the repaired area. Cosmetically it will still look better than the hole that was repaired.
Cheers

 

[fighterjock]

This thread makes me want to laugh! How would anyone in the world see that. And if they did you probably got Corona Virus by now!!

 

[fighterjock]

Hey Lip
Welcome to the forum.
Knit cuffs are always going to be a weak link on A2 jackets , simply because of the fact that they are knits . I’m going to take a guess here that when you take off your jacket, you pull it off by the knit cuff. If that’s true , start taking your jacket off by reaching up the sleeve and using the leather sleeve to take off your jacket rather than using the knits. If you continue to use the knits they will stretch, separate and start to tear small threads which will lead to wholes. One last thing ... knits can get hung up on sharpe corners of watches.
Hope that helps to slow the knit tearing down a bit.
cheers

God, If only the real heroes of WW2 could read these silly posts...…………………..I'm sure they'd be rolling in their graves. I'm gonna keep takin my jacket off like a man!!!

 

[fighterjock]

Yes, pulled an holed knits on repro's are common, as were raggedy knits on originals in WW2 too. Kinits used by repro makers vary in quality and depends on their favoured knit supplier when the jacket was made. New repro jacket price is not indicative of the quality of the knits used.

I am in the "just wear the bloody thing" camp, knits are fairly easy to replace or have replaced and this was sometimes done when worn during WW2. Repro jackets are not newborn babies that need to be laid down on soft pillows in a crib when not in use. Wear them and treat them like the workwear they were designed to be.

Shock horror.

Thank You

 

[B-Man2]

God, If only the real heroes of WW2 could read these sissy boy posts...…………………..I'm sure they'd be rolling in their graves. I'm gonna keep takin my jacket off like a man!!!

Sounds like you’ve got a problem with my posts . Maybe if you offered to help a new guy with his problems, you might have something of value to contribute and not just the barf crap.

 

[B-Man2]

This thread makes me want to Barf!!!! How would anyone in the world see that. And if they did you probably got Corona Virus by now!!

Like I said

 

[fighterjock]

Sounds like you’ve got a problem with my posts . Maybe if you offered to help a new guys with his problems, you might have something of value to contribute and not just the barf crap.

Maybe this forum should be called VaJJ's Leather Jackets.

 

[fighterjock]

Tomorow I shall use Sensidine toothpaste! and hence this day forward spew nothing but the most sensistive posts ever.. Had a rough weekend, was police car tipping and setting police station's on fire up in Minneapolis...……….didn't get much sleep!

 

[mulceber]

Yeesh.

I can appreciate the "just wear the bloody thing" approach as much as the next guy, but there's no need to be mean about it. Like it or not, these are expensive garments, and so there's always going to be the impulse to baby them, even if that won't give them the combat tour look.

Not sure the "what would WW2 vets think?" comparison is particularly apt either, seeing as...uh...they were issued their jackets. We paid hundreds of dollars for ours. If they'd be appalled at anything, it would be the price tag.