Deckard's on Cloud Nine with new Sefton A-2

[Matt Deckard]

Here are some pics of my A-2.

 

[PADDY]

Looking fit and looking keen...

...you're a lean, mean fighting machine! in that flyers jacket!

Nice late 30's look there! What make is the A-2 and what hide has been used? Is it modelled on any particular manufacturer (eg: Aero, Bronco, Roughwear, Poughskeepie, Dubow, Cable..etc)...? (I KNOW! I can be a bit of an anorak sometimes!! ha ha).

You just cannot beat that 30's/40's vintage flyers look. And goes well with the lid too!

Enjoy it!! bash it, spill things on it, get it wet (forget what some wimps will tell you about keepng it dry), the more abuse you give them, the more they just love ya! and will mould into your body like a well worn glove!

 

[jamespowers]

I agree with Paddy---lean mean fighting machine.
I can hear the theme song from Raiders of the Lost Ark playing in the background of that picture. LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[Matt Deckard]

The jacket is horshide. A friend of mine bought it in europe about 15 years ago. It is supposed to be a spec repro.
has an orange cotton lining and an old style tag with the inspector stamp next to it. I looked around and the details are pretty right on. one piece leather back and all.

Here is what the inside collar tag says verbatim. Can you tell me anything about it?

TYPE A-2
DWG. NO. 3DH45
A.C. CONTRACT
NO. 42 - 7759
PROPERTY
AIR FORCE U.S.ARMY
SEFTON CLO. CO.
BEACON N.Y.

Next time we have a local meet, I'll have to get Patterson to give it the once over... He is the local who has seen the most of these jackets.

JP, I have a Raiders jacket too, made by the man who made Indy's, Peter Botright. Too big to wear at the moment
it is a 44 and pretty baggy.

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by Matt Deckard
JP, I have a Raiders jacket too, made by the man who made Indy's, Peter Botright. Too big to wear at the moment
it is a 44 and pretty baggy.

Sounds just my size. Send it along. LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[jamespowers]

Try this link and see if the lable matches any of these examples.
http://www.acmedepot.com/a2jacket/a2detail.html

The drawing number is wrong for the original design but like you say it was a reproduction. It should be 30-1415. The contract number is also too short and in the wrong format. It should begin with a W, three numbers, a dash and then an AC followed by four or five more numbers. The "property of" part is below the manufacturer on most of the original A-2s I have seen.
The Manufacturer was Sefton Clothing Company in Beacon, NY.
I hope that helps. You might want to contact the expert dude on the Type A-2 page for more information about that specific manufacturer.
It looks good on you and that is enough in my opinion.

Regards to all,

J

 

[PADDY]

Re: your Sefton A-2

Sefton clothing is made in Colchester, Essex in England by Stephen Silburn. He makes a pretty good A-2 by all accounts, although the label is not very authentic, and I've heard the zips could be improved upon. But all-in-all a really good repro A-2.

But, he doesn't replicate any style of an original manufacturer stitch-for-stitch. But my intelligence guys tell me that it's a fine jacket non the less, and definitely not a modern 'mall type' blousey jacket, but true to the cut of originals.

Stephen also does other leather wear, such as WW2 flying helmets, and I know for a fact that he makes a lovely leather Battle of Britain type RAF flying helmet.

For a run-down of other repro and original jackets being compiled by my friend in the US, John Chapman, have a look at this link:

http://members6.clubphoto.com/john512708/guest-1.phtml

And I think the Acme depot (done by Marc) may have an analysis of the jacket too. If you want a more authentic zip, it's easy enough getting one of the other manufacturers to pop on an original WW2 Conmar, Triple marked Talon or Crown zipper.

Hope that helps, but sounds like (and looks like) you have a minty jacket there, so enjoy it!!

 

[Matt Deckard]

Thank you guys for the footwork.

Here is his pics of the jacket I have
http://members6.clubphoto.com/john512708/1564005/guest.phtml

looks the same except for color of the leather on mine being more reddish (russet) and mine has no Air Force logo on the shoulder. The other details in the pics are exactly the same as on mine.

That page is awsome a super resource.

I'm still looking around.

I guess i will eventually swap out the zipper when i find a time i feel comfortable parting with it. I must wear this around.

 

[Wild Root]

It looks good bro! Very late 30's look and a jacket that you can just throw on and say, lets go!

Good deal,

Root.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Found another sight that Mentions Sefton. Pretty interesting reviews of many of the companies we know and some that are new to me.

http://www.geocities.com/ronin4hire2000/A2.html

 

[Matt Deckard]

Few more pics in bad lighting.

 

[Matt Deckard]

 

[Alan Eardley]

Sefton Clothing Co.

Stephen Silburn is a great guy, a wizard with RAF repro kit and can repair anything. He's so up with repairs at the moment that he's not making A-2s, like he used to. He only used to make them from horsehide as a custom job (very rare), so it's most likely that the jacket pictured is in cow.

I don't wish to carry a long-running, boring thread over to this site from VLJ3, but it can be virtually impossible to distinguish horse from cow. Even with a DNA test.

 

[Alan Eardley]

Reviews

Matt,

The jacket reviews on the Geocities site to which you link is compiled by Ken Calder of Aero Leather aka Transatlantic) Clothing Co. on Scotland. Now, Ken is a real character, a great guy etc. etc., but he's hardly impartial when it comes to jackets, as anyone who know and loves him will tell you. You should just bear this in mind when reading some of the reviews. His knowledge of A-2s is enormous, BTW and he's very helpful.

 

[Angelicious]

Goodness, wait one second... my dad has one just like that! I didn't think it was that old. I must have a closer look...

Great photographs by the way, Matt. You look awfully handsome in them.

 

[PADDY]

Matt....

So glad you posted more pics of the A-2 of yours. You look absolutely spiffing in that outfit and I have no doubt as Angeliscious eluded to, you should be turning just a few heads in that outfit/look of yours. Very vintage, absolutely classic, always timeless my friend! thanks for sharing as you've given me a few more ideas in dress sense.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Matt nice jacket! We saw a real nice 10 year old or so horse Sefton at Michigan this past weekend that was owned by a re-enactor. I really liked the color on the one we saw. Heres a photo

Maybe we can get him to make a few horsehide ones again?
Photo by Grant.....

 

[Matt Deckard]

The color looks great.

I bought my jacket from a friend who bought it in europe. He said it was horse though there is no way to tell. The locals here think it is cow. All I really care about is the authentic fit and look. I'd love a horse hide jacket, and still want a good a-1 with the pointed wool collar from Aero, though funds require me to wait.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Matt horse or cow its one nice looking A-2.

 

[PADDY]

Horse or Cow...no matter...

There's more important things in life than worrying if something is steer or horse (although some folk will fight tooth and nail over it). You're not going to DNA a jacket unless it killed someone!! haha.
That jacket looks great Matt and I know Steve makes (or made) a great A-2. He also produces fantastic B and C -type RAF leather flying helmets, which I have handled and they are like the real deal..!