My last A-2 (hopefully) - Good Wear

[Brettafett]

Yes, you can clearly see the drape of A-2s in some colour WWW2 clips... Its obvious.
Jorge has an almost mint original (maybe more), Id love to hear his opinion on the leather. That said it would still be over 80- years old!

 

[mulceber]

The chrome tanning is extremely polluting and I still have a problem with my conscience... but I think it's an essential element to get a jacket really close to an original.

If I were to buy a new A-2 (and put my ecological sensibilities aside), then I would definitely ask John for chrome tanned leather, ideally horsehide, but cowhide sounds great.

The good news is that there is still a little bit of chrome tanning that's done in countries like the US, EU and Japan - it's just much more expensive for the tanneries doing it than it used to be, since the tanneries have to clean up after themselves, dispose of the chemicals in a responsible way, etc. Not too many tanneries bother though, since, from their perspective, if you're going to go to all that trouble, you might as well just make vegetable tanned leather. But there is some ecologically responsible chromium-tanned leather out there.

 

[Nickb123]

Yes, you can clearly see the drape of A-2s in some colour WWW2 clips... Its obvious.
Jorge has an almost mint original (maybe more), Id love to hear his opinion on the leather. That said it would still be over 80- years old!

My neighbor had 4 or 5 originals in varying sizes (even a size 50). All were about as stiff as a soft blanket! Hard to tell what they must have felt like in the 1940s. Actually, if comparing just the jackets purely, while those were definitely more comfortable, I think the feel would be a bit of a let down, as we’re so used to our “substantial” feeling repros.

 

[entertainment]

I SEEM to recall JC telling me that Victoria uses both chrome and vegetable tanning on its horsehide (i.e., on the same hide), similar to the process for Chromexcel from Horween (although I can't find the exact email at the moment). Here is a pretty interesting blog post about the manufacture of Chromexcel.

Chromexcel® — Horween Leather Co.

Chromexcel. One of my favorites, and probably my single favorite if I had to choose one. The picture above gives some idea of how long the formula has been around (and this journal is full of different trials and doesn't even contain the original, standardized recipe).

www.horween.com

 

[33-1729]

Around 80% of the global leather production is chrome-tanned today, such as Horween’s Chromexcel. There have been a number of efforts over the years to regulate the [originally toxic] waste streams, perhaps people are confusing the effort of cleaning the chrome-tanning waste streams with the chrome-tanning process itself?

https://www.afirm-group.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/afirm_chromium_VI_v3.pdf

https://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch09/final/c9s15.pdf

 

[mulceber]

Around 80% of the global leather production is chrome-tanned today, such as Horween’s Chromexcel. There have been a number of efforts over the years to regulate the [originally toxic] waste streams, perhaps people are confusing the effort of cleaning the chrome-tanning waste streams with the chrome-tanning process itself?

https://www.afirm-group.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/afirm_chromium_VI_v3.pdf

https://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch09/final/c9s15.pdf

That's fair, but keep in mind that I was only speaking of the US, EU, and Japan. The overwhelming majority of that 80% figure you quoted is likely coming out of countries that don't have stringent environmental protection laws in place, and that, for that exact reason, produce the majority of the world's leather.

 

[ButteMT61]

That's fair, but keep in mind that I was only speaking of the US, EU, and Japan. The overwhelming majority of that 80% figure you quoted is likely coming out of countries that don't have stringent environmental protection laws in place, and that, for that exact reason, produce the majority of the world's leather.

The US is riding high on "clean" as we've sent all (most) of our dirty industries to places like China, India, and Viet Nam as they have nothing like the EPA there. We're playing fast with "clean" facts to look superior, and it's a joke. Not to mention, those places likely will never be like the US with strict environmental laws as it would relinquish way too much power.

 

[33-1729]

Thank you for the feedback. I dug through a number of references and found a couple items of note. One shows a map of the top leather producing countries and the second is a map of chromium pollution from tanneries. The first map shows Italy (?) producing almost twice as much leather as the US or both combined about the same as China alone and Japan didn’t make this list (as mulcebar noted). The second map showing pollution is more about showing what countries have looser pollution controls than others, as the US tans around 80 to 90% of its leather with chrome.

 

[MaydayWei]

So how many millions of square feet of leather is the ideal amount for the utmost WW2 accuracy?

 

[33-1729]

To place these numbers in perspective, the Rough Wear 42-1401-P contract for 30,000 A-2 jackets would take about one million square feet of leather.

And, back to topic, has anyone ordered one of the Rough Wear 42-1671-P jackets from Good Wear? If so, can we please see a picture?

 

[saucerfiend]

Definitely, NOT my last! And, on the way!

 

[mulceber]

Incredible!

 

[SuinBruin]

Wow, that is a jacket.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

The Romans had a goddess called Fortuna. By rights I should just be patiently watching this thread with some popcorn. Call it dumb luck or whatever but here we are. And who doesn't like a bit of a teaser eh?

 

[mulceber]

So this is a surprise. A few days ago, I got a call from John asking if I wanted a test jacket, a Switlik M-422 that was made of a new goatskin he's found from a leather produced in the old tanning town of Gloversville, NY. I get the feeling John is on a bit of Switlik kick right now, because between Brian's B-1 and this Navy jacket, he's made at least two in the last month. Anyway, I said "absolutely!" as I've thought the Switlik M-422 looked really cool ever since I participated in the "a better fighting garment" project. Anyway, the postman just dropped it off today!

And a couple fit pics. I'll try to post some better ones this evening when both my wife and I are home:

 

[SuinBruin]

So this is a surprise. A few days ago, I got a call from John asking if I wanted a test jacket, a Switlik M-422 that was made of a new goatskin he's found from a leather produced in the old tanning town of Gloversville, NY. I get the feeling John is on a bit of Switlik kick right now, because between Brian's B-1 and this Navy jacket, he's made at least two in the last month. Anyway, I said "absolutely!" as I've thought the Switlik M-422 looked really cool ever since I participated in the "a better fighting garment" project. Anyway, the postman just dropped it off today!
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And a couple fit pics. I'll try to post some better ones this evening when both my wife and I are home:
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JFC, Chapman won't rest until we're all bankrupt

 

[ausreenactor]

So this is a surprise. A few days ago, I got a call from John asking if I wanted a test jacket, a Switlik M-422 that was made of a new goatskin he's found from a leather produced in the old tanning town of Gloversville, NY. I get the feeling John is on a bit of Switlik kick right now, because between Brian's B-1 and this Navy jacket, he's made at least two in the last month. Anyway, I said "absolutely!" as I've thought the Switlik M-422 looked really cool ever since I participated in the "a better fighting garment" project. Anyway, the postman just dropped it off today!
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And a couple fit pics. I'll try to post some better ones this evening when both my wife and I are home:
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Where is the 'Switlik'?

They're still doing Aviation related products?

 

[ausreenactor]

JFC, Chapman won't rest until we're all bankrupt

You can say no!

 

[YoungMedic]

So this is a surprise. A few days ago, I got a call from John asking if I wanted a test jacket, a Switlik M-422 that was made of a new goatskin he's found from a leather produced in the old tanning town of Gloversville, NY. I get the feeling John is on a bit of Switlik kick right now, because between Brian's B-1 and this Navy jacket, he's made at least two in the last month. Anyway, I said "absolutely!" as I've thought the Switlik M-422 looked really cool ever since I participated in the "a better fighting garment" project. Anyway, the postman just dropped it off today!
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WOW! That's my kind of April Fools Joke

 

[mulceber]

Where is the 'Switlik'?

They're still doing Aviation related products?

Yep: https://switlik.com/