ALL REPRO R.A.F. Irvin type jackets

[BaggyPants]

From your pictures all your jackets have a shiny look but mine doesn’t. Should I treat it with something?

Thank you

Rudi

Rudi, I have the exact same pattern jacket. If you look on page 20, you will see photos of mine after a good application of Pecard dressing was rubbed into it and allowed to dry for a few days. It really brought out the colour, left a nice soft sheen to it, and stopped it looking grey. It also softened up the hide a little. They're a beautiful jacket. Enjoy

 

[Smithy]

Lovely jacket Rudi, and welcome to the Lounge.

I had my Irvin out on Sunday night, temperature is really dropping here in the evenings - which is fine with me

 

[PADDY]

"The Few" 2010 Catelogue Irvin

This is the latest offering for this year from the Japanese Flight Jacket company, THE FEW.

 

[Spitfire]

...well. It looks so wrong - and too shiny for my taste.
Not my cup of tea.[huh]

 

[andy richards]

Welcome Hamburg, I like your ELC far better than the FEW jacket.
In my opinion the FEW looks more like a fashion jacket, but I am sure it is built of excellent materials.
Andy

 

[Dated Guy]

It does look as though it could deflect an armour piercing shell, or two....

 

[BaggyPants]

The Irvin from The Few looks awful, like it's made from PVC and fake teddy bear fur. Maybe it's the photos that make it look that way, but at Y228,900 or£1600 or $2400, they can keep it. I could buy three top quality Eastman flying jackets for that price, and not look like I'd polished my jacket with silicone car dashboard wipe

 

[Smithy]

The Irvin from The Few looks awful, like it's made from PVC and fake teddy bear fur. Maybe it's the photos that make it look that way, but at Y228,900 or£1600 or $2400, they can keep it. I could buy three top quality Eastman flying jackets for that price, and not look like I'd polished my jacket with silicone car dashboard wipe

I'm with you Baggy, Søren et al. The new "The Few" offering looks completely wrong, the fleece doesn't look right and the sleeves look too tapered on the forearm, the outside leather looks far too shiny, the pattern does not look right and overall it's just looking wrong.

Stick with ELC or Aero I say.

 

[aswatland]

The Few jacket certainly looks plasticky and at its price you can buy three Irvins from ELC or two decent originals. It's not for me.

 

[BaggyPants]

The Few jacket certainly looks plasticky and at its price you can buy three Irvins from ELC or two decent originals. It's not for me.

Indeed. If I had £1600 spare to drop on an Irvin, you can bet I'd be on the hunt of the elusive mint original to fit my 46 inch chest and 6ft 2in height, rather than an over expensive replica I see from the description on The Fews website that it has Talon zips as well, so that's a fail

 

[BaggyPants]

I went and looked at it again last night. It's like being drawn to looking at a nasty accident. I noticed it's made from horse hide :eusa_doh: Do they have woolly horses in Japan? The furry stuff must be bonded to the hide. Hmmmm...... not good They also call it the Irvine!

 

[aswatland]

Original Irvins only had cowhide for the seam tapes, collar-back, belt, etc.

 

[Smithy]

So nippy here at the moment that I wore the old Irvin out to town yesterday.

And you thought Australia was all sandy beaches, +30 temps and girls in bikinis That's a couple of states north of here

 

[Spitfire]

Isn't it just great?
Mine is also still in use. (Global heating - my foot!)

 

[Stearmen]

Down Under Cold

So nippy here at the moment that I wore the old Irvin out to town yesterday.

And you thought Australia was all sandy beaches, +30 temps and girls in bikinis That's a couple of states north of here

Thats when I would like to visit your fine country, when it is 90 Farenheit here! I thought all your women were beautiful, no matter what the wear, or not!

 

[Windsock]

So nippy here at the moment that I wore the old Irvin out to town yesterday.

And you thought Australia was all sandy beaches, +30 temps and girls in bikinis That's a couple of states north of here

Yup, that's about right, especially so in Sunshine Beach (the name says it all ). You know it is actually possible to need a break from the temps and GIB's. So far this year i've only managed to get an A-2 on for 5 minutes. Still hoping for a trip down to my old hometown July-ish. If it happens Tim, fancy a trip out to Werribee to check out the Lib restoration?

 

[Edward]

Isn't it just great?
Mine is also still in use. (Global heating - my foot!)

Global warming is a misnomer, really... the meltingof the icecaps, as I understand it, allows colder flows to move South, leading to colder temperatures for many of us for much of the Winter. In the long run, global "warming" could bring you more Irvin weather....

 

[Smithy]

Yup, that's about right, especially so in Sunshine Beach (the name says it all ). You know it is actually possible to need a break from the temps and GIB's. So far this year i've only managed to get an A-2 on for 5 minutes. Still hoping for a trip down to my old hometown July-ish. If it happens Tim, fancy a trip out to Werribee to check out the Lib restoration?

You bet Andrew, you name the date and I'll be there with bells on.

 

[Mike K]

Qualities of the WPG Irvin?

I registered here not long ago in an effort to learn what I could about Irvin's and replicas. I've read through as much as I could find here and decided that a WPG Irvin seemed the most reasonable choice for me. I ordered one a few months back and I have to say that I was initially very impressed. Having no original to compare it to and going by the very good images posted here of originals I thought that it compared well given the cost but there were a few issues. First is that the color seems wrong. It's more of a light coco color like a Hershey Bar with a dull sheen like the candy as well. Second was that there were at least six delaminations of the hide with the fur lifting. To his credit Jerry took the jacket back and replaced it even giving me one size smaller per my request. The new one arrived and I'm starting to feel like the guy who's never satisfied but there is a seam at the collar above and between the hang chain that isnt stitched for about 1". It's only held together by the outer seam tape. Other thing that is bothering me is that the hide is very stiff in some areas and supple in others. For example the panels on either side of the front zip are just right for the most part but the sleeves are very uncomfortable because the hide is so stiff. I have a B3 replica that is all soft and supple.

Am I expecting too much from a $350 jacket? I don't think I am. Are those of you with WPG's seeing some of these issues? I'm sure that Jerry will take it back but I'd really like one that is fully stiched and soft as well.

Mike

 

[Smithy]

I registered here not long ago in an effort to learn what I could about Irvin's and replicas. I've read through as much as I could find here and decided that a WPG Irvin seemed the most reasonable choice for me. I ordered one a few months back and I have to say that I was initially very impressed. Having no original to compare it to and going by the very good images posted here of originals I thought that it compared well given the cost but there were a few issues. First is that the color seems wrong. It's more of a light coco color like a Hershey Bar with a dull sheen like the candy as well. Second was that there were at least six delaminations of the hide with the fur lifting. To his credit Jerry took the jacket back and replaced it even giving me one size smaller per my request. The new one arrived and I'm starting to feel like the guy who's never satisfied but there is a seam at the collar above and between the hang chain that isnt stitched for about 1". It's only held together by the outer seam tape. Other thing that is bothering me is that the hide is very stiff in some areas and supple in others. For example the panels on either side of the front zip are just right for the most part but the sleeves are very uncomfortable because the hide is so stiff. I have a B3 replica that is all soft and supple.

Am I expecting too much from a $350 jacket? I don't think I am. Are those of you with WPG's seeing some of these issues? I'm sure that Jerry will take it back but I'd really like one that is fully stiched and soft as well.

Mike

There's a few chaps here who have had the WPG offering, which by the sounds of it isn't a terrible jacket (can't say personally as I have never had one).

Saying that the collar shape is wrong and on some, it appears the seam tapes are plastic. It's probably a jacket you can knock around in for a bit but the material and build quality won't match an Eastman or Aero.

If you are able to, I'd say, save your pennies and splash out on either the Eastman or Aero. You'll get an extremely well made jacket which is constructed from top quality materials.

Sounds like you won't ever be truly happy with the WPG so better to go the whole hog and get one you'll be happy with and that will do the job properly.