Good day everybody,
First time poster, though I have spent many an hour researching on the site.
I have a question for the G-1 experts here. I spent 22 years flying for the Marines and had two issued G-1s during that time. The first I was issued in 1990. It had a great crosshatched grain and was cut close to the body in a very "uniform-like" manner. In researching G-1s online and running across Moore's auction site, I immediately recognized the fit of these jackets in the older G-1s and M-422As he had available.
Here's myself and my two compatriots right after we were issued our originals:
and here's a later shot when my jacket and I were about ten years older:
Here's a shot borrowed from Moore's site that shows the close uniform cut:
Eventually, I stupidly turned my original jacket in (mostly because the large WW II style VMA-211 patch that I had sewn on it never quite did it for me...old 211 patches were rare and usually roughly made, this one was a poor reproduction). The replacement G-1 I received in 2004 was much lower in quality. Not quite the "pebbled leather" that we used to derisively call "pleather" for its stiffness and lack of subtlety, it was still thinner and stiffer than the jacket I received as a lieutenant. It was also oddly sized. My original jacket was size 44 but the new one I received had to be a size 48 and I didn't grow THAT much!
Plus, the cut was much roomier around the waist than my previous issue.
For those reasons and since I never thought that the recent issue jackets were what they once were and nowhere near the equal of the aftermarket jackets that could be found from the usual suspects, I also had a hybrid M-422A/G-1 made by Flightsuits Ltd (now Gibson and Barnes). It is a beautiful jacket and I wore it for many years (with a leather VMA-211 patch handmade by my father), but now find myself a little less inclined to wear my patched up jacket around lest I be seen as showing off...a weird consequence of being a military aviator is that you ever feel somehow guilty for wearing your flight jacket around very much, it's like a sin. That goes double if you have patches on it.
Anyway, I ordered me up another Gibson and Barnes G-1; this one pure mil-spec to replace my undecorated issue G-1 that I feel more comfortable wearing. I was surprised to find when I received it however that it was also widely cut like my late issue jackets, perhaps even more so. I have not decided if I should keep the G+B G-1, have it recut to a custom size, or try another jacket maker. G+B has what I think is the nicest current issue G-1 out there with a lot of attention to detail, but I do want a uniform jacket, not one "generously cut" for some theoretical civilian market.
So, at long last, my questions are:
Has the spec changed for the US Navy issued G-1 and when? Is this just how the jackets are cut these days or have the aftermarket makers across the board decided to make their jackets more fully cut. Do any of the "mil-spec" makers actually make jackets for the Navy or is that just advertising and are the jackets churned out by some lesser known maker on the cheap as my second issue jacket?
Anyway, thanks for any input. Below are some pics of the three jackets that I still own side by side. Left to right they are:
1. Issue G-1 jacket, 2004
2. Gibson and Barnes "mil-spec" G-1, new
3. Gibson and Barnes M-422A (modified with G-1 cut collar and double ply waist and wrist bands)
Deacon
First time poster, though I have spent many an hour researching on the site.
I have a question for the G-1 experts here. I spent 22 years flying for the Marines and had two issued G-1s during that time. The first I was issued in 1990. It had a great crosshatched grain and was cut close to the body in a very "uniform-like" manner. In researching G-1s online and running across Moore's auction site, I immediately recognized the fit of these jackets in the older G-1s and M-422As he had available.
Here's myself and my two compatriots right after we were issued our originals:
and here's a later shot when my jacket and I were about ten years older:
Here's a shot borrowed from Moore's site that shows the close uniform cut:
Eventually, I stupidly turned my original jacket in (mostly because the large WW II style VMA-211 patch that I had sewn on it never quite did it for me...old 211 patches were rare and usually roughly made, this one was a poor reproduction). The replacement G-1 I received in 2004 was much lower in quality. Not quite the "pebbled leather" that we used to derisively call "pleather" for its stiffness and lack of subtlety, it was still thinner and stiffer than the jacket I received as a lieutenant. It was also oddly sized. My original jacket was size 44 but the new one I received had to be a size 48 and I didn't grow THAT much!
Plus, the cut was much roomier around the waist than my previous issue. For those reasons and since I never thought that the recent issue jackets were what they once were and nowhere near the equal of the aftermarket jackets that could be found from the usual suspects, I also had a hybrid M-422A/G-1 made by Flightsuits Ltd (now Gibson and Barnes). It is a beautiful jacket and I wore it for many years (with a leather VMA-211 patch handmade by my father), but now find myself a little less inclined to wear my patched up jacket around lest I be seen as showing off...a weird consequence of being a military aviator is that you ever feel somehow guilty for wearing your flight jacket around very much, it's like a sin. That goes double if you have patches on it.
Anyway, I ordered me up another Gibson and Barnes G-1; this one pure mil-spec to replace my undecorated issue G-1 that I feel more comfortable wearing. I was surprised to find when I received it however that it was also widely cut like my late issue jackets, perhaps even more so. I have not decided if I should keep the G+B G-1, have it recut to a custom size, or try another jacket maker. G+B has what I think is the nicest current issue G-1 out there with a lot of attention to detail, but I do want a uniform jacket, not one "generously cut" for some theoretical civilian market.
So, at long last, my questions are:
Has the spec changed for the US Navy issued G-1 and when? Is this just how the jackets are cut these days or have the aftermarket makers across the board decided to make their jackets more fully cut. Do any of the "mil-spec" makers actually make jackets for the Navy or is that just advertising and are the jackets churned out by some lesser known maker on the cheap as my second issue jacket?
Anyway, thanks for any input. Below are some pics of the three jackets that I still own side by side. Left to right they are:
1. Issue G-1 jacket, 2004
2. Gibson and Barnes "mil-spec" G-1, new
3. Gibson and Barnes M-422A (modified with G-1 cut collar and double ply waist and wrist bands)
Deacon
