My G-1 Lineup (Others Invited)

It's a great looking jacket, but it does have that "new repro" feel to it. Is it my imagination, or do the cuffs have a seam in them unlike the continuous weave of most of the ones I've seen?

I think some of the more modern jackets may have had the "Made in the USA" label, meaning 1990s plus, like the Cooper, but I could be completely wrong. I vaguely recall seeing one but that may have been an after-market jacket. The last one I was issued does not and I don't think I've seen pics of any from the time frame of this jacket that do.

I'm pretty much full up with my G-1s (and everything else...my closet looks like a WWII flight equipment shop!) with a GW still waiting on the horizon. But, every time I see a nice jacket, I still get the itch!

Deacon211 said:

It's a great looking jacket, but it does have that "new repro" feel to it. Is it my imagination, or do the cuffs have a seam in them unlike the continuous weave of most of the ones I've seen?

I think some of the more modern jackets may have had the "Made in the USA" label, meaning 1990s plus, like the Cooper, but I could be completely wrong. I vaguely recall seeing one but that may have been an after-market jacket. The last one I was issued does not and I don't think I've seen pics of any from the time frame of this jacket that do.

I'm pretty much full up with my G-1s (and everything else...my closet looks like a WWII flight equipment shop!) with a GW still waiting on the horizon. But, every time I see a nice jacket, I still get the itch!

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Ah, the GW pattern is really nice. Ken at Aero borrowed one from John Chapman to make my M422a that a posted a little earlier, because the Aero pattern didn't suit me. I can't remember, but I think one is a G&F, and the other is a W&G.

It's an 80's repro. Somewhere on it is likely to be one of those "made by original manufacturer" labels; usually on the inside of the zipper. They use waistband material for the cuffs (which feels a bit thick), the zipper is a scovill (ie late D-series/E-series equivalent), they have the coastguard side entry pockets, and they're not goat either (but much less squeaky than the 70's E-series originals). I own one in 50Long, which is a little bit big for me even wearing a fleece of something underneath. They're okay jackets for the right price; $499 is about $400 too much for that jacket, although I suppose 48's are fairly rare and command higher prices.

Tkecks said:

It's an 80's repro. Somewhere on it is likely to be one of those "made by original manufacturer" labels; usually on the inside of the zipper. They use waistband material for the cuffs (which feels a bit thick), the zipper is a scovill (ie late D-series/E-series equivalent), they have the coastguard side entry pockets, and they're not goat either (but much less squeaky than the 70's E-series originals). I own one in 50Long, which is a little bit big for me even wearing a fleece of something underneath. They're okay jackets for the right price; $499 is about $400 too much for that jacket, although I suppose 48's are fairly rare and command higher prices.

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Apologies, I thought I replied to your comment earlier, but clearly I made a mistake in posting.
Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for your comment! Yep, I got the feeling that that jacket just somehow wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Brill

Nice!


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Most of my collection, but listed below.



M-422a G&F x2
AN-6552 W&G x2
AN-6552 H.L Block
An-J-3a L.W Foster x2
55j14 L.W Foster
7823(AER) Cagleco x2
7823(AER) Monarch

This one is in a very bad way, but a rare L.W Foster An-j-3a with even rarer painted art.

And this ones for sale. Cagleco 7823(AER) 1953 size 38 (replacement knits supplied) pm for a price.




Measurements.
Message

Cagleco measurements.

Chest 20.5
Shoulder 18.5
Back length 23
Front length 22
Sleeve 23.5

What a great collection Chamboid!

Deacon211 said:

What a great collection Chamboid!

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+1
Awesome grouping of jackets!

Some of you may remember the E series G-1 that I posted as a new purchase earlier on this thread, mainly since I did a lot of whining about how it seemed so, well, 'plasticky'.

In the name of furthering the Lounge's understanding of E series G-1's, I therefore decided to conduct an experiment!

I bought some other E series jackets;


All are size 48. Details (from left to right) as follows;
First on the left is the jacket from earlier in the thread-



Second from the left;



Third from the left;



The Jacket on the right;



Now, both Imperial Fashions jackets have an identical 'feel' to the shell, that is a stark difference to the Brill Bros and the Imperial Leather & Sportswear (for the record, I have no idea if this Imperial is connected in any way to the Imperial that made the first two jackets). The Imperial Fashions jackets are much softer, seem to be thinner, and seem to have much more grain overall. The Brill Bros and the IL&S are stiffer, thicker, and have less grain (in fact, on the elbows you can see where wear has 'rubbed out' the fake goat embossing from the cowhide). These two jackets are no doubt about it, the 'rank steerhide' that Atticus mentioned earlier in the thread.

Despite these apparent differences, the jackets do all weigh the same (with one exception, detailed below).

All jackets appear to have exactly the same color and finish (Atticus will understand what I mean by that- the almost 'spayed-on' look of the color).

All jackets appear to have identical Dynal collars. All jackets have identical knits and Scovill zippers.

Both IF jackets had a strange 'plasticky' smell when they came out of the box (despite coming from different continents, and being packed differently), whereas the BB and the IL&S had the very (and I mean very) faintest of leather smells.

The IF jackets, when worn, do indeed 'squeak like a flock of seagulls' as Tkecks stated earlier in the thread, whereas the BB and the IL&S jackets let out very satisfying, distinct 'creaks' when worn, like sitting on a big thick old leather sofa.

Evidence thus far considered, it did indeed seem that there is something 'different' about the IF jackets. Deeper analysis was required.
Fortunately for me/us, the second IF jacket that I bought, whilst being a label size 48, is about 4cm shorter in the body than the other three (whose measurements are nearly identical), hence the weight discrepancy noted above.

Since this jacket is too short for me to wear, and since I have concerns about the nature of the shell material, I decided to test to see if it was plastic after all.

I applied a pressurized gas lighter to an area under the collar. I expected to see rapid shrinking, melting, a burnt hole, and the smell of plastic. However, as the area became hot, the was a little blackening of the surface, very little smoke, and then the slightest of contractions in the shell. After 15 seconds of continuos application of heat from a distance of approx 4cm, there was no melting and no hole. There was a smell of leather.

After letting the jacket cool for about an hours, I examined the test area. It had become much stiffer, and in the epicenter, so stiff that when I attempted to fold that part of the hide over on itself, it split.


There IS something different about the IF jackets shell qualities, but I cannot understand what that is. For sure, they are not steer in the same way that the BB and the IL&S jackets are. I can't think what hides are the same weight at steer, but softer and more pliable. I can't imagine that they would be embossed horse. I'm pretty sure that they are not goat. What else could they be?

Hi Big J - I've recently bought a 1974 Imperial Fashions jacket; and have experienced exactly the same as you; when it arrived it had a very sticky plasticky feel, and an almost sharp squeak when worn. The grain pattern is very pronounced and quite variable between panels. It felt very lightweight, but some panels - especially the back - were much stiffer than I would have expected. A coat of pecards took 4-5 days to soak in - that has completely stopped the squeak, and becoming my daily wearer has helped the jacket become much more supple. Its a really good fit, and in a strange way I really like it! Now to find an M422A....

BP1 said:

Hi Big J - I've recently bought a 1974 Imperial Fashions jacket; and have experienced exactly the same as you; when it arrived it had a very sticky plasticky feel, and an almost sharp squeak when worn. The grain pattern is very pronounced and quite variable between panels. It felt very lightweight, but some panels - especially the back - were much stiffer than I would have expected. A coat of pecards took 4-5 days to soak in - that has completely stopped the squeak, and becoming my daily wearer has helped the jacket become much more supple. Its a really good fit, and in a strange way I really like it! Now to find an M422A....

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Oh yeah, I hated my first Imperial Fashions when it turned up in the post, but now I'm loving it's grain qualities, which are awesome! So I can sympathize with your comment totally. What I don't understand though, is what hide are these IF jackets? So much grain!

Quick Comment on "Plasticky" jackets. Almost all leathers have some form of coating on them. With aniline leathers, it's a dye that sinks in. With pigment-dyed leather, it's a sort of paint that sits on top. The giveaway in distinguishing the two is simply to wet your finger and touch the surface-- if the saliva soaks in a bit, the leather is aniline, whereas if it sits on top, it's pigment. It sounds like some of the leathers in OP's collection are pigment dyed.

In my experience, many pigment dyed jackets can be greatly improved by washing them, or by stripping surface layers of pigment with a solvent such as alcohol or acetone-- both of which should be tested, but which I've used frequently with success.

Of course I would not suggest these treatments for truly historical jackets that saw flight time, so the OP's G1s may not be suitable.

U.S. Coast Guard

Does anyone have any tips for removing (or reducing!) very strong BO from a G1? I've recently bought a fantastic condition 1950s Foster, but the armpits smell pretty bad I've tried leaving it in the sun to see if UV will help. Any advice gratefully received!

I love my G1. This is the original USN G1 1973 jacket Brill Bros. I bought it new, but it had a strong smell of storage. Professional dry cleaning and hanging out to the sun and the wind helped.

Mine

Why such a reddish color cuffs and hem?