In my collecting days I had a few of these and looked at probably a couple of hundred over 30 years, never seen one with the added pockets, though I did have a Fleet Air Arm version that had the hood altered to make the collar. I would say a good used wartime one is probably warmer than a B3 as all mine had thicker fleece. Originals Irvin's tend to last better than American sheepskin though I think it is something to do with the outer coating. Not a jacket to get wet though, originals tend to smell like an old wet dog, or should that be sheep till dried out, also quite hard to apply leather preservatives to due to the finish on the jacket or trousers. Thought you may like to see this; the worlds worst original Irvin. Bought from Westcliff on Sea Army and Navy surplus in the early 1960s it remained in the purchasers possession for about 35 years from when he was 14 and a size 36 to when he was aged 50+. Thinking it would be worth a few bob he tried to sell it to me, I only bought it out of sympathy and managed to get it for 2 cans of lager that were on the back seat of my car. Eventually I posted it off to Aero Leather as a swap for some gloves they were selling at the time.
Thinking it would be worth a few bob he tried to sell it to me, I only bought it out of sympathy and managed to get it for 2 cans of lager that were on the back seat of my car. Eventually I posted it off to Aero Leather as a swap for some gloves they were selling at the time.
And here is a better one.
£450 to Norway, size about a modern British 44
Can you date it Andrew? Sorry no back view but it was a main two piece. A couple of on base repairs to armpits but thats about it.
John
Thanks Andrew, This jacket was in pretty good condition, the fleece was not as shaggy as some of those later ones, the worst part of it was that wear on the left sleeve. A really warm jacket, I would wear it on a cold and frosty morning with just a T shirt.
That's fine, I don't own any repro's, probably wont now anyway as I dont collect military jackets anymore. I sold all my original WWII B3s and Irvins, US Navy sheepskins mainly because they started to fall apart from being worn to much, then again they are 60+years old. Let someone else deal with that.
Thought I had better owe the topic an apology as to why I posted this here. Last time I looked I think the ORIGINAL Irvin Thread had been closed, just looked and it has been re-opened so I may re-post there.
Postage costs to the US are very high and deter many potential buyers. A jacket like this will cost about £95 Global Priority. Add this to the risk or it being returned and re-imported with fees duty and taxes, it's just too risky.
The tannery no longer exists but I think Ken has plans to upscale the RAF jacket range
