road less traveled for jacket nuts? the N-2B flight jacket...am i crazy 4 loving it?

[bn1966]

Same issue with my L-2B but I wear it like a cardigan in warm weather so the length isn't an issue. Wouldn't like an elongated MA-1, especially those new ones the length of a dress that some so called Hipsters have been sporting of late..very wrong IMHO!!!!

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Can anyone tell me what the two little buttons are for on the inside chest area? I believe on the right side?

 

[Doctor Damage]

Can anyone tell me what the two little buttons are for on the inside chest area? I believe on the right side?

Do you mean the two small buttons I've circled in the photo below?



If that's what you mean, then those are what's called "keeper buttons" and they're small buttons through which are sewn the threads attaching the main buttons on the outside of the garment. They make it much, much harder to pull the outside buttons off the jacket, or to tear the cloth if the outside buttons get snagged, and they help keep the garment from distorting or stretching where the outside buttons are attached. You will also find them on better-quality men's overcoats and such.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Yep..bolero fit some of those service issue ones! I compared the two before selling the military one on, very close in materials & quality, real difference for me was the length. My N-2A original fits about the same as the civvy N-2B.

I think the HPA guy Charles made the point that the blue N3A parkas were "longer" than the other versions, and it sounds like your experience is similar. Must have been something peculiar to that period. My non-scientific sense is that the later N2B and N3B versions were shortened up.

I've seen the same thing happen with MA1s. I'm not a fan of elongating designs in the main as it looks all kinds of wrong very quickly, but it can be done and still not look wrong with some of these nylon jackets. Course, we have to remember they were desogn originally to be worn over aflightsuit with a high waistband, and sometimes with matching trousers as well.

I agree that lengthening torsos to fit over jeans/pants with rises so short you have to "shave" is a crime against history and good taste. But for most us, adding even a single inch to the length to MA1 and N2B jackets would made all the difference in the world and the look wouldn't be changed noticably. My Alpha 1990s civilian N2B jacket has a 26" length which makes it wearable for me yet doesn't compromise the short look of the N2 jackets (the Alpha military ones by constrast are 22" to 24" which is nuts).

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Do you mean the two small buttons I've circled in the photo below?

If that's what you mean, then those are what's called "keeper buttons" and they're small buttons through which are sewn the threads attaching the main buttons on the outside of the garment. They make it much, much harder to pull the outside buttons off the jacket, or to tear the cloth if the outside buttons get snagged, and they help keep the garment from distorting or stretching where the outside buttons are attached. You will also find them on better-quality men's overcoats and such.

Yes, that's what I meant. Thank you. I don't believe I've ever owned anything with such buttons. I had to use a similar method (minus the buttons) to hold the insulation in place of an old sleeping bag in which most of the stitching had unraveled.

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Funny. As we often talk about how companies with rich tradition or prestige, or at least respectable association, change for customer base, now which is common to recalibrate for the hipster or fashion industry, I noticed how odd the Alpha Industry photos have become. Thin, young model types that look like the jackets are devouring them. Maybe it is me. For instance, scroll down to the green jacket.

https://www.alphaindustries.com/products/mjn31000c1-mens-alpha-n-3b-parka

 

[Doctor Damage]

Funny. As we often talk about how companies with rich tradition or prestige, or at least respectable association, change for customer base, now which is common to recalibrate for the hipster or fashion industry, I noticed how odd the Alpha Industry photos have become. Thin, young model types that look like the jackets are devouring them. Maybe it is me. For instance, scroll down to the green jacket.

You're quite right. They should be using models that are of normal build and then their garments would look normal. If you see the description to that parka they list the model's measurements: 6'2" and 34" chest. Geezuz. That chest size is insanely small for someone so tall. He's basically just this side of being anorexic.

The European site for Alpha has normal looking people as models, at least the men. Here's the dude they use as their model for the N3B (the same 'heritage' traditional fit version). He appears to be of normal build and the parka, though definitely roomy, doesn't make him look like he's a child wearing his dad's hand-me-down clothes.

 

[Doctor Damage]

I bought this used Alpha N2B a couple years back. It's one of the civilian Alphas, made in USA, with the metal zipper. These obviously do not have the wool insulation, so they're not extreme cold weather parkas, but they're heavy enough for moderately cold temperatures. The synthetic fur lining the hood is really thick and dense, while the synthetic fur on the ruff is a nice whispy salt-and-pepper coloured fur not the cheap white scratchy plastic stuff that was on the military jackets Alpha made in the 1980s. The fur ruff on this jacket was sewn on really badly, so perhaps someday I'll get that re-done, but it does its job so it's not a priority.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Thanks for the photos.

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[bn1966]

N-2A my favourite

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[bn1966]

View attachment 206910 View attachment 206911

More Porn

 

[Doctor Damage]

More Porn

nothing but the best nylon porn!

 

[Doctor Damage]

military N2B tags from 1982 and 1985 showing that Alpha (the military contractor at the time, at least for these jackets) was using a synthetic insulation backed with a layer of cotton

 

[Doctor Damage]

These photos I happened upon this evening answer one question about the N2B parkas: why did the military keep procuring them into the 1980s when the nomex/aramid flyers jackets had been adopted in the 1970s and nylon jackets were no longer used for flying? Who wore them and when/why? These photos are from the Korea DMZ in 1988.

 

[Blackadder]

The N-2 is a jacket I have always wanted but can never bring myself to buying one. The original and exact repros are too warm for the weather over here (coldest weather being 1-2 and rarely happens). I have looked at a few thinner repros by Ralph Lauren and Alpha but they do not look right without the bulk.

 

[bn1966]

Under-rated jacket the N-2B

I’ve got a ‘70’s heavy weight fur trimmed original for very bitter weather & a much lighter ‘90’s Alpha Civvy repro.

As a real treat I purchased an N-2A for that blue SAC vibe.

Too hot for a jacket in the UK today, up into the early ‘30’s

 

[Edward]

I bought this used Alpha N2B a couple years back. It's one of the civilian Alphas, made in USA, with the metal zipper. These obviously do not have the wool insulation, so they're not extreme cold weather parkas, but they're heavy enough for moderately cold temperatures. The synthetic fur lining the hood is really thick and dense, while the synthetic fur on the ruff is a nice whispy salt-and-pepper coloured fur not the cheap white scratchy plastic stuff that was on the military jackets Alpha made in the 1980s. The fur ruff on this jacket was sewn on really badly, so perhaps someday I'll get that re-done, but it does its job so it's not a priority.

View attachment 206714 View attachment 206715 View attachment 206716 View attachment 206717 View attachment 206718

I've been temptedc by the Alpha but held off for exactly that reason: I have to justify any jacket I buy on a utilitarian basis; I really want one in the original weight. Maybe I'll save up for a used Buzz, whenever I eventually manage to get to Tokyo...

military N2B tags from 1982 and 1985 showing that Alpha (the military contractor at the time, at least for these jackets) was using a synthetic insulation backed with a layer of cotton

View attachment 222792
View attachment 222791

My understanding was they went synthetic across the range some time around 1977/78, but I don't recall where I picked that up.

The N-2 is a jacket I have always wanted but can never bring myself to buying one. The original and exact repros are too warm for the weather over here (coldest weather being 1-2 and rarely happens). I have looked at a few thinner repros by Ralph Lauren and Alpha but they do not look right without the bulk.

Not for me, ha.... I spent a week in Beijing in December in both 2010 and 2011; one tirp was the B3, the other I took my Irvin. An N2A would have been equally welcome in the original weight. Much as I enjoyed that weather, it *would* have taken your head off...