Navy WEP Jacket: Your Thoughts & Experiences

[bn1966]

Happy Easter Folks,

I'm now into a few days off of the daily grind, and consequently have more time to loaf about the lounge. Inspired by a recent thread relating to one great jacket vs many, I spring cleaned my jacket collection (via eBay) and have sold lots of repro & a few service issue jackets. However my ill gotten gains have been immediately ploughed back into outer-wear. I've never owned a WEP jacket & decided to correct this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201316328443

Now waiting for the postman, what's your experience of these Gents?

I've also got an N2A on the way too & am spending the rest on another ELC A2 (seeing them on Tuesday).

 

[Deacon211]

Love 'em! A true old school pilot's jacket.

These were the liner for an exposure suit, but pilot's began wearing them around the spaces anyhow.

These things are super soft, like pajamas. The collar tends to stand up which keeps your neck warm, but you can fold it down if it is an original and not made too short like many modern repros. These can occasionally be a bit short in the waist, like the Irvin. I think the notion is that your lower back would be covered anyway by the trousers.

In my day only the old codgers had these, generally blanketed with soot and hyd fluid and festooned with Centurion Patches and missile shoots and off color cruise patches.

Congrats!

Deacon

 

[CBI]

these are my all time favorite nylon jackets. I love the look and feel HOWEVER, the many I have owned have ALL been toooooo short. Typical of many nylon flight jackets to be worn over flight suits or in this case, originally the top portion of a flying suit. After researching different contracts of the WEP and which ones might be longer, I decided that if I were to give a WEP a try again, I would purchase a modern copy from Gibson and Barnes. At least they have a number of size options and long sizes. I am sure after a washing or two and maybe a visit to the tailor's, I could get it to fit properly/look authentic. I emailed them about sizing. The men's regular/large has a 23 inch zipper length, the long is a 24 inch zip. Even the "long" is shortish for a long jacket. I am a size 43-44 regular so no strange fitting issues in general. Here's the GB:
http://www.gibson-barnes.com/prod-293930/Usnusmc-Wep.html

My originals including one with a tag marked 46L has a zipper length of 22!!!!

 

[Doctor Damage]

Here's another repro option with different lengths:
http://www.militarysupplyhouse.com/jacketsus5.htm

Here's the only two vintage photos I've come across:

For what it's worth, these jackets have a certain popularity among sci-fi geeks since they were worn extensively in the Stargate television series... in a non-correct cotton shell!

 

[bn1966]

Thanks for your comments gentlemen & the great pics Doc. Here's hoping it isn't too short to live with

 

[Doctor Damage]

More info here:
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/56755-wep-jacket/

Not to get off-topic, but it seems that G&B did a leather version back when they were Flight Suits (under the brand name Wild Blue Yonder).

 

[bn1966]

Thanks Doc, hope my WEP doesn't wear out quickly when it arrives

 

[Doctor Strange]

The WEP jackets used on Stargate SG-1 were cotton for the same reason that the original Indy jackets were lambskin: to be (much) more comfortable than nylon (or heavy leather) under the heat of the blazing lights on a film set.

About a decade ago, when my then-young son was a big fan of SG-1, I got him a Cockpit WEP jacket. It's a nice jacket, he wore it for a couple of years, but its zipper was always difficult to work. I still have it hanging in the back of a closet, figuring that sometime somebody's going to glad to use it when they get trapped here in the rain or something.

One of my friends - also an SG-1 fan - got the Gibson & Barnes version in their less-synthetic-y "mountain cloth" and as I recall, he liked it a lot.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Major Glenn G. Jacks, USMC (google to get bio information)

 

[Deacon211]

Great pics!

This was what I was talking about. In the '90's when these jackets were as much an anachronism as the MA-1, the WEP spoke to us 2nd Lts and Ensigns of shiny blue and grey jets, spewing JP-5 smoke, and pilots with buzz cuts that looked 50 when they were 20...very "Mad Men in the Jet Age".

You know, back when it didn't seem odd at all to practice the over the shoulder nuke sling in your Skyhawk. I mean, sure your going to need 50,000 SPF sunblock but, hey, cool visor!

 

[Big J]

Deacon, so what was the jacket of choice for your generation?
BTW, that era that you speak of just holds so much romance for me, I think it's for the same reason that WWII pilots capture my imagination- the idea that you could be living a relatively civilized life except for the part where you have to fly over enemy territory.
It must have been a psychological jolt for some.

 

[Deacon211]

Deacon, so what was the jacket of choice for your generation?
BTW, that era that you speak of just holds so much romance for me, I think it's for the same reason that WWII pilots capture my imagination- the idea that you could be living a relatively civilized life except for the part where you have to fly over enemy territory.
It must have been a psychological jolt for some.

Well, all we had were the CWUs and the G-1. Many people loved the G-1 for its history, but most jet guys didn't wear it in the cockpit for its lack of fire retardancy. Actually, most guys didn't wear a jacket at all in the cockpit since it didn't fit under the Navy torso harness without serial refitting by the flight equipment shop.

In my day, we were going through the "Dull Age". Patches were small, standard, and limited at least in the Marines. The Navy still had the patched up jacket but even they were toned down somewhat. Jets were grey with subdued markings.

A few guys bought WEPs to wear in the ready room, but they were aftermarket and didn't quite fit the tenor of the times.

That's why the old codgers with their WEPs, overseas hand made patches, and generous coating of jet DNA (grease, soot, hyd fluid) seemed so crusty...like they earned the right to be different in an age where everyone was required to be the same.

In the late 90s to early 2000s, when we went to war, there was again a certain amount of expression allowed in the squadrons. "Hero jets" got their bold paint jobs back, many guys started wearing the embossed leather squadron and name patches from a few suppliers, etc.

By then though, I was out of the gun squadrons and flying reserve jets, headset in one hand and coffee cup in the other!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Big J]

Deacon, thank you for your answer. It's very interesting to me that regulations about wearing flight jackets seemed fairly flexible.
Hand made patches are really interesting to me. Some times I can find Vietnam era ones made here in Japan.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Deacon, thank you for your answer. It's very interesting to me that regulations about wearing flight jackets seemed fairly flexible.

Pilots are at the top of the heap, socially and economically, in any military, so they get more leeway for non-crucial stuff like flight jackets!

 

[Big J]

Pilots are at the top of the heap, socially and economically, in any military, so they get more leeway for non-crucial stuff like flight jackets!

For sure.

When the next gen of fighters are all UAVs, who are my grandchildren going to have as heroes?

 

[Doctor Damage]

When the next gen of fighters are all UAVs, who are my grandchildren going to have as heroes?

Why not you?

 

[breezer]

Love these jackets - I have a repro one by the fashion label One True Saxon in navy blue.

 

[bn1966]

Interesting comments & some great pictures. Will take some pictures and review when my '72 WEP arrives.

 

[Big J]

Why not you?

I've got way too many flaws.

 

[McCoy]

You'll love the WEP. I like the shorter torso and the long arms, but I wear heavy and high wasted dungarees. Light weight and very warm.