The Adventurer's Gear Thread

[Rooster]

The guy in the middle is wearing gaitors. there are USA versions also.

 

[DanielJones]

I was watching Seven Years in Tibet last night and at the end of it I spied this jacket. It's a tad hard to see all of the details. Maybe somebody out there has a better image of this particular jacket.

It appears to be single breasted, with a fairly broad lapel collar. It has patch button flap breast pockets, but I'm not sure if it has patch pockets on the bottom. The jacket is mostly a square cut body. I'm not too sure what style of jacket it is and if any of you have seen something like this out there. If there is someone I'm certain that BT would be the person to know. It would go great with either a roll neck sweater, a zip neck like is shown in the photos or a mechanics sweater.
I think this sweater would go well with it too.

Has anybody see an anorak like this one. Similar to the Wehrmacht version but it only has a single chest pocket instead of the triple.

It appears to be a waxed cotton canvas or maybe some sort of weather proofed cotton canvas.

If any of you have better images of the jacket please post them, it would be great to be able to re-create this style of wool jacket. Thanks.

 

[cookie]

Seven Years in Tibet

I rememebr when I was young someone gave me the book which fascinated a young lad. He travelled in the early 50s no es verdad?

 

[BellyTank]

D.Jones. BT here-

The jacket could be a Loden job.
It has that classic German Hunting/Forester style and that dark Forest green shade.
Your last jacket pic is of a different jacket.

Shawl collared sweaters are available but a hand-knit one would be nice.
Do away with sloppy shoulders.

I have PM'ed you about the Anorak.

B
T

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I cut off the lugs on the sole...
Cheers,
Billy

What's the best way to do that?

 

[cookie]

Bush Hat - Nice Huh?

This is a Steiger I saw on another forum. Original Zebra made in USA:



And a Naval WWII Pith Helmet:

 

[DanielJones]

The jacket could be a Loden job.
It has that classic German Hunting/Forester style and that dark Forest green shade.
Your last jacket pic is of a different jacket.

Shawl collared sweaters are available but a hand-knit one would be nice.
Do away with sloppy shoulders.

I have PM'ed you about the Anorak.

B
T

Thanks BT, that info will be most helpful. The last image was just to reference the sweater. I think my J. Peterman tweed would go well with that style of sweater once I get it fitted. The zip neck sweater with the loden jacket though is of interest, would you know what style that is called? Well, if I can't find the right loden jacket on line I may have to have one made. The search goes on!
Thanks again for the hint on the Anorak.

 

[Alan Eardley]

I rememebr when I was young someone gave me the book which fascinated a young lad. He travelled in the early 50s no es verdad?

The book describes Harrer's experiences from 1939 to 1947-ish (as the title implies), with the most concentrated narrative covering his experiences at the hands of the British in the early war period. This part is played down in the 'Brad Pitt' film. Based on the many photographs in the 1953 edition of the book and on the documentary directed by Hans Nieter in 1956, which includes film taken by Harrer and himself reconstructing scenes from his adventures, I think we can say of the 1997 film:
1. The characters look nothing like the real characters;
2. The clothes look nothing like the real clothes;
3. Many of the locations are different;
4. The plot has many deviations from the original.

In a word, a typical Hollywood treatment of an excellent 'real life' book which merits a more respectful historical treatment IMHO. By the way, the Nieter documentary is available on DVD (in the UK anyway), but is of poor visual and uneven sound quality. I would recommend the book.

Alan

 

[DanielJones]

I have the book on order since I saw the film. But the images were posted because of the jacket. I'm not too worried about it being spot on to what may have been by Heinrich Harrer. I'd love to get one made though if I can't find one like it.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Jovan]

I just saw some linen adventuring shirts at Banana Republic. Epaulettes and flap pockets. Can't remember if they had front pleats or not.

 

[Kodiak]

The Gap (horror of all horrors!) also has a decent white safari shirt. I picked it up on sale. The style is basically the same as the Cabelas model (to give comparison) but has two little strips of fabric on the shoulders in place of epaulettes.

Might be worth looking in to. I picked one up for $22.

 

[Prof Branestawm]

Is there anywhere (in the UK) that shawl collar jumpers are for sale that is not prohibitively expensive? I hardly ever see them for sale.

 

[Kodiak]

From Reuters:

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Two climbers who aimed to recreate British mountaineer George Mallory's pioneering attempt to climb Everest using only 1920s gear ended up wearing modern clothes due to the cold, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

American climber Conrad Anker, who in 1999 discovered Mallory's frozen body about 2,030 feet below the summit, wanted to see if it was possible, as some believe, for Mallory to have reached Mount Everest's summit in 1924.

Anker, 44, along with his 27-year-old British climbing mate Leo Houlding, set off to retrace Mallory's route up the Chinese face this week.

But in the end they decided it was too cold to shun modern hi-tech textiles in favor of replicas of the clothes worn by Mallory and his climbing mate, Andrew Irvine, who also never returned from the mountain and whose body has never been found.

"They decided it would be unsafe," said Kate Fraser, a spokeswoman for Altitude Films, a London-based firm who filmed Anker's and Houlding's ascent.

I wonder if Mallory thought it would be "unsafe"?

 

[DanielJones]

I'm sure Mallory would have used the modern textiles had he had them to use. They used what they had at the time, which was probably state of the art, and didn't think twice about it. I suppose 50 years from now textiles will be even better at insulating and they would think it would be unsafe to climb Everest in our vintage gear. Just a thought.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[BellyTank]

Is there anywhere (in the UK) that shawl collar jumpers are for sale that is not prohibitively expensive? I hardly ever see them for sale.

Aero Leather Clothing, Galashiels.

http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/...oViewPage?page=displaysubcatlist&subcatid=155

More specifically:
http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/...?page=displayproduct&subcatid=155&prodid=2016

Whether the price is prohibitive, or not is your choice.

B
T

 

[DanielJones]

Wow! Those are nice looking. Thanks BT.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[carter]

Shawl Collar

I don't know about the UK but Orvis offers a WWII Mechanic's Sweater and a vest in olive drab in this style. Their prices are reasonable.

 

[BellyTank]

Should be able to get the Mechanic sweater from WW2 Reenactor Vendors.
Price may be better, or worse-

Limited to OD though...


B
T

 

[Jovan]

Those British style wool "commando" sweaters with the fabric epaulettes and elbow patches are really nice and warm, not to mention durable. At least... I think they originated in Britain. Certainly mine was made there, judging by the inside tag. The wool is somewhat scratchy, but as long as you wear a long sleeved top you should be fine. They can be gotten for cheap at military surplus stores or probably eBay. Avoid the acrylic ones at all costs, for obvious reasons.

Here's an example of a brand new one: http://www.american-armynavy.com/Sweater-6348final.htm

Look for the v-neck versions, they can look pretty smart with a white shirt (or any of your adventuring shirts, of course).

 

[Martinis at 8]

Those British style wool "commando" sweaters with the fabric epaulets and elbow patches are really nice and warm, not to mention durable. At least... I think they originated in Britain. Certainly mine was made there, judging by the inside tag. The wool is somewhat scratchy, but as long as you wear a long sleeved top you should be fine. They can be gotten for cheap at military surplus stores or probably eBay. Avoid the acrylic ones at all costs, for obvious reasons.

Here's an example of a brand new one: http://www.american-armynavy.com/Sweater-6348final.htm

Look for the v-neck versions, they can look pretty smart with a white shirt (or any of your adventuring shirts, of course).

Yes, they are originally SAS sweaters, and did not have the epaulets at first. I had one in the early 80's and my wife shrunk it by mistake in the washing machine. Almost divorced her over it. Original colors were olive green, dark blue, and desert tan. I had the dark blue one.

I was just gifted a similar style from the Bundeswehr. It has a few holes that I am getting darned.

M8