Doctor Strange
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 5,253
- Location
- Hudson Valley, NY
Let me start with the summary I'd planned to end with:
If you're looking for a bargain knockabout WWII-style A-2... or if you're looking for a budget A-2 to paint the back... or if you want a gift for family and friends who admire your expensive repro A-2s… and who won't even notice any difference, this jacket is something to consider!
http://onlinemilitaria.com/products/6787-US-A-2-LEATHER-FLIGHT-JACKET-2018-RUN/
Now that I'm retired and blazing through my savings, my days of spending $500+ on leather jackets are pretty much over. But since I own and have been impressed with a number of WPG jackets, I was curious about this A-2, which has gotten great reviews for the impossibly low price of $155. (To put this in perspective, the first real WWII replica A-2 I ever bought - a Bradley Associates for my dad, an Air Corps vet - cost $199 way back in 2001... and it wasn't close to this level of pseudo-accuracy.)
And since I don't currently have a seal brown A-2 (just a russet Good Wear and a black Gibson & Barnes) - not since I sold my old US Authentic some years back - I figured this was a birthday present that I could afford to get myself!
This is indeed a seemingly impossibly nice jacket for the price. No, of course it doesn't compare with the premium-maker repros. It's a generic replica, not a reproduction. But it is comparable with plenty of mid-range jackets that cost two and three times as much. On to the details...
Materials and construction
It's very dark seal goatskin, closer to black than brown. (See the dappled sunlight pics.) This is the thinnest and lightest goatskin I've ever seen; it's all evenly pebble-grained with no blemishes, flexes like goatskin, and is, yes, buttery soft. In terms of its drape and hand, it actually seems more like lambskin than goatskin. This jacket weighs A LOT less than my G&B goatskin A-2. No break-in is required, it feels like wearing a soft cotton windbreaker.
The knits are a tight wool blend, a bit denser than usual, but they look like they will stand up to lots of wear. The lining is a cotton blend that's a little smoother to the touch than all-cotton linings I've seen, but that's okay too. It's a good color and feels like it will wear well. The zipper is an antiqued brass-finish YKK that is the correct (small) size. The ring snaps on the collar and pockets, and throat latch hardware, are all fine. One bit of odd hardware are the underarm grommets, which are larger than usual, see the picture.
Construction is mostly accurate - one-piece back, two-piece sleeves, collar stand, no zipper facings, nicely shaped pocket flaps and collar, no handwarmer pockets, and all the seams are solidly sewn. The one major thing missing that any proper replica/repro should have is a spec label. But hey, that's an interior detail nobody but us cares about.
It has an off-spec large inside pocket... but I consider that a feature rather than a bug!
There is one very familiar error: the epaulets and shoulder seams are a little too far forward, falling off the shoulder rather than riding atop. See the side-view pic.
There are long creases on the outside of the arms, and one side of the collar has some unfortunate creases, due to the folded plastic-bagged packaging and the thin hide. See the side-view pic. I'm working on smoothing out the collar, and I hope the arm creases will eventually fade with wear.
Sizing and fit
I am a widebody - 5'8", 200 lbs., 42 waist with even wider gut overhang - and I typically wear 46/XL and 48/XXL jackets. Almost any off-the-rack jacket I buy will be too long in body length and sleeves, and wider in the shoulders and chest than I need, because with me, it's always about fitting around my big gut. I often need 2 or 3 inches taken off the sleeves on jackets that don't have knits.
I got the XXL, which claimed a 26" pit-to-pit measurement and didn't specify any other dimensions... but all the reviews said it's a trim fit and you should size up. The sizing reminds me a lot of my old US Authentic: it's trim but long. As you will see in the pics, as usual for me, the body length and shoulder width are a bit big: an XL would have no doubt fit me better in these areas... but I probably couldn't zip it over my waist/gut. (Hey, I have other custom jackets that fit me perfectly, and I'd always rather have it be too big than too small.)
Anyway, my own measurements on the XXL are:
Pit-to-pit - 25.5"
Shoulders - 21.5"
Back (top of collar to bottom of waistband) - 29.5"
Sleeve (shoulder seam to end of wristlet) - 27"
Front (top of zip to bottom of waistband) - 24.5"
Waistband across at bottom - 19"
The pictures at WPG's page are very good at showing the jacket, but I did a few of my own...
Anyway, it's darn impressive for just $155. And with its lighter goatskin, it will make a nice "summer weight" A-2 for times when horsehide or thicker goatskin is too much. I'm definitely looking forward to wearing it when spring arrives!
If you're looking for a bargain knockabout WWII-style A-2... or if you're looking for a budget A-2 to paint the back... or if you want a gift for family and friends who admire your expensive repro A-2s… and who won't even notice any difference, this jacket is something to consider!
http://onlinemilitaria.com/products/6787-US-A-2-LEATHER-FLIGHT-JACKET-2018-RUN/
Now that I'm retired and blazing through my savings, my days of spending $500+ on leather jackets are pretty much over. But since I own and have been impressed with a number of WPG jackets, I was curious about this A-2, which has gotten great reviews for the impossibly low price of $155. (To put this in perspective, the first real WWII replica A-2 I ever bought - a Bradley Associates for my dad, an Air Corps vet - cost $199 way back in 2001... and it wasn't close to this level of pseudo-accuracy.)
And since I don't currently have a seal brown A-2 (just a russet Good Wear and a black Gibson & Barnes) - not since I sold my old US Authentic some years back - I figured this was a birthday present that I could afford to get myself!
This is indeed a seemingly impossibly nice jacket for the price. No, of course it doesn't compare with the premium-maker repros. It's a generic replica, not a reproduction. But it is comparable with plenty of mid-range jackets that cost two and three times as much. On to the details...
Materials and construction
It's very dark seal goatskin, closer to black than brown. (See the dappled sunlight pics.) This is the thinnest and lightest goatskin I've ever seen; it's all evenly pebble-grained with no blemishes, flexes like goatskin, and is, yes, buttery soft. In terms of its drape and hand, it actually seems more like lambskin than goatskin. This jacket weighs A LOT less than my G&B goatskin A-2. No break-in is required, it feels like wearing a soft cotton windbreaker.
The knits are a tight wool blend, a bit denser than usual, but they look like they will stand up to lots of wear. The lining is a cotton blend that's a little smoother to the touch than all-cotton linings I've seen, but that's okay too. It's a good color and feels like it will wear well. The zipper is an antiqued brass-finish YKK that is the correct (small) size. The ring snaps on the collar and pockets, and throat latch hardware, are all fine. One bit of odd hardware are the underarm grommets, which are larger than usual, see the picture.
Construction is mostly accurate - one-piece back, two-piece sleeves, collar stand, no zipper facings, nicely shaped pocket flaps and collar, no handwarmer pockets, and all the seams are solidly sewn. The one major thing missing that any proper replica/repro should have is a spec label. But hey, that's an interior detail nobody but us cares about.
It has an off-spec large inside pocket... but I consider that a feature rather than a bug!
There is one very familiar error: the epaulets and shoulder seams are a little too far forward, falling off the shoulder rather than riding atop. See the side-view pic.
There are long creases on the outside of the arms, and one side of the collar has some unfortunate creases, due to the folded plastic-bagged packaging and the thin hide. See the side-view pic. I'm working on smoothing out the collar, and I hope the arm creases will eventually fade with wear.
Sizing and fit
I am a widebody - 5'8", 200 lbs., 42 waist with even wider gut overhang - and I typically wear 46/XL and 48/XXL jackets. Almost any off-the-rack jacket I buy will be too long in body length and sleeves, and wider in the shoulders and chest than I need, because with me, it's always about fitting around my big gut. I often need 2 or 3 inches taken off the sleeves on jackets that don't have knits.
I got the XXL, which claimed a 26" pit-to-pit measurement and didn't specify any other dimensions... but all the reviews said it's a trim fit and you should size up. The sizing reminds me a lot of my old US Authentic: it's trim but long. As you will see in the pics, as usual for me, the body length and shoulder width are a bit big: an XL would have no doubt fit me better in these areas... but I probably couldn't zip it over my waist/gut. (Hey, I have other custom jackets that fit me perfectly, and I'd always rather have it be too big than too small.)
Anyway, my own measurements on the XXL are:
Pit-to-pit - 25.5"
Shoulders - 21.5"
Back (top of collar to bottom of waistband) - 29.5"
Sleeve (shoulder seam to end of wristlet) - 27"
Front (top of zip to bottom of waistband) - 24.5"
Waistband across at bottom - 19"
The pictures at WPG's page are very good at showing the jacket, but I did a few of my own...
Anyway, it's darn impressive for just $155. And with its lighter goatskin, it will make a nice "summer weight" A-2 for times when horsehide or thicker goatskin is too much. I'm definitely looking forward to wearing it when spring arrives!
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