#5 Zipper on Heavy Hides?? 4 oz

[ton312]

^^There you have it! Nice find Ivan.

 

[Lebowski]

Exactly.

The fact that a clothes company opts to go with the cheapest YKK's doesn't mean a thing and anyone saying "YKK is bad!" should take a look at their top tier zippers. They make stuff that's every bit as good and pretty as anything else out there.

I mean, just check out their repro line. Literally every vtg style there was.

https://www.ykkfastening.com/products/search/detail.html?pdid1=OLD+AMERICAN(R)

To each his own.
My opinion about YKK is still the same. To imitate the look of some old good american zippers doesn't mean for YKK to be even a tiny bit equal to them.

 

[jpk_NJ]

My 4oz+ LW has a #10 NOS Conmar zipper and I get nervous zipping that thing up sometimes! No way I would chance anything smaller on an LW jacket.

I might have the same #10 zip on this Lost Worlds I picked up. The slider is a chunky paperclip type but the zip box says Conmar in small vertical letters. The only reason Im leaning for a Talon is that all 5 other zips on the jacket are the nickel Talon #5 Bell shape WWII style. I was digging these elongated pullers and thought it might make a good match visually. But these are also #5 I guess

 

[El Marro]

I might have the same #10 zip on this Lost Worlds I picked up. The slider is a chunky paperclip type but the zip box says Conmar in small vertical letters. The only reason Im leaning for a Talon is that all 5 other zips on the jacket are the nickel Talon #5 Bell shape WWII style. I was digging these elongated pullers and thought it might make a good match visually. But these are also #5 I guess

View attachment 183386

I believe we do have the same exact Conmar zipper. It looks the part on my CHP but I agree that the Talon zippers look much nicer.

 

[Seb Lucas]

To each his own.
My opinion about YKK is still the same. To imitate the look of some old good american zippers doesn't mean for YKK to be even a tiny bit equal to them.

In 40 years of owning too many jackets to count, I have never, ever had a YKK zip fail despite hard use and abuse. People are sometimes snobby about YKK but they are amazingly good. Every other style of zip I have owned from Talon to Riri has broken or just plain underperformed. I find this annoying but i can't deny it. Fancy a mainstream commonly found brand actually being a solid product.

 

[Canuck Panda]

I will go edit my post in the daily wear thread on my IR. And link here.

Just wanted to clear a few things. I love my IR.

I am posting some detail pics of the zips I have on my jackets here.

No 5 modern zips can work wonders. Some old no 5s are just the modern ones. But I don't know how old they actually are. Most old No 5s have a different locking mechanism that the male pin likes to slid out. Repro Talons have this problem. Even the made in Japan ones.

The only old no5 zip that I have that the male pin gets locked in is from my GW jacket. It's a C and C zip. I have no ideal how old it is. But looks old. This is the only no fail no5 old zip I have

This is my made in Canada mall brand jacket. It uses modern YKK, USA made, no 5 only. It also locks the male pin. No fail.

The USA no 10 YKKs are bullet proof. Basically a bigger brother of the modern 5 above. It's not about politics. But YKK internation zips in size 10 is not the same. They tend to lock at the start. Less smooth.
This is WD USA YKK 10

Now this is why I say old zips or old design new repros (even japan) will fail. The male pin do not lock in. The design is different.

Old no 10 from NYC brand

Old mechanism repro modern Japan made zip used on UK maker no 8 size

no 5 repro talon (I dont know origin) but the design is old style, from UK maker

So if you want fail safe zippers. Modern USA YKK seems to be the best available option, 5 or 10 no matter. Although I don't have a Crown yet. Those are very expensive, like 6000 yen and they aren't very long zip tape.
If the male pin doesn't have the new notches that gets locked in place, the zip will open up from the bottom.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Just in! Aero's new Universal zip. Like Ton said it is better. If your order has not gone to production I'd suggest this over the repro Talon for sure. The male pin is checked in place.

Anyone know where YKK "L" factory is located?

Looks to be the same mechanism as ykk U factory (USA).

 

[photo2u]

I will go edit my post in the daily wear thread on my IR. And link here.

Just wanted to clear a few things. I love my IR.

I am posting some detail pics of the zips I have on my jackets here.

No 5 modern zips can work wonders. Some old no 5s are just the modern ones. But I don't know how old they actually are. Most old No 5s have a different locking mechanism that the male pin likes to slid out. Repro Talons have this problem. Even the made in Japan ones.

The only old no5 zip that I have that the male pin gets locked in is from my GW jacket. It's a C and C zip. I have no ideal how old it is. But looks old. This is the only no fail no5 old zip I have

View attachment 446725

This is my made in Canada mall brand jacket. It uses modern YKK, USA made, no 5 only. It also locks the male pin. No fail.
View attachment 446733

The USA no 10 YKKs are bullet proof. Basically a bigger brother of the modern 5 above. It's not about politics. But YKK internation zips in size 10 is not the same. They tend to lock at the start. Less smooth.
This is WD USA YKK 10
View attachment 446738

Now this is why I say old zips or old design new repros (even japan) will fail. The male pin do not lock in. The design is different.

Old no 10 from NYC brand
View attachment 446741

Old mechanism repro modern Japan made zip used on UK maker no 8 size
View attachment 446742

no 5 repro talon (I dont know origin) but the design is old style, from UK maker
View attachment 446743

So if you want fail safe zippers. Modern USA YKK seems to be the best available option, 5 or 10 no matter. Although I don't have a Crown yet. Those are very expensive, like 6000 yen and they aren't very long zip tape.
If the male pin doesn't have the new notches that gets locked in place, the zip will open up from the bottom.

The C&C is a late 60s model. There are older 60s models that are different. GW will only use a top quality zip for their jackets.

 

[photo2u]

The C&C is a late 60s model. There are older 60s models that are different. GW will only use a top quality zip for their jackets.

Here are some. Left to right: older to newer. All have original packages with dates in instructions.

A ROUND LATE 50S SEE INSTRUCTIONS (SMALL SQUARE PAPER)
B C&C TAN ZIPPER WITH TAN PACKAGE 1964
C C&c GRAY ZIPPER WHITE PACKAGE 1974
D TALON NAVY 1947
F TALON 1956
E TALON 1959 SAME BASICALLY AS 1956 BUT DIFFERENT PACKAGING AND THE PRICE. .65 IN 1956. IN 1959 IT WENT UP TEN CENTS TO .75.
G TALON 1975 WHITE PACKAGE

THIS IS A LATE 40S BUCO J24 ZIPPER THAT CAME OUT OF MY JACKET. THE PULL IS THE SAME DESIGN AND FONTS AS THE 60S. THE BOX IS CLEAR INDICATION OF POST WAR II.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Here are some. Left to right: older to newer. All have original packages with dates in instructions.

A ROUND LATE 50S SEE INSTRUCTIONS (SMALL SQUARE PAPER)
B C&C TAN ZIPPER WITH TAN PACKAGE 1964
C C&c GRAY ZIPPER WHITE PACKAGE 1974
D TALON NAVY 1947
F TALON 1956
E TALON 1959 SAME BASICALLY AS 1956 BUT DIFFERENT PACKAGING AND THE PRICE. .65 IN 1956. IN 1959 IT WENT UP TEN CENTS TO .75.
G TALON 1975 WHITE PACKAGE

View attachment 446837 View attachment 446835 View attachment 446834


THIS IS A LATE 40S BUCO J24 ZIPPER THAT CAME OUT OF MY JACKET. THE PULL IS THE SAME DESIGN AND FONTS AS THE 60S. THE BOX IS CLEAR INDICATION OF POST WAR II.

The C and C (GW) is great. Has a different teeth than the rest, old or modern. Only a size 5 but never failures. I did use wax once to smooth the glide though. It almost makes a very faint click sounds as it zips. I looked at some WW2 era NOS zips and they are expensive.

 

[AeroFan_07]

The world of zippers in indeed vast! Nearly as vast as our collectable leather jackets, or perhaps even more so and more collectable too!

 

[photo2u]

The world of zippers in indeed vast! Nearly as vast as our collectable leather jackets, or perhaps even more so and more collectable too!

Randy, How did beast of the talon worked for you? Those early 60s are bulletproof. Mili zips were bulletproof from 40s to 90s.

 

[AeroFan_07]

^^ Thanks for the reminder, I have not sent the jacket to Dena yet to install it. Hope to get this done this fall. For now still the (very small) #5 in there.

 

[photo2u]

Here are some images of some mili zipers from early40s to 1960. I included a talon #5 for reference.
The first one is not white. Is a "NATURAL" cotton that can be dye to any color. Personally, I think dark brown is simply the best tape color for the vintage look. Not included and should be noted are Ideal, general and American made YKK. The nickel plated #10 Ideals used by Schott and other major brands are excellent in quality and finish.

 

[JMax]

Here are some images of some mili zipers from early40s to 1960. I included a talon #5 for reference.
The first one is not white. Is a "NATURAL" cotton that can be dye to any color. Personally, I think dark brown is simply the best tape color for the vintage look. Not included and should be noted are Ideal, general and American made YKK. The nickel plated #10 Ideals used by Schott and other major brands are excellent in quality and finish.


View attachment 447237
View attachment 447238

I still chuckle at the fact that zipper pics are so interesting.