Alpha Industries M65 Field Jacket

[Fifty150]

Does the hood stay inside the collar or can it drop down the back of the coat between the shell and the liner?

If you roll up the hood, it will tuck into the collar and give you a bulky collar. The hoods on my jackets are always dropped down because I don't like the bulky collar.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Hey Seb:
Thank you. I had to laugh and think back. Same story here. I thought a leather M65 would be cool but had never seen one. It was a much different world trying to look for things. Magazine advertising was about the only way to find specialty things. I believe it was a sporting magazine that i saw this one from Cooper in and the moment i saw it i had to have it no matter the cost. At the time it was expensive at @$300 but 3 EZ payments and they shipped it before any payment was made.
Cooper claimed it to be an exact replica of the M65 but without the hidden hood (a good thing) and added hand warmers which made it perfect imo. It has that feel that only an M65 has if not a little better.
Reflecting back it may have been 2003 not 93’, i lost track of about a decade back then somehow. Lol
B

Great story ADDH. In the days before the internet, buying a jacket form America seemed to be such a risk to me - what if it didn't fit, etc. Postage was much less professional than it is today. All the cool stuff was advertised in mags like Guns and Ammo and Popular Mechanics. I saw the first Leatherman tool there in the eighties. Maybe I need to find a Cooper M65 in goat for myself.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Great story ADDH. In the days before the internet, buying a jacket form America seemed to be such a risk to me - what if it didn't fit, etc. Postage was much less professional than it is today. All the cool stuff was advertised in mags like Guns and Ammo and Popular Mechanics. I saw the first Leatherman tool there in the eighties. Maybe I need to find a Cooper M65 in goat for myself.

Well, the Coopers are pretty readily available on eBay i believe and fairly affordable last time i looked. Like everything caution and patience should get you a good one.
I’m 6 ft and a medium is roomy as in the pic. I will say they are warm and comfy in the winter, surprisingly heavy at 5+ lbs on my cheap fishing scales i just weighed it with.
Good luck
B

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Doctor Damage]

Jim Caviezel in the movie Deja Vu

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Doctor Damage]

this is almost vertainly an Alpha coat, civilian version of course

 

[Trenchfriend]

A question about Parkas in general.

When do you use a Parka AND its hoodie?

I have no Parka, actually, because there's no real need. But when I think about, the only case for a Parka, coming to my mind, is having a real winter(knit)cap on my head and using the hoodie only as additional windstopper, if necessary.

 

[Turnip]

Spend some hours working or doing duty outdoor in cold, windy/stormy and rainy or snowy conditions and you’ll know what a hoodie is good for...

These were at least the occasions I used one.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Yeah, beeing outside while it's snowing is a good argument for a Parka. Sadly, too seldom snowing in middle-german winter.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@Turnip
Thanks for the inspiration!
Perfect hoodie-weather, today and I bought a nice navyblue Fieldjacket-Parka. Not a todays climatex waterproof one. Just a classic one, which is still very solid water-repellent (polyester)! And with a sherpa lined hoodie.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

If you plan to work in the light rain or snow, washing an M-65 in something like this would be worth the trouble:
https://www.amazon.com/Nikwax-TX-Direct-Wash-in-Waterproofing/dp/B07P61CQ96

I've used it on a couple different pieces of outdoor gear and have been satisfied with the results. I like it better than the spray waterproofing, and it is a hell of a lot easier and more thorough, too. Depending on frequency of use, every season or two a re-wash with it is a good idea. Don't use your washer though. Use a 5g bucket.

 

[Doctor Damage]

I just got a used Rothco M-65 in tan, like the photo below. It's a pretty decent garment for the price point and fits me quite well, so I think it will get quite a bit of use. It's obviously a repro which misses the ball on some authentic details, but I don't fuss about stuff like that anymore, it's just a nice jacket for banging around in. I think I will keep an eye out for a navy blue one, too.

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Trenchfriend]

View attachment 333618

I never understood, why he switched from the original decoloured greyish M65 from 1981 to the cream ones.
The greyish def. WAS Schimanski. Just perfect. With the cream ones, Schimanski's patina disappeared, in my opinion.

 

[Doctor Damage]

I never understood, why he switched from the original decoloured greyish M65 from 1981 to the cream ones.
The greyish def. WAS Schimanski. Just perfect. With the cream ones, Schimanski's patina disappeared, in my opinion.

I agree that the earlier "stone" colour (as we would call in here in N America) looked better, but it probably ceased to be available at some point, I mean Alpha probably stopped making them. Looking over photos, it's clear Schimanski wore several different jackets over the television series.

 

[Trenchfriend]

but it probably ceased to be available at some point, I mean Alpha probably stopped making them.

As I mentioned before, the very first M65 was George's private jacket, which was orginally khaki. The responsibles found it too "para-military", so George had the idea to cut off the epaulettes and decolour the M65. The decolouring idea was genius, because the result was this perfect shoddy tramp jacket. This wasn't of course planned, but the extra shoddy look played a big part in Schimanski popularity.
But they sadly lost the "red line" in the series so early, that the other jacket didn't do much to the whole demise.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Götz George, 1970/71 action series in South Africa:

Diamond Detective Dick Donald

 

[Doctor Damage]

journalist Charles P Pierce