Bonjour,
As I would say to anybody who is interested in acquiring a nice quality A2, I would also encourage you to take a moment to have a look at Aero's ANJ-3 jacket - which at first glance looks like an A2 but it incorporates the superior design elements of the US Navy's classic M-422a. As well as being historically accurate, very well made and made with goatskin, it has a nice bi-swing back and larger front pockets plus an inside pocket. Very handy indeed! It could give you the look you are after but with a bit more practicality for modern life.
But an A2 is an A2 and I can understand if you want one and nothing else.
And I would kindly suggest an Aero or ELC of course - or consider a secondhand GW if you can find one.
But I would suggest that you give all of the companies mentioned here a "ping" and introduce yourself and ask for swatches of their leathers, the cotton lining materials and the wool knitted waistbands, so you can get a tactile sense of your options and the qualities on offer. Try to strike up a rapport with them and ask them what they feel suits your interests (also depending on your size and build plus what you want the jacket for; namely for kicking about in and going to the pub and dog walks in various weathers or something smarter for the office/after-work bar scene and is a jacket that would seldom see any weather if you're not an outdoors kind of guy - and some A2s can manage that, I think) and which hide they'd recommend for you and you may find that you gravitate to one company or A2 model over another.
But this jacket may be with you for a very long time and you may later feel, after some research, that pushing your budget just a little bit more will in fact get you something better and you'll be happier with in the long-run after the financial effects of your $1K limit (which takes some saving for these days) aren't felt any longer - but the limitations of the quality of the jacket that you compromised over would always be with you for as long as you owned the jacket.
Or not. You never know so I suggest casting your net as wide as you can and finding out for yourself - and then, when you settle on a choice, you'll feel good about it and not have that "woulda/coulda/shoulda" unsettled feeling after your money is gone.
TX FlyGuy suggests US Authentic and he is echoing his experience with them and that's fair - and some/many of us have our own experiences with any one of the various manufacturers, some different than others. What will yours be? Who knows? There's only one way to find out and that's to contact them yourself and ask for the swatches and see (which is all free and there's no harm in asking - and it's hugely enjoyable as it's all part of the hunt) and determine for yourself what's most important to you and the associated value and then make a choice ... and post it here when you get the jacket as we'd love to see it.
Good hunting.
As I would say to anybody who is interested in acquiring a nice quality A2, I would also encourage you to take a moment to have a look at Aero's ANJ-3 jacket - which at first glance looks like an A2 but it incorporates the superior design elements of the US Navy's classic M-422a. As well as being historically accurate, very well made and made with goatskin, it has a nice bi-swing back and larger front pockets plus an inside pocket. Very handy indeed! It could give you the look you are after but with a bit more practicality for modern life.
But an A2 is an A2 and I can understand if you want one and nothing else.
And I would kindly suggest an Aero or ELC of course - or consider a secondhand GW if you can find one.
But I would suggest that you give all of the companies mentioned here a "ping" and introduce yourself and ask for swatches of their leathers, the cotton lining materials and the wool knitted waistbands, so you can get a tactile sense of your options and the qualities on offer. Try to strike up a rapport with them and ask them what they feel suits your interests (also depending on your size and build plus what you want the jacket for; namely for kicking about in and going to the pub and dog walks in various weathers or something smarter for the office/after-work bar scene and is a jacket that would seldom see any weather if you're not an outdoors kind of guy - and some A2s can manage that, I think) and which hide they'd recommend for you and you may find that you gravitate to one company or A2 model over another.
But this jacket may be with you for a very long time and you may later feel, after some research, that pushing your budget just a little bit more will in fact get you something better and you'll be happier with in the long-run after the financial effects of your $1K limit (which takes some saving for these days) aren't felt any longer - but the limitations of the quality of the jacket that you compromised over would always be with you for as long as you owned the jacket.
Or not. You never know so I suggest casting your net as wide as you can and finding out for yourself - and then, when you settle on a choice, you'll feel good about it and not have that "woulda/coulda/shoulda" unsettled feeling after your money is gone.
TX FlyGuy suggests US Authentic and he is echoing his experience with them and that's fair - and some/many of us have our own experiences with any one of the various manufacturers, some different than others. What will yours be? Who knows? There's only one way to find out and that's to contact them yourself and ask for the swatches and see (which is all free and there's no harm in asking - and it's hugely enjoyable as it's all part of the hunt) and determine for yourself what's most important to you and the associated value and then make a choice ... and post it here when you get the jacket as we'd love to see it.
Good hunting.
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