Well Gentleman, my "Made-in-China A-2" has arrived. It was securely packaged and nicely packed in a cardboard box, taped up for added safety, and enclosed inside a plastic bag. No signature was required (and no other hidden customs/duty fees encountered); package was left on my doorstep (like most domestic packages dropped off by UPS/FedEx/US Mail).
OK, now on to the good stuff:
Jacket was a gorgeous caramel russet brown (which was advertised as Havana brown on the eBay listing from their website). This reddish-russet brown happens to be my favorite color for A-2's so I was quite pleased. I immediately tried the jacket on and it fit PERFECT! I normally wear a size 44 Long suit and always order my Aero A-2's with an extra inch or so in the sleeve to accomodate my long arms so I was concerned about the sleeves being a bit too short. But I am totally satisfied with the spot-on fit. Sleeves measured out at 27 inches total from shoulder seam to end of cuff so some may find the sleeves a bit too long. In the chest, shoulders and waist, the jacket fit exactly as I like and actually fits better then many of my custom ordered A-2 jackets from the past!
Next to fit, the most important thing about a leather jacket is the leather. This Made-in-China A-2 has very thick yet flexible horsehide. My only complaint in that it is a very smooth hide, almost no graining or jerky spots. The color is even all over. Lucky for me it was raining cats and dogs the day I received the jacket so I threw it on and played outside in the rain for about 10 or 15 minutes. Well, the rain and some flexing molded the jacket to my body perfectly, almost like shrink-wrap! The creases in the arms where I flexed my arms were immediately evident and in that short break-in period the jacket took on a custom molded look (like I spent about 2 weeks in it).
On to the details: the workmanship was surprisingly good. The seams and stitching are all straight and exact. The zipper (while being a Talon clone, marked on the front Talon but on the reverse YKK) was reasonably robust. I have no doubt it will stand up to years of use. The lining is a thicker then original cotton drill cloth/twill fabric that is not a tobacco brown or a reddish brown found in most originals, but closer to a dark mustard brown (slightly darker then Aero).
I had ordered a Monarch A-2 with regular collar but they shipped me a stand-collar Roughwear (still in the caramel Havana brown russet which I wanted). I e-mailed them and they said the Monarch was out of stock til Jan. They would replace it if I wanted to, but I am not a stickler for some spot-on vintage clone A-2 (counting stitches, measuring pockets, looking for stampings on the backs of button snaps). I just wanted a heavy-duty russet horsehide A-2 with the general look and fit of an A-2. That is exactly what I received so I am quite happy with this purchase.
One concern: under the epaulets (the backing strip that doubles the thickness of the epaulette) and on the strip of leather for the zipper pull where you can see the rough-out, unfinished side of the leather, the finish has a reddish brown hue. Maybe they use human blood to drum dye their Havana brown Horsehide in China?
Not sure if a reddish undertone will eventually come through in the wear spots as the finish is worn/weathered down. Many times on the high-end correctly dyed/finished horsehide jackets, you see a golden brown color drummed up. I will monitor this and report back.
I will post pictures as soon as the weather breaks. We got rain and now snow flurries here in the U.S. Northeast.
So my humble opinion: the jacket is definitely worth the $360 and the 3 week wait. A perfect bang-around A-2 on par with The Cockpit, U.S. Authentic and Gibson & Barnes (Flightsuits), maybe a tad bit better. Time will tell. Great for someone who wants to sew patches on or paint an authentic looking A-2 but wouldn't dare do it to their prized Goodwear/Aero/Eastman! LOL!
Thanks for tuning in to my summary.
OK, now on to the good stuff:
Jacket was a gorgeous caramel russet brown (which was advertised as Havana brown on the eBay listing from their website). This reddish-russet brown happens to be my favorite color for A-2's so I was quite pleased. I immediately tried the jacket on and it fit PERFECT! I normally wear a size 44 Long suit and always order my Aero A-2's with an extra inch or so in the sleeve to accomodate my long arms so I was concerned about the sleeves being a bit too short. But I am totally satisfied with the spot-on fit. Sleeves measured out at 27 inches total from shoulder seam to end of cuff so some may find the sleeves a bit too long. In the chest, shoulders and waist, the jacket fit exactly as I like and actually fits better then many of my custom ordered A-2 jackets from the past!
Next to fit, the most important thing about a leather jacket is the leather. This Made-in-China A-2 has very thick yet flexible horsehide. My only complaint in that it is a very smooth hide, almost no graining or jerky spots. The color is even all over. Lucky for me it was raining cats and dogs the day I received the jacket so I threw it on and played outside in the rain for about 10 or 15 minutes. Well, the rain and some flexing molded the jacket to my body perfectly, almost like shrink-wrap! The creases in the arms where I flexed my arms were immediately evident and in that short break-in period the jacket took on a custom molded look (like I spent about 2 weeks in it).
On to the details: the workmanship was surprisingly good. The seams and stitching are all straight and exact. The zipper (while being a Talon clone, marked on the front Talon but on the reverse YKK) was reasonably robust. I have no doubt it will stand up to years of use. The lining is a thicker then original cotton drill cloth/twill fabric that is not a tobacco brown or a reddish brown found in most originals, but closer to a dark mustard brown (slightly darker then Aero).
I had ordered a Monarch A-2 with regular collar but they shipped me a stand-collar Roughwear (still in the caramel Havana brown russet which I wanted). I e-mailed them and they said the Monarch was out of stock til Jan. They would replace it if I wanted to, but I am not a stickler for some spot-on vintage clone A-2 (counting stitches, measuring pockets, looking for stampings on the backs of button snaps). I just wanted a heavy-duty russet horsehide A-2 with the general look and fit of an A-2. That is exactly what I received so I am quite happy with this purchase.
One concern: under the epaulets (the backing strip that doubles the thickness of the epaulette) and on the strip of leather for the zipper pull where you can see the rough-out, unfinished side of the leather, the finish has a reddish brown hue. Maybe they use human blood to drum dye their Havana brown Horsehide in China?
Not sure if a reddish undertone will eventually come through in the wear spots as the finish is worn/weathered down. Many times on the high-end correctly dyed/finished horsehide jackets, you see a golden brown color drummed up. I will monitor this and report back.
I will post pictures as soon as the weather breaks. We got rain and now snow flurries here in the U.S. Northeast.
So my humble opinion: the jacket is definitely worth the $360 and the 3 week wait. A perfect bang-around A-2 on par with The Cockpit, U.S. Authentic and Gibson & Barnes (Flightsuits), maybe a tad bit better. Time will tell. Great for someone who wants to sew patches on or paint an authentic looking A-2 but wouldn't dare do it to their prized Goodwear/Aero/Eastman! LOL!
Thanks for tuning in to my summary.
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