Ask a Question, Get An Answer About Outerwear

[unhatted]

Anyone know anything about Schott liner compatibility? Always wished my late 80s 125 came with it’s zip-out liner and have seen a liner in the same size but clearly a non-perfecto label. Is it worth a gamble or am I on a hiding to nothing? I don’t have any intention of faffing around with zip replacement…

 

[Will Zach]

I bought a cool MA-1 off eBay. The only problem is that there is a dried toothpaste stain in the storm flap. How do you clean dried toothpaste out of nylon, lmao? I don't particularly want to ship it back because it's 70 bucks to get it back to Japan, and it's a rare Old Real McCoys jacket.

... dried toothpaste?....

 

[Whitters]

Advice needed regarding a Talon zipper.

I think I have lost the end stop on my Talon zipper.

Jacket circa 1996 pre split Real Mccoys D1 (made in the uk!)

Can I get a new end??

Thanks in advance

 

[Will Zach]

Paging @photo2u .

I think I saw ends like that on Amazon. Clamp like hell and it should hold. But I will defer to experts.

 

[Capt. Chaos]

Long time lurker first time poster,.. I don’t know if this is the right thread for a thing like this,..

So I’ve got these jeans… they have a big e tab, redline selvedge, yellow and orange stitching, no care tag inside, talon zip. The patch is mostly missing,.. but they seem to be 505s (because of the brass button).

The thing that bugs me about them is that the button has no stamp on the back (it is a little bent too) and that the bar track yarn is more of a brown than black - and I’ve never seen a talon zip like this,.. otherwise they seem fine.
I’ve added the rest of the photos in Imgur.

https://imgur.com/a/bajGI8M

Thanks in advance!

 

[Canuck Panda]

Advice needed regarding a Talon zipper.

I think I have lost the end stop on my Talon zipper.

Jacket circa 1996 pre split Real Mccoys D1 (made in the uk!)

Can I get a new end??

Thanks in advance

That's amazing you can get it zipped without the zipper box.
Anyways, I've only seen Talon replacement pull and stopper kits, never seen zipper box/pin replacement kits. But I suppose any generic ones should do too. Maybe try a local cobbler if there is one. Or try a generic one from hobby shops or Amazon.

 

[Whitters]

That's amazing you can get it zipped without the zipper box.
Anyways, I've only seen Talon replacement pull and stopper kits, never seen zipper box/pin replacement kits. But I suppose any generic ones should do too. Maybe try a local cobbler if there is one. Or try a generic one from hobby shops or Amazon.
View attachment 673129

Brilliant thanks

 

[Canuck Panda]

Here is the Talon replacement kit I was talking about. It's good to get these when the price is low. Talon zips most of the time really just need a replacement pull and no need to get the whole teeth/tape replaced if they're still intact.

 

[Whitters]

That's very cool...

 

[Herrvallmo]

Hello TFL,

Hope ya'll have a fantastic weekend.

I need some help with finding a replacement for my broken Waldes zipper-pull on my Rainbow Country Hercules, I though I would try that before sending it in for a full replacement of the zip(as the "tooths" of the zipper looks fine, and I've tried to use pliers to get it to work again, without any luck, seems like the metal is just to weak after the years of wear).

Can anyone point me to where I can get a new one(or better one lol) that fits the RC Hercules you would make my day, not very knowable about zippers lol, and there seems to be a real jungle out there so all help is very much appreciated!


Cheers and thanks in advance!

 

[WolfofStateSt]

I thought it would be better to ask here than create a new thread. Does anyone have any experience with Mooseknuckle’s parkas? I’m having some issues with my N3A parka, and if I do sell that one, I’m deciding between a Real McCoys N3 and a Mooseknuckle coat.

 

[Zoro]

I thought it would be better to ask here than create a new thread. Does anyone have any experience with Mooseknuckle’s parkas? I’m having some issues with my N3A parka, and if I do sell that one, I’m deciding between a Real McCoys N3 and a Mooseknuckle coat.

I've got two parkas. One is newish bought on sale a couple years ago, one is old as **** bought used (easily 20 years old). What do you want to know?

 

[WolfofStateSt]

I've got two parkas. One is newish bought on sale a couple years ago, one is old as **** bought used (easily 20 years old). What do you want to know?

Just how the quality is, do you feel they are a good value for price, how warm are they etc. If you’ve owned an N3 parka, any comparisons.

 

[Zoro]

Just how the quality is, do you feel they are a good value for price, how warm are they etc. If you’ve owned an N3 parka, any comparisons.

Cannot compare with N3. I think the quality is very good, on both my models. The problem is the price: New ones currently go over 1300€, on sale I think around 900-1000. Back when I got it, on sale would be like 600€ (1000-1200€ new) which I think is a very fair price. This said, there's plenty on sale used on eBay, the main issue would be that there's plenty of fakes so beware of that. Some fakes are even able to pass the NFC authentication tag (although I would assume they would eventually start to fail it as my understanding is that once a tag gets overwhelmingly checked they'll assume it's a fake one).

For warmth these two are my warmest, specially the newer model. I ignore if the older had a lower weight of down fill or if it simply decreased over the many years of use. Obviously, the used model already stood the test of time and I've no doubt the new one will also pass it. You often read how "they don't do them like they used to" but I honestly find that at least the outer shell feels sturdier in the new one than in the old one, which I attribute to it being different rather than simply the old one being... Well, old.

Had a cold wave a couple weeks ago, down to -10ºC (which for me is some of the coldest I've gotten!) and the new parka was a life saver, coupled with a thick wool sweater. I reckon the older one would had fared well too, but the newer simply does better for warmth.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

Cannot compare with N3. I think the quality is very good, on both my models. The problem is the price: New ones currently go over 1300€, on sale I think around 900-1000. Back when I got it, on sale would be like 600€ (1000-1200€ new) which I think is a very fair price. This said, there's plenty on sale used on eBay, the main issue would be that there's plenty of fakes so beware of that. Some fakes are even able to pass the NFC authentication tag (although I would assume they would eventually start to fail it as my understanding is that once a tag gets overwhelmingly checked they'll assume it's a fake one).

For warmth these two are my warmest, specially the newer model. I ignore if the older had a lower weight of down fill or if it simply decreased over the many years of use. Obviously, the used model already stood the test of time and I've no doubt the new one will also pass it. You often read how "they don't do them like they used to" but I honestly find that at least the outer shell feels sturdier in the new one than in the old one, which I attribute to it being different rather than simply the old one being... Well, old.

Had a cold wave a couple weeks ago, down to -10ºC (which for me is some of the coldest I've gotten!) and the new parka was a life saver, coupled with a thick wool sweater. I reckon the older one would had fared well too, but the newer simply does better for warmth.

I wonder if the 800 down fill makes this parka much warmer than an N3A or N3B parka with original-spec wool pile fill.


Also, is there a thread for the USN Catapult Parka? I have some questions about that jacket. For instance, it looks like it is designed to fit a helmet under the hood. That would come in handy for skiing, maybe?

 

[Zoro]

I wonder if the 800 down fill makes this parka much warmer than an N3A or N3B parka with original-spec wool pile fill.

Not a clue as I never tried one of those, but just want to clarify the XXX down fill is just one more parameter that affects warmth but doesn't determine it by itself (and you might be aware already, but oh well!). Down fill is basically how voluminous the down is. An advantage of the higher volume one is that yes, it is warmer for less weight, but mainly that it can also compress. So in the end, two garments with 700 down fill will have their warmth dependant on their actual down weight. In the image below, each tube has the same weight of down but obviously different volume:

Don't know which Moose Knuckles garment you were looking at, but most parkas (of any brand) are 750 or less, while 800 or more is usually destined to more specialized gear for hiking/climbing/skiing/etc, as it's higher volume also allows better compression capability to then pack them (many would be able to be fit into its own pocket to pack it).

It's an absolute pain to go through any down jackets as most brands only specify the down fill power but do not specify the actual amount of it. Sadly, IIRC, Moose Knuckles is one of these as in the end it is a fashion oriented brand. Outdoors brands like Arcteryx, Patagonia or Rab do specify the actual weight of the down and they should have better than Moose Knuckles if you want to go skiing too.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

Not a clue as I never tried one of those, but just want to clarify the XXX down fill is just one more parameter that affects warmth but doesn't determine it by itself (and you might be aware already, but oh well!). Down fill is basically how voluminous the down is. An advantage of the higher volume one is that yes, it is warmer for less weight, but mainly that it can also compress. So in the end, two garments with 700 down fill will have their warmth dependant on their actual down weight. In the image below, each tube has the same weight of down but obviously different volume:

View attachment 677331

Don't know which Moose Knuckles garment you were looking at, but most parkas (of any brand) are 750 or less, while 800 or more is usually destined to more specialized gear for hiking/climbing/skiing/etc, as it's higher volume also allows better compression capability to then pack them (many would be able to be fit into its own pocket to pack it).

It's an absolute pain to go through any down jackets as most brands only specify the down fill power but do not specify the actual amount of it. Sadly, IIRC, Moose Knuckles is one of these as in the end it is a fashion oriented brand. Outdoors brands like Arcteryx, Patagonia or Rab do specify the actual weight of the down and they should have better than Moose Knuckles if you want to go skiing too.

I plan on skiing occasionally. I bought the Mooseknuckles 3Q Parka with 650 fill power. It should be better for skiing than a surplus N3A.

 

[Zoro]

Isn't the 3Q more like a bomber jacket rather than a parka? The handy part of the parka is precisely the longer length. I don't ski, so I don't know how useful that kind of jacket or anything Moose Knuckles would be in that situation.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

Isn't the 3Q more like a bomber jacket rather than a parka? The handy part of the parka is precisely the longer length. I don't ski, so I don't know how useful that kind of jacket or anything Moose Knuckles would be in that situation.

It's shorter which makes it better for skiing, but even the N3Bs and N3As I’ve own are by no means a long jacket, they only cover your butt and might be 2 or 3 inches longer than the 3Q. I have long thermal underwear and Carhartt insulated pants if it comes to that.

 

[Jon Crow]

Too warm here in Madrid for a down filled Parka but I did see some here in a Uniqlo shop saying this warm down with a fill power of 750+, measured using the IDFB method Lined with an aluminum layer for better heat retention