M-1951 jacket - at last !

[Officer Dibley]

Just picked this up on ebay. £65 plus normal overseas shipping cost rather than that massively overpriced ebay ripoff.
I lost 30lbs over the summer and it's meant i can now fit med/large of which more were made than xl's and so cheaper.
The '51 is my fav US cloth jacket. Probably because i wore one to shreds as a uni student.
I am, as they say, chuffed to bits !

 

[Flightengineer]

Nice! M-51 is my favorite field too.

 

[s4rmark]

Nice, good nick too.

 

[EmergencyIan]

It looks terrific! I picked up an NOS example about two years ago and it’s great. One thing you’ve noticed, I’d bet, is that the large is a little bigger than you expected. What I had trouble sourcing, after I picked up my jacket, was a liner for it, in really good condition. It took a while, and a couple of stand-ins, before I found one suitable. Persistence paid off, however.

- Ian

 

[Officer Dibley]

NOS ?! You lucky, lucky bleeder !

I'm going to pass on the liner. A sweater or fleece is lighter and more flexible for me than that freeze liner that was issued.

I am now on the lookout for the fur ruff hood though.

 

[Flightengineer]

NOS ?! You lucky, lucky bleeder !

I'm going to pass on the liner. A sweater or fleece is lighter and more flexible for me than that freeze liner that was issued.

I am now on the lookout for the fur ruff hood though.

One of mine 51s NOS too. The seller found three jackets sealed in a box in the attic of his grandfather after his death. I bought one 3 years ago for a very low price (I have an unpopular sizes in the States - SR or SL )

 

[dmar836]

I’m afraid to wear mine!

 

[Officer Dibley]

If it's too good for you to wear and is a large, let me take that fearful garment off your hands

 

[Edward]

wow! congrats! and congrats on losing that much weight! nice reward for such hard work.

 

[EmergencyIan]

Yeah, I wear all of the stuff. I don’t collect any clothing that isn’t practical for me to wear; because in an NYC apartment, I just don’t have room to store or display. My philosophy has been that it’s better to let it live, again. Take care of the garments, of course, it wear them and/or use them. I do the same thing with my watches. They all work as they are supposed to and I wear all of them.

- Ian

 

[Officer Dibley]

Absolutely my philosophy too Ian and why i've never had a large collection at any one time or collected things i can't use.
Dave

 

[raulm1961]

Can you guys tell me what is the proper way to wear an m51 liner. About a year ago I bought an m51 jacket off ebay that happened to be in excellent condition. Almost mint actually. Anyhow a couple of days later I also bought a mint condition m51 freeze liner. But thing is I don't know if the white part goes inside or the green outside?? I've read in another forum that the green part goes inside the jacket. Would you guys know about this?

 

[taiAtari]

You wear it with the green on the inside, this way it is still easy to move and the fleece sandwiched between the outer shell and the smooth part of the liner keeps you insulated:

 

[raulm1961]

You wear it with the green on the inside, this way it is still easy to move and the fleece sandwiched between the outer shell and the smooth part of the liner keeps you insulated:

Thank you.

 

[dmar836]

Valuate my mint one please. Or should I sign up as a new member?
Dave

 

[raulm1961]

Thank you tai for your info.I always thought the white part was on the outside. It is an awesome field jacket. I also have an John Owenbey m65. But I think the m51 in my opinion looks sharper.

 

[raulm1961]

I am not afraid to wear my m51 jacket unlike someone who does. I do like wearing my jackets.

 

[Officer Dibley]

Pics please Raulm !

 

[EmergencyIan]

Can you guys tell me what is the proper way to wear an m51 liner. About a year ago I bought an m51 jacket off ebay that happened to be in excellent condition. Almost mint actually. Anyhow a couple of days later I also bought a mint condition m51 freeze liner. But thing is I don't know if the white part goes inside or the green outside?? I've read in another forum that the green part goes inside the jacket. Would you guys know about this?

I believe it goes on the inside, the white part. It’s almost impossible to find any clear direction as to which way is as per regulation, but it turns out that the white fleecy looking material that looks like it will be soft and comfortable is tougher than sandpaper. You don’t want that rubbing again your skin or any clothing that you care about. It’s teuly rough stuff. Therefore, I have my liners white side facing inwards. I don’t have photographic evidence, but I’m supposing most guys ended up doing this with the liners, even if it wasn’t per regulation.

EDIT: Oops. I knew I should have read the other new posts before commenting. I missed taiAtari’s post, which was great! Thank you! I guess I’ve been correct after all. Apologies for not reading through the new posts before posting.
- Ian

 

[EmergencyIan]

Valuate my mint one please. Or should I sign up as a new member?
Dave

In all fairness, Dave, I think he was just asking for help/advice. It didn’t come off to me as looking it for an appraisal. If fact, he didn’t go down that road, at all.

What I will say is that these jackets in mint/unissued condition aren’t worth more than around $350 USD, max. And, I think that is probably a pretty liberal estimate. I’m basing this on recent auctions I have seen of unissued/mint M-1951 field jackets. Even auctions for dead stock mint M-1943 field jackets, with cutter tags, do well at $300ish USD.

- Ian