One Good Wear A-2 to Choose

[grommet]

A related question:
Is there a consensus about the most comfortable fitting A2, either original or repro (i.e. Good Wear)?

 

[johnwayne]

I'll go with Zoomer on this - JC's Doniger is one special jacket, having said that Ive not got any other GW's to compare but when compared say to my ELC's (and I'm not 'putting them down' in anyway) wearing it feels every bit as good as my original Dubow in terms of how it fits, how comfortable it is and just 'the feel' on my back, so to speak!!

Looking forward to JC's new A1 too - anyone know how far off he his from its birth??

Cheers
Wayne

 

[Marv]

I'd have to go with JC's Goodwear RW 27752 as this is my favourite A2 type at the mo.......

 

[blethook]

I have to agree with Victor re ELC's Monarch. I have the pre warhorse hide and it is an excellent A-2 with excellent HH(however, not sure if I would want to spend another £600+ on the new ELC Monarch). On mine the hide is thin (much like the ELC Werber), particularly on the collar. It started smooth (non-warhorse after all) but now is starting to develop grain.

Mine was bought earlier in the year (Sch No 0207 on the paper tag). There have been comments about the ELC Monarch sizing (i.e., being too generous - Mine is a 38 vs. my usual size 40) but I'm not sure if the generous sizing still applies to the newer version. I would say the ELC Monarch is the best fitting ELC A-2 to date (for me). Of course, ELC A-1 is still the "King" of ELC repros - at least for me However, the thing I hate about ELC repros is the knits (so weak, almost hydrophobic, IMO).

i have some of chappys a-2s, and each is nicer then the next. that said, i would like to draw your attention to garys new monarch. this new monarch is some piece of work. trust me on this. the elc site pics do not do it justice, as the fit [unique to monarchs]and the hides are quite remarkable. imho

Victor, you must have lucky in the hide chosen for your ELC Monarch. I handled several of Gary's new Monarchs at Duxford back in the summer, but found the leather to be too thick and not particularly close in character to the hh used on original Monarchs. Perhaps you can post some pics of your new Monarch and you wearing it so we can see how it differs from the example on the site.

 

[Steve Canyon]

i have some of chappys a-2s, and each is nicer then the next. that said, i would like to draw your attention to garys new monarch. this new monarch is some piece of work. trust me on this. the elc site pics do not do it justice, as the fit [unique to monarchs]and the hides are quite remarkable. imho

Victor, you must have lucky in the hide chosen for your ELC Monarch. I handled several of Gary's new Monarchs at Duxford back in the summer, but found the leather to be too thick and not particularly close in character to the hh used on original Monarchs. Perhaps you can post some pics of your new Monarch and you wearing it so we can see how it differs from the example on the site.

Recently I received an ELC Monarch, some peace of work indeed (photo).
I usually wear an A-2 jacket open. However, the Monarch has a vintage Talon zipper with rather sharp teeth: within a week a have growing wear on the leather where the right cuff meets the right sleeve. Next step could be a hole in the (weak) cuff. Maybe a less sharper zipper after sandpaper treatment...
(As the left part of the zip is protected, no wear on the left sleeve.)

 

[Roughwear]

Steve, could you please post some close-ups of the leather? BTW it looks as if the wristlets have completely disintegrated from your photo!

 

[tater]

Howdy,

new here (been lurking un-registered for a while). At this point, I'm trying to sort out which GW contract to pick. I'm a 38 or 40 size wise I think. I'm 5'6", and 145-150lbs (pre and post Thanksgiving ). 38-39 chest ~33 inch waist (wear 32s, go figure).

Not sure which contract I should get. For now anyway (I can understand making a habit of buying these) it will be a well-used jacket, whichever I pick. I want russet HH, and an "authentic" fit—which to me means within the range of what would be expected had I been issued one for real during the war (not sure if that makes me fussy about fit or not). Luckily I have a 30" monitor, I tiled 8 on screen, then took a screenshot so I could resize that, then take a screenshot of the 3/4 view to look at 8 at a time in 2 views. They all look great.

One other question, as issued, would they all have a USAAF stencil/decal on the shoulder?

Thanks for interesting reading, BTW, I love the minutiae of this (or anything, I suppose).

 

[deeb7]

One other question, as issued, would they all have a USAAF stencil/decal on the shoulder?

Hello Tater .... don't know how you could lurk unregistered, you shouldn't be able to get past the index page. The shoulder stencil is only correct on a late war issued, or depot refurbished A-2.

I didn't see any other questions, if you're needing help with the sizing, it's probably best to ask John Chapman ... he makes em.

 

[tater]

One other question, as issued, would they all have a USAAF stencil/decal on the shoulder?

Hello Tater .... don't know how you could lurk unregistered, you shouldn't be able to get past the index page. The shoulder stencil is only correct on a late war issued, or depot refurbished A-2.

I didn't see any other questions, if you're needing help with the sizing, it's probably best to ask John Chapman ... he makes em.

You are correct, that must have been the FL site. Just signed up for both, same time.

Stencil information is useful. Thank you.

Wasn't specific sizing, more like anything that would stop me from looking at 8 jackets and liking all of 'em Sort of a "what you really want is X."

If I at least narrow it down to a few, then I can always convince myself to buy them serially and I won't have to fret over the choice.

 

[deeb7]

Wasn't specific sizing, more like anything that would stop me from looking at 8 jackets and liking all of 'em Sort of a "what you really want is X."

Oh I see, nah, round here we're more likely to look at 8 jackets, and like all of 'em.

And you can see from this thread, if you ask about favourites, you'll get 8 different answers ... better start saving.

 

[tater]

Later conversation to wife: "Sorry, honey, the jacket guys just told me to buy all of them."

I suppose I could say this (and blame you lot): "They also said someone with 150 pairs of shoes shouldn't have a problem with that."

 

[deeb7]

You got it, there is no one right answer, find a contract you like, and go from there.

Further down the track you can be keeping a couple at work, and finding an alternative shipping address.

 

[Silver Surfer]

aiding and abetting.

 

[zoomer]

In the long run it might be easier - certainly no cheaper - to teach yourself to make jackets. Then you can go nuts trying to source leather, knits, findings... :geek: