Quality Of Neil Cooper USA Jackets?

[MJL]

I am looking to pick up a nice leather jacket. I am interested in a Navy G1 type jacket but an A2 type would do as well. Here is the pinch I am both broke and sized 5XL. The Neil Cooper USA jackets are priced right and look good. Does anyone have feedback about their quality? Fit, construction, etc? I am not looking for an exact repro of a WWII jacket. Just a nice, functional leather jacket that fits would be good.

 

[airfrogusmc]

Try Flight Suits/Gibson & Barnes first. They might be able to get you squared away.
http://www.flightsuits.com/

 

[indyjim]

Check out some of the past threads at indygear.com. I believe there were
some quality issues with Cooper, especially when they were making some of
US Wings jackets. Might have improved, I don't know. I don't have any Cooper
jackets myself. Some of the older Coopers were very good jackets according to
their owners.

 

[Michaelson]

This is the story as it was told to me. The old Coopers were and ARE great jackets. They contracted with Wings and made all the Indy jackets for them for many years, then the quality fell dramatically....bad enough that Wings broke off business relationships and built their own facilities to make jackets, as well as partnered with Averex to sell their jackets.

This is about 3 year old information, and I have no current knowledge of where Cooper is in terms of production quality now, but according to folks in the industry, they fell off the wagon for a while. If you're looking at one of the older Coopers, you're looking at good stuff....newer, I have no idea now.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[guitone]

It appeared that during the spring US Wings was selling some Indy jackets very cheap...when some folks got them they complained about the quality and there was some discussion that some of these, if not all, were still being made my Coopers, whose reputations does seem to not be great these days.

I just got a leather from San Diego leather. www.leather.com

Try them, the quaility is very good. They do list some over 56 Longs, not sure how that would equate, but they go to 50 plus in their regular cut and you can bring one in and pay shipping if you have to send it back, a minor expense, they don't rake you over the coals on shipping ($10 I think).

Good luck

 

[shamus]

You get what you pay for. And sometimes you pay for piece of poop. Pretty much all jackets made in china are poop. even the very expensive Polo ones.

Old coopers were nice, sometimes a bit heavy, and mostly cowhide that I handled over the years.

If you can buy vintage, or custom like Aero, lostworld. Flight Jackets or whatever they're called now are good, but I haven't seen their best, so I can't say.

Coopers are mostly goatskin today which is good, but I prefer horse to all of them.

my 2 cents

 

[Tone]

It appeared that during the spring US Wings was selling some Indy jackets very cheap...when some folks got them they complained about the quality and there was some discussion that some of these, if not all, were still being made my Coopers, whose reputations does seem to not be great these days.

Hmmmmmmmm..... Cooper and US Wings worked together in '05? What happened there?

Well, cheap indy jackets aside then, has anyone bought one of these? I think they look pretty good. You A2 guys? Thoughts on this one?

Cockpit USA A2. I know Aeroleather is a favorite here, but anyone have one of these?

bestglide.com has them at an economically conscious price.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Didn't US Wings actually buy the old Cooper factory?

I believe several different brands of current-style leather jackets are made at the same factory in NJ - aside from the label, there's so little difference in the offerings from US Wings, Cockpit, Legendary USA, etc., that you might as well just buy whichever one is cheapest.

 

[Tone]

Well, that's the thing. A little difference is still a difference. A lot of A-2s tend to "pudgie-up" at the mid-section with a bit too much room from that knitted waist. This one implies that it might not do that as much. I'm wondering if this looks like the typical A2 fit on somebody (patterned exactly like all A2's from the places you mention), or if it fits a bit cleaner in that sense.

I know, I know...

Aeroleather...