M-51 Fishtail Parka and such

[Doctor Damage]

M-51 parkas below... interesting to see the hoods (with winter inserts) being worn over helmets

 

[Cornelius]

Yeah the hood on mine is enormous. Could easily fit over the old steel pot helmets. It's a later manufacture button-on deal with acrylic fur trim, maybe 1970s. Has a wire insert around perimeter which allows it to be shaped, and a second drawstring running around the back of the skull to tighten up slack in the hood somewhat. These two features make it wearable over just a watch cap instead of a helmet, but it's still rather ungainly and inhibits sightlines.

Since I've now dug this parka out with the change in seasons, I can confirm my memory from July in Post #96 that, indeed, the "terry cloth" liner & more modern poly liner in mine come to the same length.

I noticed though that the quilted poly liner in my M-51 reads "LINER, EXTREME COLD WEATHER, PARKA" whereas the liner in my M-65 Field Jacket just reads "LINER, COAT, COLD WEATHER, MEN'S FIELD". The materials & construction of those two liners appear identical to my eye. Perhaps the parka one in longer in body, but it's tough to judge as my M-51 is a size medium & the M-65 a size large.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

^^they are different. The parka poly is larger/longer but will fit in a M-65 but the button positioning is off by a button or so.
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[bn1966]

Great pics of those 51’s, had my ‘65 artificial white trim replaced with Wolf and picked up a snow camouflage outer shell too. Agreed those hoods are huge to enable them to go over a helmet...

 

[Peacoat]

^^they are different. The parka poly is larger/longer but will fit in a M-65 but the button positioning is off by a button or so.
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Are the insulating qualities the same? I'm thinking they are.

The other day I ordered the poly liner for one of my field jackets. I have the heavy ("Terry cloth") liner in the other jacket and wanted my original issue field jacket to be a bit warmer.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Are the insulating qualities the same? I'm thinking they are.

The other day I ordered the poly liner for one of my field jackets. I have the heavy ("Terry cloth") liner in the other jacket and wanted my original issue field jacket to be a bit warmer.

Pretty sure they are the same material. I’ve been getting them mixed up for 40+ years until i go to button them in. Lol
Pretty sure the poly poncho liner is the same stuff. That stuff was a Godsend compared to that heavy terry-type stuff.
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[Doctor Damage]

Great pics of those 51’s, had my ‘65 artificial white trim replaced with Wolf and picked up a snow camouflage outer shell too. Agreed those hoods are huge to enable them to go over a helmet...

haha, yeah you're gonna get so much use from the white version (cough cough tan nomex cough cough)
now you need to get the "night camouflage, desert" version too!!

 

[Doctor Damage]

I noticed though that the quilted poly liner in my M-51 reads "LINER, EXTREME COLD WEATHER, PARKA" whereas the liner in my M-65 Field Jacket just reads "LINER, COAT, COLD WEATHER, MEN'S FIELD". The materials & construction of those two liners appear identical to my eye. Perhaps the parka one in longer in body, but it's tough to judge as my M-51 is a size medium & the M-65 a size large.

Can you compare the shells? Is the M51 heavier/thicker than the m65, or vice versa?

 

[Peacoat]

Pretty sure they are the same material. I’ve been getting them mixed up for 40+ years until i go to button them in. Lol
Pretty sure the poly poncho liner is the same stuff. That stuff was a Godsend compared to that heavy terry-type stuff.
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The poly liner for my field jacket came yesterday. Surprising, considering its thin nature, it does seem to be a warm liner. Although there appears to be a design deficiency. Inside the sleeve toward the cuff, my field jacket has a button. There is no corresponding button hole or tag on the liner. How are the sleeves of the liner supposed to stay in the jacket sleeves when the arms are taken out? I guess I could take it to my seamstress and have a buttonhole sewn in each of the liner sleeves.

As to the poly poncho liner insulation, it may well be the same material. I was never issued a poncho liner (probably because I didn't use a poncho), but bought a couple of poncho liners about 25 years ago.

 

[Cornelius]

I left my Field Jacket at my girlfriend's house [for ready use as work jacket for inevitable winter repair requests], but the liner is most definitely buttoned-in toward the sleeve cuff, as I recall.

Was the liner you bought from a batch of 2nds, perhaps?

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

The poly liner for my field jacket came yesterday. Surprising, considering its thin nature, it does seem to be a warm liner. Although there appears to be a design deficiency. Inside the sleeve toward the cuff, my field jacket has a button. There is no corresponding button hole or tag on the liner. How are the sleeves of the liner supposed to stay in the jacket sleeves when the arms are taken out? I guess I could take it to my seamstress and have a buttonhole sewn in each of the liner sleeves.

As to the poly poncho liner insulation, it may well be the same material. I was never issued a poncho liner (probably because I didn't use a poncho), but bought a couple of poncho liners about 25 years ago.

Seems odd to me.
A quick look at the M-51 liner...oh heck, a quick pic shows the sleeve tabs ends better than words. Guess this one looks like a 1973 issue. I need to get them all out and do a closer comparison.
A couple quick responses to some above questions. The M-51 is cut big(note the size label above) so the M-65 with liner could be worn under it. The M-51 is a single layer, shell (no inner layer like a M-65) then the button in liners for each. Alone the M-51 shell makes a fine raincoat. At least it has for me since about 74-75’. Yes the button in wired, Coyote fur hood is huge to fit over the steel pot and still be drawn in to protect your face from freezing off while wintering. Lol
You can button that hood onto a M-65 but the buttons don’t all match and it looks like crap on one. The Air Force had the good hoods with the zippers. Of course!
As far as ponchos, Peacoat. You never had one, lucky you!! Lol
Everybody needs a rolled up poly poncho liner in their trunk in case of emergencies. And a roll of TP.
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Ps: fights were known to happen over who got issued/stole the new poly stuff.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Probably should post the pic.
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[Peacoat]

Probably should post the pic.
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Thanks for the pic. My liner has nothing like that. I'll just take to my seamstress and have buttonholes sewn in.

Don't know if it was a second as I bought it used, excellent condition, and it is.

 

[handymike]

Canadian X-51b, Korean war era...Wow!

 

[Doctor Damage]

^ That's a pretty wild parka! Thanks for posting. I was looking through my saved images and found a vintage M51 that had a tag with UK/Canadian sizes on it, which was odd, but then I realized that the US Army probably provided equipment and clothing to other UN forces in Korea.

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Doctor Damage]

Last week I got a couple of M51 repros in the mail.

One parka is branded Unilets, made in China, and the design and materials are the same as Houston (Japan) and Rothco (US) so the factory is probably doing their own knock-offs or something. This one is civilianized and not an accurate repro. It has a 100% cotton shell, pockets mounted lower (more usable, frankly), and has some nice non-original features such as small buttons with elastic loops in the armpits and sleeveheads to secure the quilted liner really well so it doesn't shift around at all and knitted cuffs on the liner, and the liner has buttons so you can wear it as a jacket. The construction quality is great, good materials. The only two shortcomines are the shell is thin like a dress shirt and the quilted liner is short (basically the same as a liner for an M-65 field jacket). The only problem is the left sleeve is 1/2" shorter (or the right sleeve is 1/2" longer); for me that's ideal since bad posture means I prefer a longer right sleeve.

The other parka is branded Mil-Tec from Germany and after looking through the photos of vintage parkas I've accumulated I can say that this is a very accurate reproduction. The shell is 75% cotton 25% nylon and tightly woven. All the details are correct, including shape/fit, and wool pockets. It's well made, although one cuff button was loose and I took it off to re-attach later. The liner is a military suplus liner dated 1984 by Gibraltar Industries. I also got the removable warm hood insert which fits inside the parka's hood and has a thin wool lining and fake fur ruff (which looks good; fake fur has really come a long way). The shortcoming is that the liner's buttonholes don't line up too well (which the parka's tag warns) and the hood insert is one of those "one size fits all" things, which means of course one size doesn't fit anyone. The fit is original: big chest, short arms (the sleeves are barely long enough to be usable by me).

Overall, I prefer the Unilets parka since I'm not fixated on accuracy and it's got some nice features. The Mil-Tec is not a great fit for someone tallish and thinnish like me, although I expect despite its overall clumsiness it will be the warmer and more durable of the two.

 

[Doctor Damage]

^ Further to this post... I have worn each repro parka in the same weather conditions (sunny, -5C, mid-morning, no snow, no wind) and the Unilets/Rothco one is better: more comfortable fit, warmer, and with a larger hood. I'm sure the shell on the Mil-Tec one would be better in snow and esp wet snow, but the fit is so balloon-ish that it's impossible to get it close around the body, plus the lack of cuff knits on the liner lets out warm air. So I guess I'll say if you want repro authenticity then get the Mil-Tec, if you want just a wearable M51-ish parka without fussing about authenticity the other might be better. I'll keep one and I'll sell the other.

 

[Fifty150]

Forget the parka. I want to see more pics of the girl. Show us more of her tattoos.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Forget the parka. I want to see more pics of the girl. Show us more of her tattoos.

Yeah she's amazing, I wanted to see more of her, too. She was modeling for an account on e-bay but that seller doesn't have anything listed anymore so I guess he/she isn't active.

Edit: here's the seller:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/2ndSupply?ref=l2-about-shopname