Owners of U.S. Authentic / flightjacket.com A-2 jacket owners please help.

Mine stands at attention, mainly because I usually flip it up in the back Robert S. Johnson style. The collar stand seems to work fine.

U.S.A's horsehide is THICK. As a result, you don't get the sharp creases that other jackets do at the collar break. They wear like iron, though.

If I were to do it again I'd have saved for a few more months and got a McCoy's. The U.S.A is a great buy for the price, though.

 

Spokes Man

Atkins, I have a US A A-2, the russet horsehide, and the collar, as Wingnut noted, stands at attention. I've never doubted that the jacket had a collar stand. And, as Wingnut also observed, the jacket has thick leather; I'm reminded of an aged biker's jacket, the leather is so tough.
And, I hate to keep parroting Wingnut, but I have to second his advice about saving your bucks for a slightly pricier jacket. I am thinking of upgrading, meaning I may eBay the US A.
Then again, I may keep it in the garage for the really rough chores...

 

Collar Stand

I have a US A goatskin A-2. It very definitely has a collar stand. A 3/8" separate piece of leather between the body of the jacket and the collar. It also has it's own cotton lining on the inside. The collar stands up nicely when snapped even with the goatskin. It does spread out almost flat when unsnapped.

LD

 

I dont know doo squat about a mcarthur coller but heres some pics of mine.

us authentic, eastman and aero.



US authentic with snap closed, HH model.



eastman with collar un snapped, HH house model



Aero collar, real deal HH model

The eastman is my personal fav. fit wise. Awesome jacket. The USA is much thicker and heavier. the Aero didn't fit right, so it's gone. The eastman and Aero were veg tanned so the lighter undertones / patina came out nicely. the USA is chrome tanned, black undertone when it wears, not what I like personally. I use the USA when the weather gets too cold for the eastman but not cold enough for the B-3.

cheers

 

You sure about that 3/8"? The stand on my US-A goat is 3/4" wide. The collar is 3 1/2" long at the points and 2 1/4" high in back.

All in all the US-A fit and cut remind me a whole lot of my Willis & Geiger A-2. Even the spec tags are nearly alike.

 

That's not surprising: I seem to recall reading on one of these forums that Willis & Geiger subcontracted A-2s from US A.

I didn't respond earlier because I wasn't sure what was meant by the "McArthur stand-up collar" in Atkins' original query. I have a US A HH A-2, and the collar is definitely pretty stand-up: given the collar-stand construction and thick, springy leather, it's not about to lie flat! (I also have a goatskin FS A-2 without a collar stand: that one is very floppy and pretty much just lays there.) The US A does have a smallish collar with rounded points - which may not be suitably "McArthur"ish - but I really like the way it looks...

 

I'm thinking that's a Rough Wear - I understand Mac wore one at one time. Their collars were all stand built, high in the back, and developed that nice roll in front.

Original RW #42-1401
The Few RW 1401 repro
Eastman RW 1401 repro & pic of Jimmy Stewart in his 1401

Original pre-WW2 RW contracts:
Original RW # AC-16159
More 16159 pics - scroll down
Original RW #AC-18091

I imagine if you can get measurements and pix from someone with an original or faithful repro RW, you can be specific on what you want US-A to make for you.

 

Hi, first post. I got a US A about a week ago. Hope this helps.

 

Welcome. Nice hide and color - are the pix true to shade?

That must be the horsehide - it looks like it has character.
My goat US-A is soft and supple, but a bit blah to look at.

 

The pics are very close to their true shade. Taken indoors but with no flash. This is the vintage horsehide version that is a Pure Aniline finish. I am hoping for the nice patina that comes from this some day.

 

Collar on my medium brown goat US-A

Doesn't have that MacArthur/Rough Wear stance to it, but it's representative enough of the era.



I apologize to all for failing to shave beforehand.


Or focus.

 

Looks like Dover got the hide right this time. I'm like'n the vintage HH WOW!!
mines too shiney.

 

You could machine wash it. Cold cycle, no soap. Zip it up and throw in 2 or 3 bath towels.

 

I had a hard time deciding between the russet and the vintage. So hard to know the right choice without actually seeing them in person. Anyway, I am very happy with the vintage and I hope you are just as happy with your russet.