Aero vs BK

[Brettafett]

Was wondering what you guys think?
BK seems to have upped their game, now with the Victory Horse available.
For those of you who are lucky enough to have owned both a Kelso and an Aero A-2, how would you compare quality, workmanship, etc...?
Take a chance on a BK or go with a trusted Aero?

 

[richard gerrard]

I would stay with aero I own a real deal in seal which I have had for four years.I can't comment on the BK as I have never owned one but they look like a very well made jacket.Good Luck what ever you decide.

 

[aswatland]

If you want a well made accurate repro then you can't go wrong with the latest BK A2s.

 

[Jeff M]

I own several Aeros, and purchased a M422 from BK last fall.
I have been very pleased with all of my Aero's. Construction, material, first rate.
The only one I was not pleased with was an A2 I purchased from them about a year ago.
It was too short in the body and arms and too tight across the chest. Contacted them....sent it back, and they made me a new one that fit just right.

I ordered my BK based on reviews and photos I'd seen here and over at the Vintage Leather Forum. Looked like a nice design, with nice leather.
The jacket was very disappointing.
Length was WAY to long in the body and sleeves for a standard size 44, body WAY too large across the torso, and the leather was very stiff. I own several vintage M422s and G1's, and Good Wear repro M422's, so have a good baseline for comparison.
Looking back at the photos others have posted of their BK M422's, I believe I can now see those same issues with those jackets.

Re; the BK's "Victory Horse" leather....I would suggest not getting caught up in the marketing hype.
You can easily misjudge the "quality" of a leather based on photos.
The leather used on my M422 was advertised by BK as being high quality hide. Photos looked great. In person....not so great.

When I posted a critique of the jacket over at the VLJ forum, BK commented that they were coming out with a BETTER hide soon. Gee, thanks. This always seems to be the case with some manufacturers. Their current hide (with an eye catching name) is FANTASTIC!!....until a few months later they seem to find something they like better.

BK came out with their "Victory Hide" several months ago. They seem to have had a shortage of it...which may or may not be fixed. Raw material availability seems to be a recurrent problem for them.

Around the time I ordered my M422 there were delays in folks receiving their BK orders reportedly because BK didn't have components on hand....zippers, leather, vintage mouton, etc.
I waited till BK stated they had all the materials for jacket production before ordering mine. I confirmed with them they had everything needed to complete my order. Was quoted a time of 2 to 3 weeks for delivery.
Got my jacket 4 months later.
Another fellow ordered an A2 from them the same time I placed my order...also asked them if they had everything they needed to complete the jacket. Was told yes, and given a 2 to 3 week estimate for delivery.
He received his jacket a few weeks after I received mine. When he contacted them asking why the delay..was told they didn't have the leather on hand. [huh]

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Well..BK is certainly the main advertiser on the VLJ. Can't tell just who's Andy(or who's only another employee). OK...I guess. Way to get a foot in the door. Ebay write-ups have been something else,though. Strange marketing. Sign of the times maybe..? [huh]
HD

 

[bretron]

Let the cat fight begin

 

[kojax]

i am thinking of getting a bill kelso a2 steve mcqueen jacket. it looks preety nice on facebook

 

[hpalapdog]

Let the cat fight begin

 

[Sloan1874]

 

[chamboid]

Jeff just doesn't like em' I ordered a Kelso Roughwear 23380, was quoted 6 weeks and got it in 5 a great jacket, and excellent customer service. I have since picked up a Kelso G&F M-422a and like Jeff, own quite a few g-1 and two m-422a made by G&F and they fit long, the jacket is a good repro. Aero seem to have had more troubles, and for accuracy seem way of at the moment, though that has been vowed to change. From my experience I'd say Kelso

 

[Blackadder]

First of all, I just bought one A-2 from each of BK and Aero before Christmas. Both are their respective budget jackets. BK's stitching looks better than Aero. Aero's knit is thicker and feels better than BK. Since both of mine I believe are chrome-tanned, I can't comment on the new Victorian Horsehide which is stated as veg-tanned. One thing though I notice is BKs jackets come kind of heavily creased and more relaxed whilst Aero's are quite neat and rigid in form.

 

[bretron]

The earlier Kelsos definitely had crappier knits, but I was all but positive that they made the switch to the thicker/more accurate ones, no? Everyone but Jeff seems to be in love with their new BKs ;P

(Jeff, no offense meant- honestly, just trying to keep the bubbling pot stirrin)

 

[Jeff M]

No offense taken.
No "dog" in this fight. Just telling my experience with my BK M422.
Here are some photos I've posted before.
My BK M422, a vintage Edmund T Church, and a Good Wear M422 Monarch;

My size 44 BK M422 W&G;

A vintage size 42 Edmund T. Chuch M422;

A size 46 Goodwear M422 Monarch;

It is what it is.

Look closely at where the sleeves and jacket length hit. 100% tunneling at the sleeves, back of body knits over riding the top seem of my back pockets.
I stand 5' 9", 185#. I take a size 44 in a vintage M422/G1.
I gave the BK to my son, who stands 6'4". The length was just right on him...though still too large across the belly.
You can get a bit of an idea of the cut across the waist..but not the full impact. The Church and Good Wear are comfortably snug across the waist. The BK has a lot of space. If I had a big beer belly, the waist fit would be fine.

Re; the leather quality....you can get an idea of the stiffness of the BK by looking at how the leather drapes on the frontal shots of the sleeves...but again, not the full feel of it. The Church is of course broken in, soft, conforms to my body/movement. The Good Wear hide is almost as comfortable as the Church..I'd say 95%. The BK is stiff. No other way to put it. The only comparison I can make is to a new Aero FQHH jacket before the leather has broken in. Take away the differences in the leather weight and just concentrate on the lack of flexibility.

I own/have owned 30 + A2/M422/G1 jackets over the years....repro and authentic....in addition to 20+ leather jackets by other companies. My wife has seen them all. She is oblivious to leather jacket design/quality. When I put on the BK for these photos, she asked "what's wrong with that jacket?" First time she ever made such a comment.
Maybe I just got a bad one. Maybe all their other jackets have been great. All I can comment on is what I have experience with.

 

[nick123]

Jeff M is right though about the BK goatskin being stiff. I didn't personally see it as a nuisance (I have no experience handling originals, just other repros), but it was noticeably stiff.

 

[aswatland]

I own a BK W&G M422 in a size 44 and have worn it quite a bit over the past 6 months. The goatskin is thick but is breaking in nicely now and the build quality is excellent. I would highly recommend it.

 

[Justhandguns]

Ok, I have two Aero A-2 and a BK Dubow. I have written a comparisons articles somewhere in Chinese a while ago, between an Aero, Eastman and BK.

Here are some pics, look at them for yourself, I am not making comments here.

The different weights of the jackets

The knits, the Aero and the BK are virtually brand new when the photos were taken

The stitches and seams

The different epaulets

The leathers and the different collar designs

 

[nick123]

Kelso's stitching looks great!

 

[andyfalzon]

Jeff,
We welcome critique but at least say the truth.
You ordered your jacket on 29 July 2012 and we shipped it on 27 Sept. 2012. That's 2 months in my calendar, not 4 that you said. In the meantime, we were closed for 15 days in August. There is one person sewing jackets and he is entitled holidays.
There is a warning on our website that in extreme cases turnaround can be 2 months. We never exceeded that.
For your jacket we advised 2-3 weeks relying on the tannery's delivery of moutons on time. It didn't happen. We are sorry.
Please note we had mouton at the time to complete your jacket, but chose to wait to put better quality mouton on your jacket.

Regarding the stiff goatskin, yes, from that batch of goatskins there were some stiff skins.

Although you bought your jacket 9 months ago, you keep coming every time to comment about the stiffness of the hides, like if we have an unlimited stock of stiff hides or a 100 year contract with the supplier.
No, we don't have unlimited stock of stiff hides. Stiff hides ran out and are not coming back.
We listen to customers' feedback and always strive to improve the product. Every jacket we make is better than the previous so to speak. The new generation of Navy jackets won't have stiff hides.

Regarding the Victory horse, yes sometimes pictures can be deceiving. That's why we post many of them, they can't all be deceiving. Also, that's why we send out samples. That's why we have a full money back guarantee, shipping costs included for the jackets.

I admit that something went wrong with the size of your jacket, we shouldn't have given you the 44R. We never had any problems before with anyone who bought regular. Anyway, I will contact you to fix that, should have done already but something always kept me. I beg your pardon.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Great comparisons,JH..!!
Thanks
HD

 

[majormajor]

Ok, I have two Aero A-2 and a BK Dubow. I have written a comparisons articles somewhere in Chinese a while ago, between an Aero, Eastman and BK.

Here are some pics, look at them for yourself, I am not making comments here.

The different weights of the jackets

The knits, the Aero and the BK are virtually brand new when the photos were taken

The stitches and seams

The different epaulets

The leathers and the different collar designs

Excellent comparison pics, JH. Big thanks!