What jacket(s) are you wearing at the moment?

[ausreenactor]

Sad day Gents...

Slinging those weights at PT has 'shrunk' my ELC Monarch. So made a big decision... no more weights.

 

[John Lever]

35 year old Eastman B3

 

[Pa12]

Sad day Gents...

Slinging those weights at PT has 'shrunk' my ELC Monarch. So made a big decision... no more weights.

You don’t want to get too big anyways. Spend all your energy carrying the bulk.

 

[M. from Berlin]

Hello Gents,
Levi’s Clothing and Dubow A-2!
Best from Berlin
Mario

 

[ties70]

FiveStar, GAP and Thorogood plus French farmhouse from the 17th century... Vacation in the Amboise area, Loire Valley.

 

[Smithy]

That time of the year again...

Rainy, very windy and chilly for much of the day. Had some stuff to do in the garden so dragged the Wehrmacht 1944 Pattern reversible winter parka out today. No photo but got more stuff to do tomorrow so will take a snap for the thread.

Possibly the most practical jacket/coat that I own for doing manual labour in. Bloody love it.

 

[B-Man2]

That time of the year again...

Rainy, very windy and chilly for much of the day. Had some stuff to do in the garden so dragged the Wehrmacht 1944 Pattern reversible winter parka out today. No photo but got more stuff to do tomorrow so will take a snap for the thread.

Possibly the most practical jacket/coat that I own for doing manual labour in. Bloody love it.

Tim
Nice …. After a good review like that you’ve got to post a photo of it . Is it an ATF repro or some other company ?

 

[Smithy]

Tim
Nice …. After a good review like that you’ve got to post a photo of it . Is it an ATF repro or some other company ?

Hi Burt,

It's the ATF repro. They are bloody amazing and probably one of ATF's most accurate repros of anything they have done. Not only that but they are built like a brick shithouse - I've worn and used mine for manual labour for 3 years now and it laughs it off.

Honestly if the zombie apocalypse or WWIII happened this is the coat I would leave the house in. None of the others.

Old picture from when it was new. This is the revised 44 pattern (with strengthening in the elbows and "darts" in the hood construction). The camouflage is the M1943 Sumpftarn pattern.

 

[B-Man2]

Hi Burt,

It's the ATF repro. They are bloody amazing and probably one of ATF's most accurate repros of anything they have done. Not only that but they are built like a brick shithouse - I've worn and used mine for manual labour for 3 years now and it laughs it off.

Honestly if the zombie apocalypse or WWIII happened this is the coat I would leave the house in. None of the others.

Old picture from when it was new. This is the revised 44 pattern (with strengthening in the elbows and "darts" in the hood construction). The camouflage is the M1943 Sumpftarn pattern.

It looks like it’s built like their Tiger Tank!
I’ll have to check them out . I had one that I bought off of CBI . He gave me a great deal but A friend of mine was crazy for it, so I let it go . The usual sellers remorse followed. So thanks for posting. Time to check out the ATF website .
Cheers mate !

 

[Smithy]

It looks like it’s built like their Tiger Tank!
I’ll have to check them out . I had one that I bought off of CBI . He gave me a great deal but A friend of mine was crazy for it, so I let it go . The usual sellers remorse followed. So thanks for posting. Time to check out the ATF website .
Cheers mate !

ATF's are the closest I've seen to the "heft" of originals. We had a couple at the museum here because quite a few Norwegians fought in the Waffen-SS so they were SS versions. Apart from the outer camouflage though, the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS parkas are the same. I bought one back in the 00s which was shit, it was like a puffer jacket.

Originals are heavy but not puffy. The ATF versions are spot on. I'd love another in "Splinter".

Conclusion...they are terrific parkas and just so practical.

 

[Kermit3D]

@Kermit3D, regarding the sizing issue on B-3 jackets, I dimly recalled there being a thread on this in the past, so I did a little digging. I think this provides (some?) answers:

Original A-2s in long?

I've read a discussion on Facebook recently, where a guy firmly stated that long sizes of A-2 jackets existed in WW2. He provided pictures of original B3 labels that had "Regular" next to the size number. Consequently, he said, there were long/ large versions too. He hasn't posted any proof...

www.vintageleatherjackets.org

Great ! Thanks a lot, I didn't know about this thread.
So from what I can read, B-3 jackets were available with several variations for each size... and so were B-6 jackets.

 

[mulceber]

I think it's a bit ambiguous. On paper, yes, definitely. But I don't think anyone's actually encountered a B-3 or B-6 in a long size. So maybe they existed, or maybe it was something the AAF was contemplating, and it made its way into the AAF catalog, but they never actually pursued it.

 

[Kermit3D]

Funny that you mention the German parka. I was just looking at this one on the ATF website and thinking... "I don't have a parka... I'll need this".

WWII German Mouse Gray Parka | ATF

Top quality reproduction WW2 German 'mouse gray' parkas, reversible to white. Issued to Heer and Luftwaffe troops 1942-45. These are patterned, sized and color matched to original examples.

www.atthefront.com

And I just saw that it's out of stock
Any alternative to suggest ? from another manufacturer ?

 

[Dany McDonald]

SM Wholesale USA — WWII GERMAN MOUSE GRAY WINTER PARKA

Our parkas are the best reproductions available today. They are made exactly like the originals using heavy 8 oz. 100% rayon fabric and sewn on the same machines and production methods used in WWII. They feature resin or pebble metal buttons on the gray side and large white paper, resin or pebble b

www.smwholesaleusa.com

Very, very good reproductions but with the price that comes with it... The research in reproducing german camo is amazing...

Have fun discovering the entire catalogue.

Dany

 

[ausreenactor]

Funny that you mention the German parka. I was just looking at this one on the ATF website and thinking... "I don't have a parka... I'll need this".

WWII German Mouse Gray Parka | ATF

Top quality reproduction WW2 German 'mouse gray' parkas, reversible to white. Issued to Heer and Luftwaffe troops 1942-45. These are patterned, sized and color matched to original examples.

www.atthefront.com

And I just saw that it's out of stock
Any alternative to suggest ? from another manufacturer ?

I just took a look. I used to buy multiples of what I thought I would need.

USMC stuff will never be made again. The N-4 won't be back. N-1s ... probably not. Have the Ike and Class A jackets.

Buy them when you can team...

 

[Kermit3D]

SM Wholesale USA — WWII GERMAN MOUSE GRAY WINTER PARKA

Our parkas are the best reproductions available today. They are made exactly like the originals using heavy 8 oz. 100% rayon fabric and sewn on the same machines and production methods used in WWII. They feature resin or pebble metal buttons on the gray side and large white paper, resin or pebble b

www.smwholesaleusa.com

Very, very good reproductions but with the price that comes with it... The research in reproducing german camo is amazing...

Have fun discovering the entire catalogue.

Dany

Yeah I had seen that parka. It looks like an excellent, high quality reproduction.
But $350... it's expensive. Maybe it's worth the price considering the quality, but I'm not ready to put that price.
I'll make a dedicated thread about German parkas to share my researches.

 

[Dany McDonald]

Hi kermit,

I know its steep, but compared with other cloth repros (N-1/B10), its not that bad.

No hardware like zippers and expensive alpaca and fur collar are needed but the R&D and printing challenges are fulfilled, in the camo versions.

I remember that his Zeltbahns were the best out there at one point, extremely close to originals.

D

 

[Sideslip]

GW Monarch m422. Low angle due to photographer being 11 years old.

 

[Dany McDonald]

GW Monarch m422.

What a perfect fit!

 

[Spitfireace]

This G-1 will always be the one.