HPA Rep
Vendor
- Messages
- 855
- Location
- New Jersey
This is among my favorite B-3 jackets we offer. When it was first introduced, I didn't think I'd end up liking it as much as I now do and that I'd end up buying one for myself, but this quickly grew on me. Much like Eastman's Rough Wear Clo. Co. 17756 pre-1942 B-3 jacket, I find the unique coloring of both the skins and the subdued, darker wool colors to appeal more to my personal taste than the typical wartime B-3 jackets with their sharp contrasts between body color and wool color, plus, no matter how different and authentic an Eastman wartime B-3 is, to the untrained eye they are just another "bomber jacket," because just about any company making B-3 or B-3-style jackets will offer a jacket in a body color that's very dark with wool coloring that's very pale.
I also was pleasantly surprised to find how much I love the hand-applied Time Wear treatment, which is standard on this B-3 style. The Time Wear is also subtle and just enough to bring out a rugged, vintage aesthetic that precludes the B-3 jacket from looking so starkly new out of the box. Eastman's Time Wear has evolved since it was first introduced as part of our contract with Touchstone Films in 2000 when I was working as a technical advisor on "Pearl Harbor" and secured the purchase contract for all of the related flying jackets and accessories. Today's Time Wear doesn't look contrived or heavy handed; it's just enough to mellow the jacket and lend it some character that only the equivalent of military flying and years of later use could achieve. I cannot endorse this B-3 enough, though the look of the mixed-batch of skins is clearly something not for everyone.
The sheepskin is Eastman's newer "broken grain" variety and the seam taping, pocket, and the sleeve reinforcements are Eastman's Vintage WarHorse. The sheepskin consists of both the pre-1942 hand-dyed russet brown skins or "redskins" and the darker brown skins that just started to became available at the very tail end of 1941, both of which are vegetable tanned on this jacket. The Vintage WarHorse is fully vegetable tanned and aniline dyed with nearly no pigment added and comes from one of the finest tanneries in Italy.
The B-3 jacket is warm and this past winter gave me plenty of excuses to wear all of my different B-3s. I admit to being a B-3 guy, so I look for excuses to wear a B-3 and can recall wearing an original Werber B-3 when I was in my teens on some cooler September nights with just a tee shirt and unzipped. That being said, I sometimes think I may be somewhat reptilian and cold blooded, because I read of others who say they find B-3 jackets to be too warm, which I personally find fully inconsistent with my own experiences.
We have this style in stock from sizes 38-48 regular.
I'm wearing size 40R and my build is as follows: chest 40", 5' 9" tall, waist 30", shirt sleeve 33", weight 147 lbs., lean, athletic build.
You can see detailed images, size tips and product measures on our website:
https://www.historypreservation.com...-perry-sportswear-contract-17808-mixed-batch/
I also was pleasantly surprised to find how much I love the hand-applied Time Wear treatment, which is standard on this B-3 style. The Time Wear is also subtle and just enough to bring out a rugged, vintage aesthetic that precludes the B-3 jacket from looking so starkly new out of the box. Eastman's Time Wear has evolved since it was first introduced as part of our contract with Touchstone Films in 2000 when I was working as a technical advisor on "Pearl Harbor" and secured the purchase contract for all of the related flying jackets and accessories. Today's Time Wear doesn't look contrived or heavy handed; it's just enough to mellow the jacket and lend it some character that only the equivalent of military flying and years of later use could achieve. I cannot endorse this B-3 enough, though the look of the mixed-batch of skins is clearly something not for everyone.
The sheepskin is Eastman's newer "broken grain" variety and the seam taping, pocket, and the sleeve reinforcements are Eastman's Vintage WarHorse. The sheepskin consists of both the pre-1942 hand-dyed russet brown skins or "redskins" and the darker brown skins that just started to became available at the very tail end of 1941, both of which are vegetable tanned on this jacket. The Vintage WarHorse is fully vegetable tanned and aniline dyed with nearly no pigment added and comes from one of the finest tanneries in Italy.
The B-3 jacket is warm and this past winter gave me plenty of excuses to wear all of my different B-3s. I admit to being a B-3 guy, so I look for excuses to wear a B-3 and can recall wearing an original Werber B-3 when I was in my teens on some cooler September nights with just a tee shirt and unzipped. That being said, I sometimes think I may be somewhat reptilian and cold blooded, because I read of others who say they find B-3 jackets to be too warm, which I personally find fully inconsistent with my own experiences.
We have this style in stock from sizes 38-48 regular.
I'm wearing size 40R and my build is as follows: chest 40", 5' 9" tall, waist 30", shirt sleeve 33", weight 147 lbs., lean, athletic build.
You can see detailed images, size tips and product measures on our website:
https://www.historypreservation.com...-perry-sportswear-contract-17808-mixed-batch/
