Gibson & Barnes CS

[MichaelRhB]

I have sent two emails to G&B about the purchase of a flight jacket. Granted it has only been a week, but I would expect a business to make contact within that time frame.

This worries me about ordering a jacket from them. They also do not say on their site if standard sizes are available immediately or if each one is made to order. I'm slightly impatient when it comes to having to wait months for something I've ordered and don't wish to go through months of waiting and not knowing what is going on with my order.

Does anyone here have any recent experience with this company that can tell my how they do business?

Back in '97 when I was flying aerobatics I ordered an HGU-33 helmet from them when they were known as Flight Suits Ltd. Took about six weeks, but that was expected since these helmets are all built to order. No problems back then.

 

[thor]

I ordered a G-1 from them back in September and it had to be made & shipped but it was delivered in about 3 weeks.

 

[MichaelRhB]

Thanks for your input. I read some not so good reviews on Yelp about G&B, but they were mixed with favorable reviews as well. It is said that you only hear mostly about complaints from any one company.

I'll have to think on this awhile.

 

[El Marro]

I’m surprised that they haven’t gotten back to you. I recommend you give them a phone call because I have always had good luck contacting them that way.
I have ordered two MA-1s from them in the last year or so. Both jackets were standard sizes and the first one was made upon receipt of the order, it took about two months. The second jacket must have been in stock because it shipped out within days of placing the order.
I have been very happy with the quality of everything I’ve ordered from them over the years, and I think they are great to do business with. if you are concerned about lead times I would definitely recommend getting them on the phone and they should be able to answer those questions for you.

 

[MichaelRhB]

The Nomex MA-1 in Royal Blue is the jacket I would be ordering.

I'll call them Monday and see if they have my size on the rack.

 

[El Marro]

The Nomex MA-1 in Royal Blue is the jacket I would be ordering.

I'll call them Monday and see if they have my size on the rack.

I think you will be very happy with their MA-1. I owned a US made Alpha before I bought the G&B MA-1 in navy blue Flight Satin and the G&B is nicer all around. I opted for the Thinsulate lining and it is a light warm jacket.

 

[MichaelRhB]

I called and spoke with Jose. He answered my questions about the jacket. He also told me there are no current contracts in production so my wait will be 3-4 weeks, and he would contact me if there was any delay.

I ordered from the website the same spec jacket that NASA issues to their astronauts. I always wanted one of their jackets but couldn't track down who was supplying them to NASA until recently.

This is made from the 6.5 oz Nomex that is heavier than the military spec of my current flight jackets. It should be pretty sturdy judging from my other jackets with the lighter material.

 

[photo2u]

They are not the same company they used to be.