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^^^. Word. Wife won't budge. I have thinking to do :rofl:
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B-3 or ANJ-4
- Thread starter Sloan1874
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Oh, I don't know. I read in the UK recently that this Winter is forecast to be a really tough one for you all over there, thanks to El Nino. If so, you'll be glad you got your order in ahead of the rush …!
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nick123
I'll Lock Up
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There's a weird humidity thing going on in California right now. It feels like the East Coast. Pretty dismal jacket weather.
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100ºf at the house (where I work from) and inside it's 90ºf. AC bill is insane and it's like 110º with the humidity. Nothing like working in boxers. Doesn't help that I have five computers on/under my desk...
I want snow. But I'd take a nice thunderstorm...
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Share please Fanch! We're dying here...
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Grab some buckets and make a trip to Hoosierland, Scott, and we'll give you all you need.....
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Wow - crazy HD/Fanch...
We just got some odd thing moving in here - winds kicking up like the Wizard of Oz...maybe we'll get wet too!
We just got some odd thing moving in here - winds kicking up like the Wizard of Oz...maybe we'll get wet too!
nick123
I'll Lock Up
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Just started raining down here (near Long Beach) Butte.
@Big J 'fraid I don't own a B-6, though it was a close run thing between it and the Irvin, though I would say that an Irvin should be a keystone in any collection.
For the rest of you, I'm afraid until you've experienced rain that travels at 90 degrees to the ground because of the wind, I have little sympathy! I still remember at university, one American hall-mate staring out the window at raging storms in May and shaking his head in confusion at it. As it is, I'm sitting here with the windows flung open and it's like a warm bath outside tonight.
For the rest of you, I'm afraid until you've experienced rain that travels at 90 degrees to the ground because of the wind, I have little sympathy! I still remember at university, one American hall-mate staring out the window at raging storms in May and shaking his head in confusion at it. As it is, I'm sitting here with the windows flung open and it's like a warm bath outside tonight.
The N-3B is an awesome coat. I have two. They are great for walking the dog in winter, or any winter activity where I know I'm going to be relatively immobile, but the B-3 has got so much more personality!
Like my fedoras, B-3 on days when I'm feeling on top of the world, N-3B for 'fat days'.
Like my fedoras, B-3 on days when I'm feeling on top of the world, N-3B for 'fat days'.
Yeah, we get that sideways rain stuff. Then, we get the tornado that goes with it......
Edward
Bartender
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Not hisorically correct, but a redskin ANJ4 with russet panels would be really something.
I'm in the position of owning a B3 and an Irvin. I bought the Irvin first, seocnd hand but unuse, from our own John Lever. It's a Lost World's model, so very solid. I've not had a chance to compare it in-hand to Aero or ELC, but LW does have the reputation for the sheepskin being very solid. It seemed like a real indulgence when I first bought it, however both it and a later eight-panel ELC Irvin I also acquired used are very regularly used from late November to February in London. I've also worn them in the most extreme Beijing December weather, and they've both been fantastic for that. The only drawback of either, cold-weather wise, is that they're just not long enough to wear with a tweed jacket or suitcoat underneath. That's the main reason I'm toying with the idea of a fleece or wool-lined Barnstormer further down the line.
After wearing the B3 for a couple of years, the lightness of the ELC sheepskin came as something of a shock. I was initially worried it was too fragile for me, but in practical use the only damage it has suffered is fluff wearing off at the cuffs (normal for B3s too), and some loss of surface on one arm where one3 of the cats sicked up a hairball on it and I didn't notice until it was well dried in. The B3 is definitely the more solid-feeling of the two. This is partly, I'm sure, down to the differnetly-tanned sheepskin (being Lost Worlds, it's proper manly, of course), as well as the leather panels on the arms. It is a heavier jacket, but in my estimation no heavier to wear than, say, a 30s halfbelt in fqhh chromexel. In other words, not an issue.I love the look of both, but where the B3 does score big over the Irvin is the pocket. I wouldn't entrust a wallet to it, but it is powerfully handy to be able to tuck a pair of gloves into it when you step into a shop or anywhere, really, where you don't have anywhere else to slip your gloves. In that regard, the ANJ4 will undoubtedly be a bit more practical if you want pockets you can use.
The ANJ4 came along pretty late in the day as regards WW2 and so it doesn't have the classic watime photo / movie cool pedigree if that's a factor. Nonetheless, a very cool jacket in its own right. I agree with those who say that it will stay looking that little bit smarter longer without the protruding fleece on the cuffs to 'age'. (A little soft clothing soap like vanish and a sponge keeps the collar nice and clean, which is the only area on which mine ever got a bit grubby.)
If you're out and about in Glasgow all Winter, which you are, I think you'd definitely get the use out of both jackets (Nice to have another option at times too). From worrying when I bought my first skeepskin that it was a terrible indulgence, I now have my eye on a CC Irvin, an ANJ4, a B6 and a redskin B3 as well.....
The average person on the street these days pretty much anywhere probably doesn't notice the difference between a B3 and an Irvin, it's true.... though TBH I'd be surprised if the same people really notice a difference much between either and the ANJ4 if they weren't looking for it. [huh] The ANJ4 does, to my eye, have slightly less of an obvious military look to it, which can be a bonus, but that's to personal opinion.
I'm sure I've seen photos of them in use in the European theatre, but very rare. They can't have been issued in anything like thed numbers of the B3, as they weren't standardised until Spring 1943. Given that 43/44 saw the A2 rapidly replaced by the the B10 and then, within months, the B15, as well as the early N2 coming onstream somewhere around this time, I can't imagine many ANJ4s were issued, relatively speaking.
The nylon jackets definitely have their place. I wishgood repros were more widely available. My cheapo repro(ish) N3B did me proud last Winter. I'd definitely be interested if there was a reasonably affordable but still fairly accurate N2B on the market. Alpha do on that's halfway there, imo - nice coat, but the lining is orange and the insulation all poly. If only they would go back to doing something more like the "Reproduction" range again....
From that perspective, London would be perfect, if only it didn't get so damn hot between May and early September....
I'm in the position of owning a B3 and an Irvin. I bought the Irvin first, seocnd hand but unuse, from our own John Lever. It's a Lost World's model, so very solid. I've not had a chance to compare it in-hand to Aero or ELC, but LW does have the reputation for the sheepskin being very solid. It seemed like a real indulgence when I first bought it, however both it and a later eight-panel ELC Irvin I also acquired used are very regularly used from late November to February in London. I've also worn them in the most extreme Beijing December weather, and they've both been fantastic for that. The only drawback of either, cold-weather wise, is that they're just not long enough to wear with a tweed jacket or suitcoat underneath. That's the main reason I'm toying with the idea of a fleece or wool-lined Barnstormer further down the line.
After wearing the B3 for a couple of years, the lightness of the ELC sheepskin came as something of a shock. I was initially worried it was too fragile for me, but in practical use the only damage it has suffered is fluff wearing off at the cuffs (normal for B3s too), and some loss of surface on one arm where one3 of the cats sicked up a hairball on it and I didn't notice until it was well dried in. The B3 is definitely the more solid-feeling of the two. This is partly, I'm sure, down to the differnetly-tanned sheepskin (being Lost Worlds, it's proper manly, of course), as well as the leather panels on the arms. It is a heavier jacket, but in my estimation no heavier to wear than, say, a 30s halfbelt in fqhh chromexel. In other words, not an issue.I love the look of both, but where the B3 does score big over the Irvin is the pocket. I wouldn't entrust a wallet to it, but it is powerfully handy to be able to tuck a pair of gloves into it when you step into a shop or anywhere, really, where you don't have anywhere else to slip your gloves. In that regard, the ANJ4 will undoubtedly be a bit more practical if you want pockets you can use.
The ANJ4 came along pretty late in the day as regards WW2 and so it doesn't have the classic watime photo / movie cool pedigree if that's a factor. Nonetheless, a very cool jacket in its own right. I agree with those who say that it will stay looking that little bit smarter longer without the protruding fleece on the cuffs to 'age'. (A little soft clothing soap like vanish and a sponge keeps the collar nice and clean, which is the only area on which mine ever got a bit grubby.)
If you're out and about in Glasgow all Winter, which you are, I think you'd definitely get the use out of both jackets (Nice to have another option at times too). From worrying when I bought my first skeepskin that it was a terrible indulgence, I now have my eye on a CC Irvin, an ANJ4, a B6 and a redskin B3 as well.....
The average person on the street these days pretty much anywhere probably doesn't notice the difference between a B3 and an Irvin, it's true.... though TBH I'd be surprised if the same people really notice a difference much between either and the ANJ4 if they weren't looking for it. [huh] The ANJ4 does, to my eye, have slightly less of an obvious military look to it, which can be a bonus, but that's to personal opinion.
I'm sure I've seen photos of them in use in the European theatre, but very rare. They can't have been issued in anything like thed numbers of the B3, as they weren't standardised until Spring 1943. Given that 43/44 saw the A2 rapidly replaced by the the B10 and then, within months, the B15, as well as the early N2 coming onstream somewhere around this time, I can't imagine many ANJ4s were issued, relatively speaking.
I agree. I think "Look good, feel better" can be extended to wearing decent gear and I love that … but when it's -35C on a bitterly cold day, even an ANJ-4 will feel …. well, short. To my mind, that's the only trouble with these things. They were designed for their utility in cockpits, so a slightly longer jacket like an N3-B edges them out for my money. I had hoped that, on those wickedly cold days, I could wear my lighter B-6 under my slightly roomy vintage N3-B (with just a shirt or something), but no. Turns out I can't. It's the collar on the B-6, you see, and it's all just too bulky and it feels wrong. Ah well. Life goes on …
The nylon jackets definitely have their place. I wishgood repros were more widely available. My cheapo repro(ish) N3B did me proud last Winter. I'd definitely be interested if there was a reasonably affordable but still fairly accurate N2B on the market. Alpha do on that's halfway there, imo - nice coat, but the lining is orange and the insulation all poly. If only they would go back to doing something more like the "Reproduction" range again....
From that perspective, London would be perfect, if only it didn't get so damn hot between May and early September....
Edward, why would you want a tweed jacket with an Irvin?
I usually wear just a T-shirt under my B-3 because it's so warm.
But here's a pic of Sir David Lean wearing an Irvin, and every time I see it, I think 'Yes, that's why I need an Irvin; shirt and tie, pair of tweed or blue serge pants, some Oxfords, that'd be stylish'.
*N.B. clearly Lean was a boney malnourished rake of a man, who can barely fill his jacket. I'll have to 'size up' to 52 or 54 I reckon.
I usually wear just a T-shirt under my B-3 because it's so warm.
But here's a pic of Sir David Lean wearing an Irvin, and every time I see it, I think 'Yes, that's why I need an Irvin; shirt and tie, pair of tweed or blue serge pants, some Oxfords, that'd be stylish'.
*N.B. clearly Lean was a boney malnourished rake of a man, who can barely fill his jacket. I'll have to 'size up' to 52 or 54 I reckon.
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