Eastman Leather Clothing, Rough Wear Clo. Co. USAAF B-6 Jacket

[Stand By]

Nice B-6 Deacon. I see it's of the pre-broken grain hide like mine (mine's from 2006 or so, and I got it second-hand from eBay in virtually unworn condition) and I love the original "Golden Book" appearance of our jackets.
I occasionally think I could live without it ... but then we get to this transitional time of year and I wear it everyday and simply love it.

 

[rocketeer]

Gary Eastman has reasons in his mind that make sense to him as to why he ceased all forms of modifications and options.

I would guess it's Gary's company so he can do what he likes with it. Also alterations and options can take away or increase production time.

, when you are talking about the finish, please clarify if you mean the overall coloring or the lacquer top coating or something else. Tanning and the resultant feel of hand wouldn't be considered the finish, whereas top coating would be. Thank you.

Here are a couple of pics of my jackets, It is the lacquer top coat I find disapointing on all the finishes, especially when originally Gary insisted that he used the same methods and materials that were originally used during wartime production

First up, my 20 year old ANJ4

And my Redskin B3:

Though originals wear in similar places, the 'crazing' finish on these jackets will never resemble that of the originals I have owned.

 

[John Lever]

I have seen originals with the same flaking and crazing.

 

[Stand By]

I was going to say, Rocketeer - your jackets look really great to me and like originals!
We have to bear in mind that these jackets were designed to be worn for a year or two - and if the crew were lucky enough to survive their tours, could be issued with a new one as they were developed (B-3 > B-6 > ANJ-3/B-10 > B-15) … so they weren't designed to last decades of wear as yours have. I think the jackets look amazing. And it's nothing a bit of boot cream of the appropriate colour wouldn't remedy. I use some on my B-3 on the inside of the sleeves near the cuffs where the leather chaffs on the side buckles and then condition on top and it looks great.

 

[Deacon211]

Nice B-6 Deacon. I see it's of the pre-broken grain hide like mine (mine's from 2006 or so, and I got it second-hand from eBay in virtually unworn condition) and I love the original "Golden Book" appearance of our jackets.
I occasionally think I could live without it ... but then we get to this transitional time of year and I wear it everyday and simply love it.

View attachment 27519 View attachment 27520

Beautiful Finish on those! Of all the shearling jackets, the B-6 just has the most flattering cut IMO.

You know I had a little cracking on the insides of my sleeves after a few years but, contrary to popular wisdom I've heard, I always slathered on mink oil at the end of every season and it stopped the cracking dead in its tracks.

I know that the oil is supposed to be bad for seams, but I really think keeping the leather moist early and often by whatever means is the least injurious is why my B-6 looks great after so many years.

Still not sure how I'm going to apply that thought process to my Irvin. As I've posted before JC told me he uses plain old Vasoline.


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[Stand By]

Vaseline?! Wow … that's a new one! Imagine the water repellency after that!!! Probably an old Coastal Command tip!
Lots of people swear by mink oil too, though. I hadn't heard of it until I came put here to N.America. I use it on my walking boots only - I wouldn't dare put it on a jacket - just in case. I'll be sticking with my regular conditioners for those ….!

 

[rocketeer]

I have owned a few B3s including a Roughware 'redskin' though never a B6, non of them had a finely crazed finish like these.

Though I would still like a B6, it would have to have to have the side straps rather than the zips.

 

[Dumpster Diver]

I think that this *rough wear* contract inconsistency is mostly due with marketing a *Brand* and Making more money that way rather than Something as Arbitrary and Technical as the factual information Andrew has thankfully provided for us.

Im sure I would do the same thing after all is said and done, by the end its a little more coin in the companies pockets and hopefully that will go towards the betterment of their Excellence, commitment and dedication.

 

[Stand By]

Indeed it is about marketing, DD. I don't know if any of you recall my posting of my ELC RW B-6 when I got it, but it came from eBay - and originally had 3 grey zips made by riri and a very modern-looking makers label in satin - not the usual types by ELC, stating JCB with the JCB logo (the people who make diggers, yes). Apparently it was specified with those by JCB as the riri zips were considered more "fashionable" and would sell better in the London store from which it was sold … anyway, there's no way I'd have a riri zip on a jacket that never had them, so I had them changed along with the label by ELC (and had my name put on a name tag) . They made a perfect job of it and you'd never know the work was ever done.

 

[rocketeer]

Anyone know if Eastman still repairs his own make jackets? A Mate has some rather mothy cuffs on his A2

 

[Dumpster Diver]

Probably, I know I would.

 

[Deacon211]

Yes, they do. I spoke with Charles here about a repair on my B-6 in fact and he did say that they could send it off to ELC for repairs. He also said that the time for repair is heavily dependent on the time of year obviously.

I'll let Charles speak for himself at this point. But in case he didn't see it or he didn't check for awhile I figured that I'd throw that out there.

 

[HPA Rep]

Yes, Eastman certainly does still perform non-warranty repairs to any jackets they have made. I was just speaking with Gary Eastman yesterday and this was something we briefly discussed, because after over 30 years of making jackets, there are now so many jackets out there that it has become an endless event in making repairs that is problematic. 15-20 years ago, they'd fit in the repairs where time allowed and it was not much of a deal, but Gary now says there are times such as now where the process of repairing and tending to related shipping and paperwork, etc. could be a full-time job for a staff member, which is very difficult to justify vs. making new jackets.

The same is quite true for us here as it relates to jackets we've sold, because the attention required to a repair job is nearly the same as that for selling a new jacket, and we have been responsible for selling a heck of a lot of Eastman jackets since we began over 25 years ago, plus Eastman and HPA have been selling Buzz Rickson's jackets since 2002, so repairs for these are also started to just show up in greater numbers.

It's a genuine predicament, because the repair work must be made available - these aren't in any way disposable garments - but when it begins syphoning off time you don't have, then delays in satisfying new orders increase unless you add more staff, which then means prices must go up. Definitely an issue we both are facing and for which there isn't a great or easy answer.

 

[HPA Rep]

I have seen originals with the same flaking and crazing.

I agree with you, John, and I think that AN-J-4 looks quite authentic - I was wowed the instant I saw the photos.

 

[HPA Rep]

I think that this *rough wear* contract inconsistency is mostly due with marketing a *Brand* and Making more money that way rather than Something as Arbitrary and Technical as the factual information Andrew has thankfully provided for us.

Im sure I would do the same thing after all is said and done, by the end its a little more coin in the companies pockets and hopefully that will go towards the betterment of their Excellence, commitment and dedication.

Back when Eastman introduced the Rough Wear range of jackets in the fall of 1997, which was after the HPA limited-edition Rough Wear 1401-P A-2 launched in 1994, Gary informed me he wanted to make a "redskin" B-6, to which I said that none were made by RW under the 17756 contract or any other I had records for, with the possible exception being a contract in 1941 for a jacket we have yet to ever see and which is only stated in the contract award as being for "flying jackets." My recollection of his response is that he didn't know that and appreciated my input from the documents I had researched, but he still wanted to proceed to round out the RW jacket range.

So it's likely true this was part of marketing a new jacket range and that he believed the average person wouldn't know and wouldn't care, or that's the best way I can recall the overall tone and thought as presented to me at the time. Since making a fictional contract association is far from making a false claim in some scholarly publication on the subject and there were and are companies putting their names on jacket copies bearing genuine contract numbers awarded to makers of differing names, I think it's not such a big deal.

As long as Eastman makes this jacket as it is now labeled, HPA will still sell it, but all these years now gone, I personally would support putting an Eastman label on the jacket and not making it part of the Original-Maker line. Customers largely buy this jacket for what it offers in function and looks and there cannot be many who would care about what the label says, so an Eastman label likely wouldn't reduce sales one iota, but this is now and not how things were in Gary's mind back in 1997 when introducing a new jacket range. And it's a call Gary gets to make and not I.

 

[El Marro]

I just received the Eastman Rough Wear B-6 that I ordered last week through HPA. It is an absolutely beautiful jacket! The warmth to weight ratio is quite amazing as well, the jacket is much lighter than I thought it would be and yet it feels as warm as a thick down blanket.
Thanks to HPA for the prompt delivery and also for posting such detailed measurements and size advice. I felt comfortable ordering a 46 based on the posted measurements and it fits perfectly. Thanks again.

 

[HPA Rep]

I just received the Eastman Rough Wear B-6 that I ordered last week through HPA. It is an absolutely beautiful jacket! The warmth to weight ratio is quite amazing as well, the jacket is much lighter than I thought it would be and yet it feels as warm as a thick down blanket.
Thanks to HPA for the prompt delivery and also for posting such detailed measurements and size advice. I felt comfortable ordering a 46 based on the posted measurements and it fits perfectly. Thanks again.

Thank you for posting this and for being a valued customer, El Marro! I'm delighted to hear this all worked out for you so well for you. If you need anything at all along the way, please let us know. Please enjoy in fine health!

 

[kowalski]

hi
I noticed the difference in sewing epaulet in GW vs Eastman
In Eastman epaulet they are sewn Next seam shoulder .In GW epaulet they are sewn On seam
Epaulet in Eastman of they go forward, roll off their shoulders

pics Eastman epaulet (roll in down )

https://www.eastmanleather.com/eastman-p-178.html

and pics GW epaulet

which is historically correct?, does anyone make a mistake ? Maybe both are historically correct?
best regards

 

[HPA Rep]

hi
I noticed the difference in sewing epaulet in GW vs Eastman
In Eastman epaulet they are sewn Next seam shoulder .In GW epaulet they are sewn On seam
Epaulet in Eastman of they go forward, roll off their shoulders

pics Eastman epaulet (roll in down )

https://www.eastmanleather.com/eastman-p-178.html

and pics GW epaulet

which is historically correct?, does anyone make a mistake ? Maybe both are historically correct?
best regards

Thank you for the inquiry, Kowalski. I am sorry, but I am not really sure what you are illustrating. Please draw an arrow or outline on the phots so I may better understand what you are asking. Presently, I don't see any difference between the two. Thanks.

 

[kowalski]

seam in GW IS covered by epoulet / partly