B-Beautiful in a B-10..! (The ultimate American Beauty cloth flight wear)

Nighthawk · Oct 15, 2008

^ No problem. Just FYI Buzz Rickson's US sales are handled through HPA at http://www.historypreservation.com/

I am actually kind of intrigued by the black offerings by Buzz. I also imagine that they'll do a black A-2 eventually as well, something already offered by Lost Worlds. Looks fairly classy, IMO. [huh] I'm not sure how a B-10 would look, though.

As an aside, I've read that during Vietnam a lot of guys in special operations groups dyed all of their clothing (from their jackets to their underwear) black.

EDIT: thanks for the pic, Burnsie. Was that from last season's collection?

NH

Burnsie · Oct 15, 2008

Nighthawk said:
^ EDIT: thanks for the pic, Burnsie. Was that from last season's collection?

NH

Yes, 2007 - pretty tough looking even if not 100% authentic!

Hawk_Eye · Oct 15, 2008

Burnsie said:
Buzz Rickson has a black B-10:

Someone on VLJ said it best on the black Buzz B-10, it looks more like a mall security guards jacket, and its lost alot of its charm.

Nighthawk · Oct 15, 2008

Hawk_Eye said:
Someone on VLJ said it best on the black Buzz B-10, it looks more like a mall security guards jacket, and its lost alot of its charm.

You realize over at VLJ they'd be saying the same thing if the jackets were originally black, and the William Gibson collection was olive.

fishmeok · Oct 15, 2008

Nighthawk said:
You realize over at VLJ they'd be saying the same thing if the jackets were originally black, and the William Gibson collection was olive.

Yeah, well, I said that, and I stand by that statement. The black color just washes out too many of the details that make a B-10 distinctive. Fine for some, but not me.
Cheers
Mark

Nighthawk · Oct 15, 2008

^ I can respect that. I do see what you mean about the details. I think that they may look better close up, but as I've never handled one I can't vouch for this.

To each his own. :cheers1:

NH

lt508th · Apr 2, 2009

Question for the jacket pros

Pardon my ignorance, but in this thread you gents keep referring to Gina at HPA. What is HPA? Do they have a website or other contact information? Thanks in advance. ~ Tim

Burnsie · Apr 2, 2009

lt508th said:
Pardon my ignorance, but in this thread you gents keep referring to Gina at HPA. What is HPA? Do they have a website or other contact information? Thanks in advance. ~ Tim

History Preservation Associates
http://historypreservation.com/hpassociates/index.html

lt508th · Apr 2, 2009

HPA Information

Thanks for the promprt reply! ~ Tim

bbc1969 · Apr 14, 2009

Folks,

Has anyone had any experience with a manufacturer named Pike Brothers? In doing some research I came across this company. I think the B-10 is a great jacket and am trying to nail down the choices.

http://www.pikebrothersshop.com/epa...Products/P01020224/SubProducts/P01020224-0001

greyhound68 · Apr 14, 2009

If you want a real B-10 don't bother with the Pike one. It in no way compares to the Buzz or ELC model. Save your money and go with one of them. Had a BR, ELC, and RMJ and each was excellent just didn't like the fit of the B-10 on me and was attracted by other jackets.

bbc1969 · Apr 14, 2009

greyhound68 said:
If you want a real B-10 don't bother with the Pike one. It in no way compares to the Buzz or ELC model. Save your money and go with one of them. Had a BR, ELC, and RMJ and each was excellent just didn't like the fit of the B-10 on me and was attracted by other jackets.

Thanks for the info. I think I will most likely have to look at the Aero, or the Eastman Roughwear. I will need at least a 48 or 50 and Buzz R. just does not seem to be geared towards the larger framed person.

What is frustrating is even if I lost 15 lbs of gut, I would still need these sizes due to my shoulder area......

DustMite · May 2, 2009

Which B-10 should I buy ????

Looking at buying a decent B-10 flight jacket. Cant afford the Eastmans one, although very nice, the only other 2 within easy reach, are the Aero B-10 and the Pike B-10. So which is best, Aero or Pike Brothers ? Would like to hear peoples thoughts on quality and warmth, value for money etc. I know turn around is very slow at the moment, arn't they all...... many thanks

Also, where do I get those water slide USAAF decals from ????

PADDY · May 3, 2009

Merged (Bartender Edit)

For better referencing, help and advice.

DustMite · May 3, 2009

Moved me

Having just been moved to this thread, which I did not find on the search, I think, by reading down all the replys, that Pike Bros. should be avoided. Is this correct.

fishmeok · May 3, 2009

Not necessarily- The Pike jacket is a decent repop with a good shell and liner. Biggest problem is the oversize arms and knits. Nothing that can't be fixed.
Cheers
Mark

Fletch · May 3, 2009

Surely not as warm as one with a full-thickness alpaca liner!

DustMite · May 3, 2009

Transfer

What about the USAAF transfer on the shoulder. The water slides wont work on cloth, where can I get some transfers for cloth, and will they be iron on?

cheers

DustMite · May 4, 2009

Warmer

So which is warmer then Pike or Aero ?

What about colour. The Expensive Eastmans is quite light khaki shade, were as the Pike and Aero are quite green in colour. does this fade. I would like to know before forking out £200 mail order, on a jacket I have not actually seen.

bbc1969 · May 4, 2009

DustMite said:
So which is warmer then Pike or Aero ?

What about colour. The Expensive Eastmans is quite light khaki shade, were as the Pike and Aero are quite green in colour. does this fade. I would like to know before forking out £200 mail order, on a jacket I have not actually seen.

Have you considered the Buzz Rickson? I believe they are priced a bit lower than the Eastman Roughwear B-10.

I too had considered the Pike and Aero. I ended up deciding just to save my milk money a couple more months and go with the Eastman. I will admit this was easier to justify in my mind from this side of the pond with the current exchange rate trend.

Having said that, I was going to go with the Aero. I was not thrilled with some of the reviews of the outershell, and personally thought the pockets looked placed a bit high.

But my understanding is that the alpaca lining is top notch, and the quality and finish are Aero's usual excellent.

If I was going to go with a Pike or and Aero, and not really want to mess with tailoring, my opinion is go with the Aero.

I think one of the fine folks here compared an Aero to a SM Coat a couple pages back in the thread. While not a Pike, it does discuss many of the Aero's good and bad points........

B-Beautiful in a B-10..! (The ultimate American Beauty cloth flight wear)

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