ELC vWPG

[Tim P]

Having aquired a pair of original RAF 41 pattern brown suede boots, primarily for USAAF 8th af bomber crew displays with a secondary use for RAF aeromed ( my MOS when I left the reserves) as I have service dress and suits, aircrew I cant help but start to formulate Irvin plans.
Springing 500 squid for an Eastman is something I would do as a last resort, preferring a second hand eastman as best banng for the buck but, having happily sourced lots of British items from what Price glory I have recently got to thinking, how do their Irvins go in a toe to toe with eastman, in other words, is the attractive price enouggh to beguile me when considering cost and value?

 

[Hawkeye]

The WPG jacket is a great starter Irvin, but if you really get hooked on Irvins you will almost certainly want to upgrade at some point in time. It goes without saying that ELC makes the superior jacket. The WPG has the wrong collar shape, uses a synthetic material for the underside of the collar, the belt, and all the seam tapes, and has horrible zips that fall apart very quickly. I dont want to seem like I'm bashing the WPG, it is a great jacket for the price. I've owned three of them before I upgraded to an ELC model. The sheepskin is of good quality, they are well constructed for the most part and they accurately replicate the overall "look", however the devil is in the details. If I were you I would probobly keep an eye out for a used ELC, they appear fairly often on ebay and you can usually get them for roughly the same price as a new WPG.

 

[deeb7]

.... and for more in depth coverage, see Hawkeye's excellent review, and the following thread.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=76

 

[Andrew]

Probably a good option for a re-enactor (WPG) as you could probably afford to abuse it a little-such as strapping on a parachute harness, climbing in and about aircraft (if you had a chance). I've never seen either in the flesh but the fleece appears in photos to be a little more flexible than the ELC. I like the look of it bar the collar.