• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

M422 best manufacturer

Ole

Ole

Banned
All repro makers have their weaknesses.
Why is such a taboo if someone points then out?
Is it a complex you guys have?
Don't be afraid to talk about it, it will set you free.
 
Teddy

Teddy

Well-Known Member
My question would be what's really the point of being fussed with every single detail of these well-made modern repros to such an extent? Every single one of them has better quality than the original ones. After all, a jacket is there to be worn and authentic or not, a well-made jacket can be worn and can last. Isn't that what it's supposed to be?

If the original, lower-quality and rushed-through jackets on those black-and-white photos already made any of us interested in buying one, why keep arguing about "authenticity" to such an extreme when you already possess a higher-quality jacket than the originals?

I also don't get why some of us feel the need to attack other jacket makers. Are these tiny details which nobody other than the owner can see really so important? If they are so important to you, why not just buy an original from other collectors?

What do we get out of a jacket that is exactly the same as an original down to every stitch? Not much to me personally. I appreciate every jacket maker who is trying their best, and I'm happy that I wear one made by them that's way better than the heroes who worn theirs to fight for our freedom. We are all so lucky to wear high-quality jackets with heritage from the originals.
 
Last edited:
R

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
Ole said:
All repro makers have their weaknesses.
Why is such a taboo if someone points then out?
Is it a complex you guys have?
Don't be afraid to talk about it, it will set you free.
Click to expand...


Rather than keep banging on about the weaknesses of repro jackets, it would be appreciated if you could make a positive contribution to VLJ. Why don't you share pictures of the original jackets in your collection?
 
Persimmon

Persimmon

Well-Known Member
DiamondDave said:
Ole,

I don’t know any better? I AM a jacket maker, I have made 120 A-2 jackets and 100 motorcycle jackets in the last several years. Someone here is misinformed, but it certainly isn’t me. I did learn much of this trade from John, and I stand behind everything I am saying. Again facts not fiction or assumption based on the viewing a few originals.

DD
Click to expand...

DiamondDave said:
Ever made a jacket Ole? Care to share photos of them? That is after all what this forum is about.

And yes I am familiar with SWOT and I know my weaknesses. I embrace them actually. But I don’t run my life or my business by some corporate buzz words.
Click to expand...


“ What’s going on Mickey ?
Ole’s telling Dave all about these biker jackets we are wearing that he made.
Oh thank God. I thought we were going to have to dig out the A2’s he made. “

9DCBEED8-302C-4DB3-B122-DF060011F1B8.jpeg
 
D

DJS48

Active Member
Seems to me, Mr. Ole just wants to "fight" for the mere pleasure of it? As all here know whether made in the factories during WW-2 or made by the modern jacket makers, there are and always will be "variations" in some details or "methods".
Cheers,
Don
 
Ole

Ole

Banned
So that’s a NO on having made a jacket? I rest my case.
Click to expand...

Dave do I have to be a jacket maker to know that the lining someone is using is wrong?

Why do you keep pushing people to admit that something is perfectly right when it's wrong?

Ole just wants to "fight" for the mere pleasure of it?
Click to expand...

No I don't want to fight. I am already bored with some people's stubbornness.
If I wanted to fight, I would start pointing out what is wrong with Dave's jackets...
 
Ole

Ole

Banned
Persimmon, neither Mickey nor Donald will help Dave make better jackets.
You better offer him some better advice.
 
Ken at Aero Leather

Ken at Aero Leather

Well-Known Member
stanier said:
The work seemingly produced by BK, now Headwind and the other chap I can’t remember but posted the other day(!) seems at least comparable to John’s work and with all the right materials and options.
Click to expand...

I fear not and right now these are leagues behind Goodwear

......................and I can make jackets, I've probably made many hundreds (or even thousands) more than anyone on this forum JC included and to be honest, members of VLJ need to be far more critical of some of the jackets showing up on here..............I'll post attachments if requested to
On the other hand
I've never see a single example of John Chapman's work that we'd reject at Aero but I've seen plenty dodgy jackets on here that have been given rave reviews

This post isn't to knock any of the new set ups but lets get real, it takes many years to get it "right", I'm sure even DD will agree
 
Ken at Aero Leather

Ken at Aero Leather

Well-Known Member
An EXACT replica of a WW2 jackets is probably impossible
These were made in a rush, pockets from one to the next probably differ even if a production line was used back then
We have six machinists at Aero who make A-2s from time to time, even if they all make the same size in the same leather our QC can ID who made which without looking at the work ticket, there are always subtle differences, a "signature" if you like.
 
Teddy

Teddy

Well-Known Member
Ole said:
Persimmon, neither Mickey nor Donald will help Dave make better jackets.
You better offer him some better advice.
Click to expand...
If you don't think Dave's or JC's jackets are up to your standard, don't buy them?

If you offer constructive feedback to the makers and they take it, great; if they don't, move on?

If other people's opinions of what's the best jacket bother you and nobody's making any jacket to satisfy your standard, be a maker and not just a talker?
 
Ken at Aero Leather

Ken at Aero Leather

Well-Known Member
.................also remember that cloth changes colour slightly with years of even the faintest exposure to light, never mind years of wear, threads fade, and has anyone tried a thread count? 90, 100, 200, 400, anyone on here with that level of eyesight?

And the nearest to a clone of an original A-2 would need to be made inside an hour, warts and all.
 
Pilot

Pilot

Well-Known Member
DiamondDave said:
Ever made a jacket Ole? Care to share photos of them? That is after all what this forum is about.

And yes I am familiar with SWOT and I know my weaknesses. I embrace them actually. But I don’t run my life or my business by some corporate buzz words.
Click to expand...
Bought a premium A-2 jacket, paid premium resold it 4 days later for crap..b- cause at the end it was total crap...especialy if compared to John’ s standards and quality and ethics..( nobody wanted it even for 1/4 of the premium price) .got it with a rigger name tape (to hide a hole..). “ rigger tapes were very common to put their names on the jacket”... ( see my post/ my sales history..all textings/scans still on file)...my one of a lifetime “ jacket maker” mistake...
I lost approx. 500 Euro all in all ( incl. shipping customs etc...)... others lost more...and ( maybe more) investing buying paying customer..
Thx a lot to the” expert “ and the rigger tape hiding a hole..
 
Last edited:
stanier

stanier

Well-Known Member
Ken at Aero Leather said:
An EXACT replica of a WW2 jackets is probably impossible
These were made in a rush, pockets from one to the next probably differ even if a production line was used back then
We have six machinists at Aero who make A-2s from time to time, even if they all make the same size in the same leather our QC can ID who made which without looking at the work ticket, there are always subtle differences, a "signature" if you like.
Click to expand...

And this is part of what is completely confusing me in these posts.

All the major repro makers have jackets posted that to me at least look very nice. Pardon my simplification but it feels that anything posted made by JC is met with unopposed adulation, yet anything else is treated as second rate. But why? Just what it is it that folk are seeing that’s different with the non JC stuff? Let’s have specific details please!

Back in WW2 any of the original makers probably were recruiting machinists like mad from wherever they could get them to make jackets for contract commitments. One day making curtains, the next day flying jackets. Ok, maybe not curtains but you get my drift.

So why is it that if the originals we’re all over the place with their own signatures, then why is it that the BK’s, Headwinds, Aero’s and all are treated as somehow second league to GW by some here.

I’m further bemused in that originals were mass produced to meet contracts, but JC is a oneman band with a 2 year lead time so what would he do with a wartime contract?

I’d like specific details of what people see that makes GW superior and why even the best efforts of the competition can’t match a wartime mass produced original please.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 374 (members: 6, guests: 368)

Latest posts

Share this page

Top