Repro "Hookless" zip

[Hawkeye]

Available in both brass and nickel. Expensive but it looks pretty damn good.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hookless-Talon-zi ... 3:3|294:50

 

[John Lever]

That seems a very high price.
I wonder how much they cost to make $5 ?

 

[asiamiles]

That seems a very high price.
I wonder how much they cost to make $5 ?

I don't know, but I was told BR charged 12,000 yen to replace a B-2 zip.

 

[deeb7]

I don't know, but I was told BR charged 12,000 yen to replace a B-2 zip.

Yes, ￥12,000～ for the replacement on an exchange basis, but Parts alone will NOT be sold.

That seems a very high price.
I wonder how much they cost to make $5 ?

I'm sure that we could get the unit price down .... you want to split a thousand?

 

[John Lever]

HPA gave me a free zip when I ordered my B-2. If they cost $140 I doubt they would have done that.

 

[asiamiles]

HPA gave me a free zip when I ordered my B-2. If they cost $140 I doubt they would have done that.

As David (deeb7) said, BR don't sell any of their parts, so there's no set value for such a zip. Obviously they don't cost anywhere in the region of $140 each to manufacture. Presumably BR put in an order for X number of zippers, maybe twice as many as the B-2's they make, so I guess they sent a few spares to HPA in case any of their buyers ended up with broken zips, but not sure how some ended up in the hands of this Taiwanese seller...I wonder if they are really made in Japan? I'd like to have a spare myself, just in case the tear in mine gets worse to the point that it needs replacing, but I wouldn't really want to pay more than $50 for one...it's not like these are 80-year old originals.

 

[John Lever]

They might be quite difficult to shorten if too long.
Mine has a rivet at the bottom.

 

[bristolherc]

They might be quite difficult to shorten if too long.
Mine has a rivet at the bottom.

They're shortened at the top John. Measured for length, then the unwanted teeth are snipped off with sharp nosed side cutters, new upper slider stops are crimped onto each tape and the excess tape trimmed off, leaving enough to be folded in to the collar or windflap.

BEVAN

 

[John Lever]

They might be quite difficult to shorten if too long.
Mine has a rivet at the bottom.

They're shortened at the top John. Measured for length, then the unwanted teeth are snipped off with sharp nosed side cutters, new upper slider stops are crimped onto each tape and the excess tape trimmed off, leaving enough to be folded in to the collar or windflap.

BEVAN

I can imagine me doing that and buggering it up !
Measure twice, cut once ...

 

[Grant]

Anyone ever see an original Hookless zip on an original flight jacket? Not me. Only on 1920's flight coveralls.
Always puzzled me why ELC and Buzz use em.

 

[bristolherc]

Anyone ever see an original Hookless zip on an original flight jacket? Not me. Only on 1920's flight coveralls.
Always puzzled me why ELC and Buzz use em.

Seen two original B-2's, a sz 44 I bought for the Few and a sz 48 I tried on in Kyoto. Both had fan shaped #7 Talons on all three zips, not Hookless.

Bevan.

 

[asiamiles]

BR's first model B-2 had a Talon zip, but as with their 37J1 they went with Hookless zippers for their second models...not sure what was on their originals.