Bill Kelso dark seal Liberty horse

[Peter Mackin]

Has anyone taken them up on the 50 per cent deal? Does it hold?

I don't think it does,,well it might if an aeronaut is originally over £1400....plus £35 shipping...I emailed coz I think it's a beautiful jacket,,,but the 50% offer didn't materialise.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Trouble with schitzo's 'contributions' is he couldn't help but add personal insult and snarky belittling remarks into his array of nasty responses to most anyone's comment who might disagree with his long winded diatribes. No one was immune and it became absolutely enjoyable to him. In his recent jumble of lengthy explanation of his latest deed on BK's FB page only reaffirmed just why he was suspended here and what he is capable of for his own amusement. As far as BK...they have never had a clue as to why anyone should question the way they present themselves and it is quite evident that they never will. With that in mind concerning both entities...all we are doing is batting around the absurdity..to the great joy of one..and utterly perplexed confusion of the other.
HD

 

[Bunyip]

I don't think it does,,well it might if an aeronaut is originally over £1400....plus £35 shipping...I emailed coz I think it's a beautiful jacket,,,but the 50% offer didn't materialise.

Really??? That's very very poor if that's the case.

 

[Superfluous]

Andy was great people . . . he was never nothing short of a perfect gentlemen.

Gotta disagree with you there. Perhaps you do not remember the inappropriate and disrespectful statements that Andy posted here about John Chapman and Dave Himel, among others. Perhaps you do not recall when Andy openly disparaged Chapman and Himel.

Andy's knowledge of leather is extraordinary and I personally learned a great deal from him. Like many, I miss his positive contributions. However, notwithstanding his positive contributions, Andy also made inappropriate and disrespectful comments here. Therefore, I cannot agree that Andy was "nothing short of a perfect gentlemen."

 

[Peter Mackin]

Really??? That's very very poor if that's the case.

Yip,offer was £700 plus ,£35 shipping...so it was down£40,,,,,not 50%,,,shame coz I would have jumped at it...

 

[Bunyip]

Yip,offer was £700 plus ,£35 shipping...so it was down£40,,,,,not 50%,,,shame coz I would have jumped at it...

Incredible....I thought it seemed like a genuine offer....this is just a really bizarre and off putting situation. I really don't get it.

 

[Superfluous]

Yip,offer was £700 plus ,£35 shipping...so it was down£40,,,,,not 50%

"There are three types of people in the world: Those who can count and those who can't."
-- Warren Buffett

 

[Monitor]

Gotta disagree with you there. Perhaps you do not remember the inappropriate and disrespectful statements that Andy posted here about John Chapman and Dave Himel, among others. Perhaps you do not recall when Andy openly disparaged Chapman and Himel.

Andy's knowledge of leather is extraordinary and I personally learned a great deal from him. Like many, I miss his positive contributions. However, notwithstanding his positive contributions, Andy also made inappropriate and disrespectful comments here. Therefore, I cannot agree that Andy was "nothing short of a perfect gentlemen."

I... Must have missed that. Needless to say, I don't doubt you for a second, Superfluous, but since usually all Andy's threads down spiraled into these inane arguments, I'd quit following the exchange after a first few pages, when it became clear that nothing else was to be learned - but the fact remains that whatever thread Andy started was very informative and interesting, with no other purpose behind it but to make people learn something (new) about the properties of leather. The CLX and veg tanned leather hot water test thread comes to mind, for example. I was bugging the guy through PM's and he'd always reply promptly and with more info than I've wish to know.
So yeah, while I cannot comment on Andy's attitude toward John Chapman or Dave Himel, my impression was that whatever course his threads many times took was due to the fact that it was Andy who was actually getting picked by other members and dragged into these pointless debates, for no reason whatsoever.

My point is, I don't think Andy is a bad guy.

Otter, who was described so? Schitzo or BK? lol Schitzo is a mixed bag... That FB crap did it for me but he's been genuinely okay at times so I don't really get the guy. On the other hand, his shrinkage thread comes to mind where he had displayed an alarmingly mean streak and a behavior bordering with psychopathic - that or he was just a master troll.

But HD nailed it perfectly just now.

 

[Edward]

Really? The man that one of our own Bartenders described as having " A spray can of nasty."

As far as I am aware BK chose not to post here any more . They were only banned on VLJ , a step which I thought was too much but nobody else seemed to agree much with. I have often kibbitzed about the BK attitude but I don't think that anyone could dispute their knowledge about leather types. I think their M 422's are probably the best, the Aero (naughts?) Look great and I love the A-2 's with the USMC frogskin cammo linings.

I think an individual's view of anyone who is either banned from this place or chooses to leave before being shown the door could vary greatly, depending upon whether they have seen certain key threads or posts that have been deleted. Suffice it to say that the mods in these parts do a fantastic job at keeping the forum running smoothely, and by the time a thread is closed or an account banned, there's been a lot of stuff for them to deal with, much of which we regular member might never see.

The job of the mods rather reminds me of when I ran the sound desk for a band at university. It's one of those jobs that if you're doing it right nobody in the audience even notices...

As to the frog camo.... it does make for a very cool lining. One of the Japanese companies was doing an A2 with that lining seven or eight years ago; was it Buzz, or Real McCoys? Can't remember. Always thought it looked cool. Initially I thought it was just a 'Japanese cool' thing, though I'm sure I read somewhere that there were some actual A2s which were relined in the field with parachute canopy material in this pattern. No idea if I've picked that up accurately, mind.

Yip,offer was £700 plus ,£35 shipping...so it was down£40,,,,,not 50%,,,shame coz I would have jumped at it...

Depends what they're cutting the 50% off.... Unless I've gotten the wrong end of the stick somehow, I had the impression that part of the deal with American Classics was that they set the UK price, and Andy won't undercut them mail order? In which cas,e bearing in mind that AC were charging £1200 odds for some of them (not sure which jackets specifically, could have been this one).... Personally, I think it's crazy given what's available elsewhere for much less, or given that you could have a Goodwear for that, but obviously AC know their market and presumably there must be folks out there prepared to pay that for the convenience of OTR. [huh]

 

[ausreenactor]

I had Bill Kelso line my A-2 based on a jacket relined in the Pacific during WWII. Real McCoys did a reproduction of a 506th Airborne one. It did appear to be more a silky parachute lining. As a Soldier I wanted to put a 'leg' slant on the camo lined A-2. I have never held an Aircrew rating; however, I have lived a life as Groundcrew. The big repro makers in the USA could not help with the lining. Andy sourced a supplier and my dream repro (I saved the pics of the one and only RM repro I had seen for sale in Japan in 2008) and used them as the reference for BK. I elected on a Werber design and had a NOS zipper fitted. Super jacket and could not have been happier with the result. The ONLY repro A-2 I will keep long term. I have an ELC RW 27752 with Jerome Urbaniak's Murder Inc. on the back; however, I have gifted that to a group of guys who restore aircraft in Benalla, VIC. There should be pics here on FL. From late 2013/early 2014.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.681835601846734.1073741975.540638042633158&type=1

Couchy

 

[Blackadder]

I had Bill Kelso line my A-2 based on a jacket relined in the Pacific during WWII. Real McCoys did a reproduction of a 506th Airborne one. It did appear to be more a silky parachute lining. As a Soldier I wanted to put a 'leg' slant on the camo lined A-2. I have never held an Aircrew rating; however, I have lived a life as Groundcrew. The big repro makers in the USA could not help with the lining. Andy sourced a supplier and my dream repro (I saved the pics of the one and only RM repro I had seen for sale in Japan in 2008) and used them as the reference for BK. I elected on a Werber design and had a NOS zipper fitted. Super jacket and could not have been happier with the result. The ONLY repro A-2 I will keep long term. I have an ELC RW 27752 with Jerome Urbaniak's Murder Inc. on the back; however, I have gifted that to a group of guys who restore aircraft in Benalla, VIC. There should be pics here on FL. From late 2013/early 2014.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.681835601846734.1073741975.540638042633158&type=1

Couchy

If only you had looked next door.....
http://www.c-king.jp/fewckinga2/cka27001.html
but of course there is tiny difference in the price.

 

[Otter]

Couchy, I have some of that parachute silk. It has been cut along either side of the quadruple stitch seam and roughly hemmed along the cut. It is about five feet long and I used it as a scarf.

 

[handymike]

I love the frog skin lining!!!!
I also like the Aeronaut that BK did with it.

 

[Otter]

Yes, that Aeronaut looked lovely.

 

[chamboid]

Depends what they're cutting the 50% off.... Unless I've gotten the wrong end of the stick somehow, I had the impression that part of the deal with American Classics was that they set the UK price, and Andy won't undercut them mail order? In which cas,e bearing in mind that AC were charging £1200 odds for some of them (not sure which jackets specifically, could have been this one).... Personally, I think it's crazy given what's available elsewhere for much less, or given that you could have a Goodwear for that, but obviously AC know their market and presumably there must be folks out there prepared to pay that for the convenience of OTR. [huh]

[/QUOTE]

Only the Hercules was £1125 . The others were around the same price as BK. And that was the correct price for the Hercules. We had exclusivity for the Hercules for a short amount of time. And people in the UK were advised to order through us for that jacket only.

The Cape Aeronaut and Westfall were much cheaper with a mark up for overheads you'll find that the same with most places. So American Classics were not over charging nor had a 'deal' with Bill Kelso about undercutting. We have not set a single price for the jackets.

And there is not much available for much less other places. The Hercules is an expensive jacket to produce. The Westfall is a counter part to Eastman's Halfbelt at £875. Real Mccoys charge £1499 for an A-2 and for a jacket similar to the Hercules, but without the detail and construction £1800. Aero similar prices for similar jackets. Goodwears Imperial or Ventura with around a two year wait would for out at £1075 including shipping to the UK

Being undercut by manufacturers is the worst thing in retail and a killer for business, and online sale cut our bussiness too. Nothing worse than giving all the customer service, fitting a boot, or finding the right size in jacket or fit in jeans, trying to help the customer get what they want, then having them leave and buy on line. One guy actually bought online in the shop on his phone. If I could I'd never serve him again.

The same overheads do not apply to both manufacturer and stockists. And especially online sellers.

 

[ausreenactor]

If only you had looked next door.....
http://www.c-king.jp/fewckinga2/cka27001.html
but of course there is tiny difference in the price.

There was a 502nd version on Yahoo Japan late last year that went through unsold for months at around $850. I did not like patches. I would enlist some forum based patch makers for better versions if I were a 'Bandwagon of Brothers' kind of guy. Don't get me wrong, I got my 101st combat patch in Kandahar in 2008 in a formal ceremony. I was miffed I missed the 82nd Airborne by a matter of months.

I do wear the Australian Commando parachute wing on my uniform; however, lining a jacket with a parachute canopy with the accompanying static cling would drive me nuts. Seeing the civilian BK with the same lining made me smile. My jacket has a step-brother out there.

 

[ausreenactor]

My only concern is the focus on the lining. Check out the hide!!

 

[chamboid]

How's the jacket aging Couchy? That vintage premium was a superb hide.

 

[ausreenactor]

How's the jacket aging Couchy? That vintage premium was a superb hide.

Only minimal wear in 2014. Bought a BR B-2 for the winter in Sydney. Might give 'the Beast' a run today. WWII HBT trousers and boondockers will go well too. I took it to California in 2013 on a Disneyland pilgrimage. Pretty much brand new still. Like all my BR stuff. I took a Real McCoy 37J1, size 46, out of the bag for the first time yesterday. Have had it for five months. Getting cooler now so jackets will become part of the dress standard.

 

[Blackadder]

There was a 502nd version on Yahoo Japan late last year that went through unsold for months at around $850. I did not like patches. I would enlist some forum based patch makers for better versions if I were a 'Bandwagon of Brothers' kind of guy. Don't get me wrong, I got my 101st combat patch in Kandahar in 2008 in a formal ceremony. I was miffed I missed the 82nd Airborne by a matter of months.

I do wear the Australian Commando parachute wing on my uniform; however, lining a jacket with a parachute canopy with the accompanying static cling would drive me nuts. Seeing the civilian BK with the same lining made me smile. My jacket has a step-brother out there.

My only concern is the focus on the lining. Check out the hide!!

The hide looks good. The leather is indeed the major difference depending on one's preference. I actually learned today that RMNZ aka the Few does custom order as well because my friend ordered his custom the Few ANJ-3 through Gorilla Japan. Just FYI. BTW, I also have a BK A-2 in addition to the Few, Aero, two Rainbow Country. Sold my Lost Worlds A-2 though as it was too long.