Alpha Industries M65 Field Jacket

[Doctor Damage]

Finally got one of those Alpha M-65 jackets, made in China civilian spec, in Schimanski tan colour. It's damned thick and heavy, even though it's relatively new and made for the civilian market. The size is large and it's huge in the chest (26") although once the drawstrings are snugged up it actually fits quite well. Worth the price, frankly. The only negative is the velcro cuffs don't snug up as far as they should.

 

[Peacoat]

Finally got one of those Alpha M-65 jackets, made in China civilian spec, in Schimanski tan colour. It's damned thick and heavy, even though it's relatively new and made for the civilian market. The size is large and it's huge in the chest (26") although once the drawstrings are snugged up it actually fits quite well. Worth the price, frankly. The only negative is the velcro cuffs don't snug up as far as they should.

When your weather gets cold let us know how warm it is.

Did a liner come with it?

 

[Doctor Damage]

When your weather gets cold let us know how warm it is.

Did a liner come with it?

It's already far too cold here for anything like that, haha! No liner, just the jacket. Snagged it off eBay, supposedly new, but I suspect worn once or twice only. Basically mint. It comes out ahead of my Rothco, Mil-Tec, and Tru-Spec versions, which I've talked about before, although it's a pretty close race quality-wise for anyone who's not super nitpicky. the Alpha has the heaviest shell by some distance. On some details the Mil-Tec is slightly better, or at least more authentic to the vintage jackets from the 1960s etc, by contrast the Alpha follows the modernized M-65 spec, with the Tru-Spec the last spec before cancellation.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Has anyone seen one of these high-priced Alpha "Heritage" M65 live?

 

[Doctor Damage]

Colin Farrell in the film "Triage" wearing a civilian M-65.

 

[MichaelRhB]

I wore the jacket for a short time today & it is suprisingly warm even without the liner.

You might not think so if you marched three miles in it when it's 15°F and snowing. Even with the liner, this is not all that warm of a jacket wearing only utilities.

 

[fender62]

of all the 60's and 70's made m65's army issued, in peoples opinion what maker was or considred the best
alpha's ownbeys so sew etc or were they much of muchness quality wise.

 

[Trenchfriend]

of all the 60's and 70's made m65's army issued, in peoples opinion what maker was or considred the best
alpha's ownbeys so sew etc or were they much of muchness quality wise.

Can you please write a little more understandable?

 

[Doctor Damage]

of all the 60's and 70's made m65's army issued, in peoples opinion what maker was or considred the best
alpha's ownbeys so sew etc or were they much of muchness quality wise.

Military suppliers have to follow the mil-specs for whatever garment they're producing but to be clear there is wiggle room and the military isn't going to be too picky about minor issues especially during wartime so quality can vary quite a bit even from the same brand/supplier. When people get into vintage military stuff they want someone to say "buy this item, made in this year, by this supplier" but no such conclusion can be reached. Basically, in terms of the vintage jackets, there won't be a single "best" one. Just look at the photos of the jacket for sale carefully, compare them to photos of other jackets for sale and the photos posted in this thread, and if you do that enough for long enough you'll be able to spot the individual jackets which are better quality.

 

[CatsCan]

For instance, I just bought one only because it has a non brass Talon Zip, not so common. An early one. Running around in a Jacket of the same vintage as me is really cool.

Label was literally falling off, I have to re-attach it or maybe I better put it in a drawer to save it from the washing mashine..

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I was gifted one of those. I think it is either 1966 or 1968. I'd have to check. A couple rips that I repaired with iron-on patches from behind the face of the material, so it is barely noticeable. Those patches are great.

 

[CatsCan]

I am thinking of a patch actually because my "new" 1967 has a tiny tiny burn hole above the right chest pocket. Or maybe a Peace button which would be just about right these days...

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

One of the handy ways they're designed is the layers aren't hemmed closed. You can almost turn them completely inside out without cutting a stitch. Come from the bottom of the jacket. I think one of my tears was right above the chest pocket, where the GI's name was stitched. Can barely tell it is there, though there is obviously a visual stiffening of that section because of the patch. Trying to repair with a whip stitch is usually pointless, because the material is slowly breaking down over nearly 60 years, and a stitch is a lot more obvious than the patch.

 

[CatsCan]

I have patched two very small holes and one big rip and tear from the inside on a N-2 Rain Parka dated 1944. I used thin popline cloth in olive drab # 7 and lightly smeared seam grip around the damaged area and on the face of the patch that went on to stick to the damaged location. It came out great and is hardly visible from the outside. Plus, it is soft and flexible. But for the M-65 I think I could take an iron on patch cut to size and put it from the inside. The hole is just about 2 mm, but it catches your eye. This would not change with the patch, though. Maybe I leave it as is. I am sure it is there since decades. Vintage M65s look so much better to my eye when you can see it has been lived in, has faded through the decades, like a good old pair of jeans.

 

[CombatWombat]

I don't know what the US ones are like but my dad's old "COA Order" one was far too much for Australian humidity levels
How anyone wore these in Asian countries is beyond me

 

[CatsCan]

The winter monsoon season affects parts of Vietnam quite much and can cause a surprisingly cold climate, followed by a wet cold climate, especially in the highlands. Other jackets of the time were not versatile enough, were either summer or winter jackets. The M65 with it's button-in-liner was versatile plus had huge pockets to make soldiers independent for quite a while, when on their own. For wet weather they had a rain parka, which was a sweat hut and with it's pullover type construction quite complicated in it's handling and practicability (is this the right word?), l own one, so I know well. But there was also poncho type rain protection and a button front rain coat. All were sweat huts when weather was very warm and damp. All in all, the US Army was never really capable to adapt to the climate rollercoaster in SE Asia, this was one of the many problems they ran into. This is very interesting stuff to dive into, when interested in the history and development of military clothing systems. You can find the same type of problems in many wars. As Napoleon put it: “The winter was our disaster. We became the victims of Russia's climate.”

 

[CatsCan]

Just for our research: My "new" M65 with the DSA 100-67-C-0126 and Talon Aluminum Zipper (see further above) can be traced back to Ralph Edwards Sportswear Inc. thanks to previous research on Gov databases about contractors via DSA number codes on a Polish forum, and about the company itself on VLJ.
The contract was avarded in July 1966.
It fits me absolutely perfect btw. Too bad, hot summer weather seems to have a comeback for the next few weeks (good though for my plans in Denmark, the West Coast beaches up there are beautiful places when temps are high and the sun is shining from Northern Jutland's famous wide blue sky).

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

This is probably buried somewhere in this thread, so I apologize for any redundency. I was helping someone clean out their basement, and I ran into an old Greenbrier women's field jacket, size 14R, made in 1975. What surprised me was the fake breast pockets. They were just pocket flaps sewn to the chest to look like pockets. Is this normal for women's field jackets? If so, why? I don't think this is an M-65. It has a collar, with points, more similar to the M-51. It also has this neat little sewn on flap that you lay down when the collar is down, but then you can flip it up, and the collar up, and button it across the neck area to close that gap to avoid a draft spot. It's been a while since I had an M-51. Maybe that flap is normal, and I just didn't remember it. Anyone know what jacket this is?

 

[Doctor Damage]

This is probably buried somewhere in this thread, so I apologize for any redundency. I was helping someone clean out their basement, and I ran into an old Greenbrier women's field jacket, size 14R, made in 1975. What surprised me was the fake breast pockets. They were just pocket flaps sewn to the chest to look like pockets. Is this normal for women's field jackets? If so, why? I don't think this is an M-65. It has a collar, with points, more similar to the M-51. It also has this neat little sewn on flap that you lay down when the collar is down, but then you can flip it up, and the collar up, and button it across the neck area to close that gap to avoid a draft spot. It's been a while since I had an M-51. Maybe that flap is normal, and I just didn't remember it. Anyone know what jacket this is?

That flap under the collar dated from WW2 jackets and showed up on the M1943 jackets and the issue trenchcoats. I haven't had anything with it, but it seems like a potentially more effective way to close up a jacket collar than a strap or tab. As for the women's pockets thing, that's fascinating; the US Army did issue a women's version of the M1943 field jacket, but I don't have anything handy in front of me with the details; it was a special version though, not just a small sized men's jacket.

 

[Doctor Damage]