Fishermen's sweaters site

[STEVIEBOY1]

Anyone know if Sou'West Chunkies is still operating? Sent an email a few days ago and never heard back. Maybe because I'm in the states?

I just looked at their website using the link on the first thread on this topic and it seems fairly upto date. It is a family business I think so they may be on holiday/vacation now, or maybe your email did not go through properly.

This is their contact details taken from that website, phone, fax, e-mail

Telephone/Fax Enquiries/Orders: (44) (0) 1726 74154
or, email Enquiries/Orders: ( souwestchunkies.one@virgin.net )

Sou'west Chunkies, 4 Grove Road, St Austell, Cornwall, PL25 5NP, UK. Tel: (44) (0) 1726 74154

You could always try also sending them a private message via this site, the man who runs it, Peter, has a couple of postings here, on page 2 or 3 , number 27 & 29.

Hope you are successful, I have three of their sweaters and they are fantastic. Very good quality made to your specifications and great value for money. They do deal with overseas clients.

 

[Corto]

Actually, I was away all week and it's being sent back tomorrow by my other half. Thankfully they offer 28 days return. I also saw this one, which looks good:

http://crystalknitwear.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=100

Anyone had one?

I don't own one of those- but the RN/RAF Rollneck Submarine/Submariner's sweater is near and dear to my heart, so I'm going to warn you away from another company.

I ordered one from Silverman's a few years ago and it was perfect. The collar was the perfect length, it didn't look like a "Sir Walter Raleigh/Neck Brace", and when folded over had a "stovepipe" look. The body length was good for me ( I've read that the original articles were purposely long to cover the butts of RN submariners- no idea if that's true or not, but it's handy if you spend a lot of time outside in cold weather). It also had that rich lanolin smell. However, it was "ill-used" by its owner and I ordered a replacement.

Sadly, the new sweater was a touch more "yellow" instead of true Ecru, the material was thinner, construction more shoddy (already developed a slight hole under the armpit!) and the collar is longer (it fans out along the collarbone). Plus, no lanolin smell...just slightly musty... If the return postage from the US weren't exorbitant, I would've sent it back after trying it on the first time, just based on the color and collar alone.

You might want to look at the versions from Grand Prix Legends and Aero Leathers (can't vouch for either one), and of course, North Sea might be your best bet, because if I recall, they state that they've modernized it, which might mean a shorter body length.

Good luck and report back on your new purchase...(I just ordered one from Outdoor Knitwear...wish me luck...)

By the way, I own the unfortunately named "Das Boot" quarter zip seaman's sweater from Outdoor Knitwear. It has a normal body length and is incredibly rugged. It fits true to size, and is looser than their Woolly Pully. I did remove the white canvas strips along the inside of the collar because it looked like a child's Navy uniform jumper when unzipped- but now it's properly manly, and has been my go-to sweater this winter. Highly recommended.

 

[MJCR]

Thanks Corto, great info. Also, very cool blogs you have there!

I was a bit annoyed with Outdoor Knitwear and their returns policy re: postage and refunds. When I queried it, they didn't respond. So, fast dispatch, great sweater, fast refund, but unwilling to answer a complaint via email. If I order another one, which may be too long, I'd like to know I won't get essentially mugged for £7.50 postage that they aren't allowed to withhold, at least if returned within 7 days (it's a UK distance selling thing). It's a lot to pay to try another one on, as posting it back isn't cheap if you want it trackable).

Having said that, I am weakening, as it's a nice sweater. I may just give in and order the XL.

I think Silverman's are supplied by them, but the Aero is made locally in Scotland. I'd try that one, but I want it in navy blue.

 

[Corto]

Thanks Corto, great info. Also, very cool blogs you have there!

I was a bit annoyed with Outdoor Knitwear and their returns policy re: postage and refunds. When I queried it, they didn't respond. So, fast dispatch, great sweater, fast refund, but unwilling to answer a complaint via email. If I order another one, which may be too long, I'd like to know I won't get essentially mugged for £7.50 postage that they aren't allowed to withhold, at least if returned within 7 days (it's a UK distance selling thing). It's a lot to pay to try another one on, as posting it back isn't cheap if you want it trackable).

Having said that, I am weakening, as it's a nice sweater. I may just give in and order the XL.

I think Silverman's are supplied by them, but the Aero is made locally in Scotland. I'd try that one, but I want it in navy blue.

Hm. I knew that Outdoor Knitwear provided the "Das Boot" for Silverman's- but I was kind of hoping that they were getting their Submarine sweaters from another supplier. One thing that makes me think that the OK sub sweaters might be different, is that you can order by chest size. The Silverman's sweaters are sized 1, 2, 3 or 4. But maybe that's a "re-labeling" thing to create a sense of authenticity. Long ago, on another thread- probably the one Stevieboy identified- there was another version sold through Ace Cafe (or Cafe Racer, I can't remember) I tried looking it up, to no avail.

Regardless, I'm very curious to know what you end up with. I'm also enamored with the Navy blue version, and I've already added it in to next years sweater budget.

(Thanks for the compliment, by the way.)

 

[Smithy]

By the way, I own the unfortunately named "Das Boot" quarter zip seaman's sweater from Outdoor Knitwear. It has a normal body length and is incredibly rugged. It fits true to size, and is looser than their Woolly Pully. I did remove the white canvas strips along the inside of the collar because it looked like a child's Navy uniform jumper when unzipped- but now it's properly manly, and has been my go-to sweater this winter. Highly recommended.

+1

I have one of these as well, and it's a very rugged jumper, I love it.

And I also agree with the suggestion of removing the white stripes. Without them it's far nicer.

 

[Corto]

+1

I have one of these as well, and it's a very rugged jumper, I love it.

And I also agree with the suggestion of removing the white stripes. Without them it's far nicer.

I encourage you to do it (or take it to a professional!). It's like a whole different sweater.

 

[MJCR]

I like the idea of the Das Boot without the white stripes! I could be wrong re: Silverman's, but Outdoor Knitwear say they make them for the Navy, and Silverman's say theirs are made by the government manufacturer.

 

[Corto]

I like the idea of the Das Boot without the white stripes! I could be wrong re: Silverman's, but Outdoor Knitwear say they make them for the Navy, and Silverman's say theirs are made by the government manufacturer.

Hm, again. Well, I can't really argue with your reasoning! I ordered the "Das Boot" from Silverman's, because they didn't indicate it was an OK sweater, and the photo they used showed the collar zipped up, with no evidence of the canvas strips (which had turned me off from ordering it from OK in the first place- I thought the Silverman's offering was a different sweater entirely). When I ripped open the package, the first thing I did was check the label (Ticklishchap had opined earlier that it was probably acrylic) and I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to see that familiar OK label (not to mention that it was all British wool). So, I suppose it stands to reason that their sub sweaters are made by OK as well.

Oh well. Some American eBayer or thrift shopper will be the recipient of my sub sweater surplus.

Are these sub sweaters still in general use with the Royal Navy? In this day and age of fleece it seems unlikely, but you Brits certainly hang on to your traditions.

 

[MJCR]

On the plus side, the OK navy blue submariner I ordered and sent back seemed great quality, British wool and made in the UK. Smelled like sheep and everything. In fairness though, once I'd tried it on and found it too big, it went straight back in the bag. I imagine the Grand Prix is made by OK as well. The Aero is a local Scottish manufacturer, I think, and while probably not period accurate, I bet it's a great sweater. Heck, I might just get on of those anyway as my only ecru sub is from What Price Glory. It's not the best by any means, but very cheap! Actually, it's the jumper that won me over to roll necks in the first place.

 

[Corto]

On the plus side, the OK navy blue submariner I ordered and sent back seemed great quality, British wool and made in the UK. Smelled like sheep and everything. In fairness though, once I'd tried it on and found it too big, it went straight back in the bag. I imagine the Grand Prix is made by OK as well. The Aero is a local Scottish manufacturer, I think, and while probably not period accurate, I bet it's a great sweater. Heck, I might just get on of those anyway as my only ecru sub is from What Price Glory. It's not the best by any means, but very cheap! Actually, it's the jumper that won me over to roll necks in the first place.

I had a WPG sub sweater and didn't like it. The wool seemed to be very poor quality, and the collar made me feel like Sir Walter Raleigh. (Plus, it was short if I remember correctly.) I wore it for a while and didn't take to it.

But yes- the WPG version was my first sub sweater and I fell in love with the look.

Once I get the OK sweater, I'll post my thoughts on it...(probably back on the sub sweater thread- I'm starting to feel guilty for diverting this one from Sou'west Chunkies!)

The Aero version looks very well made. Might be worth the money.

 

[Corto]

On the plus side, the OK navy blue submariner I ordered and sent back seemed great quality, British wool and made in the UK. Smelled like sheep and everything. In fairness though, once I'd tried it on and found it too big, it went straight back in the bag. I imagine the Grand Prix is made by OK as well. The Aero is a local Scottish manufacturer, I think, and while probably not period accurate, I bet it's a great sweater. Heck, I might just get on of those anyway as my only ecru sub is from What Price Glory. It's not the best by any means, but very cheap! Actually, it's the jumper that won me over to roll necks in the first place.

I keep forgetting you're looking for one in Navy blue.

While lacking the dash and elan of the British submarine rollneck, I can attest to the quality of this American made USN mock turtleneck Watch Sweater. Though the shipping to you would probably be more than the sweater (welcome to my world!) it's very well made, durable and EXTREMELY warm- though the wool is deceptively thin. It's also tight fitting, but the body length of the sweater is designed to go to the waist. It's the descendent of the WWII-era USN "Gob" sweater. (Eastman sells a replica, I believe.)

Also, have you considered Aran Sweater Market? They offer a heavy fisherman's/submariner style rollneck as well- though not to military spec. (Seems that they're out of navy blue at the moment.) I bought an Aran from them a while ago. Quality stuff. (Great lamb smell too.)

 

[Orangehaggis]

I just placed an order with Sou'west Chunkies after exchanging many, many e-mails with the proprietor to help me nail down exactly what I wanted. Mr. Yarrow was exceedingly helpful. I'm looking forward to wearing my new jumper, although the month or so of waiting will be agonising (it's really not bad for custom clothing, I'm just frightfully impatient).

Orangehaggis

 

[MJCR]

I just placed an order with Sou'west Chunkies after exchanging many, many e-mails with the proprietor to help me nail down exactly what I wanted. Mr. Yarrow was exceedingly helpful. I'm looking forward to wearing my new jumper, although the month or so of waiting will be agonising (it's really not bad for custom clothing, I'm just frightfully impatient).

Orangehaggis

He's fantastic to deal with, you won't be disappointed! Post pics when it arrives.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MJCR]

I keep forgetting you're looking for one in Navy blue.

While lacking the dash and elan of the British submarine rollneck, I can attest to the quality of this American made USN mock turtleneck Watch Sweater. Though the shipping to you would probably be more than the sweater (welcome to my world!) it's very well made, durable and EXTREMELY warm- though the wool is deceptively thin. It's also tight fitting, but the body length of the sweater is designed to go to the waist. It's the descendent of the WWII-era USN "Gob" sweater. (Eastman sells a replica, I believe.)

Also, have you considered Aran Sweater Market? They offer a heavy fisherman's/submariner style rollneck as well- though not to military spec. (Seems that they're out of navy blue at the moment.) I bought an Aran from them a while ago. Quality stuff. (Great lamb smell too.)

That US navy sweater is very tempting! Orvis have a similar one, but three times the price (at least over here!).



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Hm. I knew that Outdoor Knitwear provided the "Das Boot" for Silverman's- but I was kind of hoping that they were getting their Submarine sweaters from another supplier. One thing that makes me think that the OK sub sweaters might be different, is that you can order by chest size. The Silverman's sweaters are sized 1, 2, 3 or 4. But maybe that's a "re-labeling" thing to create a sense of authenticity. Long ago, on another thread- probably the one Stevieboy identified- there was another version sold through Ace Cafe (or Cafe Racer, I can't remember) I tried looking it up, to no avail.

Regardless, I'm very curious to know what you end up with. I'm also enamored with the Navy blue version, and I've already added it in to next years sweater budget.

(Thanks for the compliment, by the way.)

Good morning,

I just looked at the ACE CAFE Website, the shop area, then sweats & jumpers, the White Sub Roll neck is still there.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I just placed an order with Sou'west Chunkies after exchanging many, many e-mails with the proprietor to help me nail down exactly what I wanted. Mr. Yarrow was exceedingly helpful. I'm looking forward to wearing my new jumper, although the month or so of waiting will be agonising (it's really not bad for custom clothing, I'm just frightfully impatient).

Orangehaggis

You will like the Sweater from Sou'West Chunkies I am sure. I love the three I have bought from them.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Hm, again. Well, I can't really argue with your reasoning! I ordered the "Das Boot" from Silverman's, because they didn't indicate it was an OK sweater, and the photo they used showed the collar zipped up, with no evidence of the canvas strips (which had turned me off from ordering it from OK in the first place- I thought the Silverman's offering was a different sweater entirely). When I ripped open the package, the first thing I did was check the label (Ticklishchap had opined earlier that it was probably acrylic) and I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to see that familiar OK label (not to mention that it was all British wool). So, I suppose it stands to reason that their sub sweaters are made by OK as well.

Oh well. Some American eBayer or thrift shopper will be the recipient of my sub sweater surplus.

Are these sub sweaters still in general use with the Royal Navy? In this day and age of fleece it seems unlikely, but you Brits certainly hang on to your traditions.

I am not sure if the Sub Sweaters are still in general/official use in the UK Royal Navy, I have a feeling that perhaps they are not, however I did see an programme on the BBC TV a few months ago, they were interviewing a Royal Navy captain of a Submarine and he was in fact wearing one, so maybe they do sometimes. (There is a large thread all about these white SUB/RAF White Roll neck sweaters in the WW2 section of the Fedora Lounge) I have 3 sub sweaters, 2 ecru/off white & one Navy Blue.

The other sweaters that were used more often in recent years in the Army, Navy & Air Force, plus some police and security services & other uniformed roles, are the traditional "Woolly Pully" Sweaters, 100 % pure wool, round/crew neck, heavy ribbed design through out, with shoulder & elbow Patches, many with eppulettes and also with a pen pocket on the sleeve or chest. These come in green, navy blue, airforce grey/blue, also other shades including black, sand, maroon etc. (There are also some V necked versions too, for more office based roles, which look good with a shirt and tie.)

However these seem to be less common now, having been replaced by cheaper looking plan stitch sweaters which I don't think are pure wool, but a wool mix with man made fibres. It's a shame as the originals, IMO where much better. There is a thread all about these on this forum headed "Military Woolly Pully Sweaters" I think. These can be purchased still in the UK at many suppliers including UK Knitwear etc. The genuine pure wool Woolly Pully Sweaters are great.

 

[Bunyip]

I just looked at their website using the link on the first thread on this topic and it seems fairly upto date. It is a family business I think so they may be on holiday/vacation now, or maybe your email did not go through properly.

This is their contact details taken from that website, phone, fax, e-mail

Telephone/Fax Enquiries/Orders: (44) (0) 1726 74154
or, email Enquiries/Orders: ( souwestchunkies.one@virgin.net )

Sou'west Chunkies, 4 Grove Road, St Austell, Cornwall, PL25 5NP, UK. Tel: (44) (0) 1726 74154

You could always try also sending them a private message via this site, the man who runs it, Peter, has a couple of postings here, on page 2 or 3 , number 27 & 29.

Hope you are successful, I have three of their sweaters and they are fantastic. Very good quality made to your specifications and great value for money. They do deal with overseas clients.

Hi guys,
I got a message from Pete at SW Chunkies. They are in the midst of pretty bad flooding at the moment. His two workers have flown home for an early holiday. He is still operating, and it just takes a bit longer at the minute to get things done. I waited about a week for an email, he normally gets back to you in24 hours, but As I said, they are literally in the middle of a flood.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Hi guys,
I got a message from Pete at SW Chunkies. They are in the midst of pretty bad flooding at the moment. His two workers have flown home for an early holiday. He is still operating, and it just takes a bit longer at the minute to get things done. I waited about a week for an email, he normally gets back to you in24 hours, but As I said, they are literally in the middle of a flood.

Sorry to hear that. The weather in the UK has been just awful for ages, they have had it very bad in the South West and there was another storm last night. It has damaged part of the main line railway through Devon & Cornwall. Hope the folks down there are all ok.

 

[MJCR]

Has anyone had anything from the following?

http://www.andersen-andersen.com/?___store=default

http://www.shetlandknitwear.com/

Both do roll-neck and other kinds of Fishermen sweaters. The top one seems to be available from several places in the UK, but they're very expensive. They're highly recommended though on at least one other board I visit.

Any info greatly appreciated.