Alpha Industries M65 Field Jacket

[Peacoat]

Does the hood stay inside the collar or can it drop down the back of the coat between the shell and the liner? I only ask because in some photos the hood is clearly rolled up inside the collar and in others the collar is so thin the hood either was removed or shoved down the back. I have an Israeli bomber jacket in which the foldaway hood goes down the back. In the two photos below it looks like the hoods might be down the back.

View attachment 255376 View attachment 255377

On both of mine, the hood stays inside the collar.

 

[Doctor Damage]

On both of mine, the hood stays inside the collar.

Thanks. That makes sense. The structure of the jacket would be weird otherwise.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I bought a new Helikon Tex M65 in olive - three weeks in. Compared to my Alpha from 2007 it is very similar - very slightly lighter. The fabric seems solid and the manufacture and stitching quality is very neat and tidy. Certainly far better QC than my Australian army issue M65 from 25 years ago which had errant stitching all over.

Size Euro Medium/US Small fits me like a large - I'm six two, 185 pounds. Nice, long sleeves. I can wear a shirt and sweater underneath. It's a good jacket but the real test is 5 years on of wear and washing, so reviews like this are pretty inconclusive.

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Trenchfriend]

But the one and only is his first and decolorized M65 (George's property)!

 

[Sonero]

^ Is this guy a British Actor ?

 

[MrProper]

^ Is this guy a British Actor ?

A German one Götz George
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0313443/?ref_=fn_al_nm_0

 

[Sonero]

A German one Götz George
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0313443/?ref_=fn_al_nm_0

Thanks. I will look him up. I like the way he wears the jacket.

The sand colored M65 definitely adds another dimension to the look. I own one myself. I would wear it very differently than I would one in black or Olive. It reads more Safari/Explorer.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

One of 2 originals from @1973-74.
47 yrs young and still a go to.
B

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

A very nice repop from @1993 in goat. I truly love wearing this one.
B

 

[Doctor Damage]

But the one and only is his first and decolorized M65 (George's property)!

He tears it off at the end of this collection of highlights and tosses it off the roof of a building. Maybe you can explain?

 

[Doctor Damage]

One of 2 originals from @1973-74.
47 yrs young and still a go to.

A very nice repop from @1993 in goat. I truly love wearing this one.

Great looking jackets, thanks for posting. Interesting to see the leather version looks good: other cloth jackets have been made in leather and they just don't translate, like USN peacoats.

 

[Trenchfriend]

He tears it off at the end of this collection of highlights and tosses it off the roof of a building. Maybe you can explain?

Schimanski quit the job in the last episode on Tatort, 1991, and did a symbolic end, throwing the M65 away.
And then:

But it wasn't the very first M65 from 1981. This 1991's is camel, not decolorized and dirt-grey.

 

[Seb Lucas]

View attachment 264986 A very nice repop from @1993 in goat. I truly love wearing this one.
B

Great stuff. Before the internet, in the late 1980's I spent years trying to track down a leather M65. I occasionally saw them advertised in US gun mags, but I was never brave enough or rich enough to order own back then. I think Cooper and Avirex made some - who did that one?

 

[Doctor Damage]

Schimanski quit the job in the last episode on Tatort, 1991, and did a symbolic end, throwing the M65 away.
And then:

But it wasn't the very first M65 from 1981. This 1991's is camel, not decolorized and dirt-grey.

Thanks for the explanation of that scene. By the way, what you refer to as decolourized is what here in N America we would call "stone", basically a near-white.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Thanks for the explanation of that scene. By the way, what you refer to as decolourized is what here in N America we would call "stone", basically a near-white.

This first Schimanski jacket was Götz George's private M65.

The jacket was originally khaki, but the production team disagreed with the "paramilitary" look, so Götz had the idea to cut off the epaulettes and let the requisite decolor the jacket. And so they did. And Schimanski's tramp-jacket was born.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Great stuff. Before the internet, in the late 1980's I spent years trying to track down a leather M65. I occasionally saw them advertised in US gun mags, but I was never brave enough or rich enough to order own back then. I think Cooper and Avirex made some - who did that one?

Hey Seb:
Thank you. I had to laugh and think back. Same story here. I thought a leather M65 would be cool but had never seen one. It was a much different world trying to look for things. Magazine advertising was about the only way to find specialty things. I believe it was a sporting magazine that i saw this one from Cooper in and the moment i saw it i had to have it no matter the cost. At the time it was expensive at @$300 but 3 EZ payments and they shipped it before any payment was made.
Cooper claimed it to be an exact replica of the M65 but without the hidden hood (a good thing) and added hand warmers which made it perfect imo. It has that feel that only an M65 has if not a little better.
Reflecting back it may have been 2003 not 93’, i lost track of about a decade back then somehow. Lol
B

 

[Trenchfriend]

It has that feel that only an M65 has if not a little better.

You mean the good feeling to could sleep in the jacket?

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

You mean the good feeling to could sleep in the jacket?

Ha ha
That would describe exactly what an M65 feels like because you did.
B

 

[Trenchfriend]

Ha ha
That would describe exactly what an M65 feels like because you did.
B

I didn't, but my storebrand cotton fieldjacket from Karstadt got such a cozy feeling.