Who Makes a Nice Pea Coat?

[tropicalbob]

Just saw this post after posting a reply to Craig's message.

A kerosene smell? Never heard (smelled?) that before. I have owned or handled a whole bunch of vintage peacoats and never had one that smelled of kerosene. Also, in all of the correspondence I have had with others, no mention of a kerosene smell has ever been made.

I think the one you had experienced an unfortunate kerosene spill back in its past somewhere. That is a difficult odor to remove. Don't know if dry-cleaning would do it or not. It would certainly be worth a try if you still had the coat.

I bought it at an Army/Navy store and always assumed it had something to do with waterproofing. You're probably right about the smell, but I wore it anyway for a number of years and loved the hell out of it. That coat, a navy blue turtleneck, jeans, and army boots were pretty much my attire for years during the cooler months. Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, like so many other things from those years, I have no idea what happened to that coat.

 

[devilish]

Sloan, hold out for a WWII version in good condition. They can still be found and at decent prices most of the time. I paid $90 for mine a couple years ago. Then sold my Kersey wool Coast Guard issue for $75 so not such a bad deal. Anyway, back to the point. The war issue ones are much nicer. One caveat being, they have a bigger collar, that isn't appealing to some? Other than that, they are lovely things and made to last. They do run a little big so get detailed measurements.

 

[Edward]

Nicest one I ever had was a c1960s West German Navy one - navy wool shell, fully lined with the same navy wool, brass buttons with an anchor on them. I had my first one when I was 16 in 1990; a few years later, got another - both from the same army surplus store in Belfast. First one was £20, the second "40 as I recall. I still have the second somewhere, but I'd need a bigger one now. If I ever find them again (used to be common - racks of them back then) I'd consider buying two.

 

[Peacoat]

Nicest one I ever had was a c1960s West German Navy one - navy wool shell, fully lined with the same navy wool, brass buttons with an anchor on them. I had my first one when I was 16 in 1990; a few years later, got another - both from the same army surplus store in Belfast. First one was £20, the second "40 as I recall. I still have the second somewhere, but I'd need a bigger one now. If I ever find them again (used to be common - racks of them back then) I'd consider buying two.

Do you have a picture of your wearing the West German Navy coat? If not, how did it look compared to the US Navy peacoat?

We may have a picture somewhere of a German Navy peacoat. Might be in the "Peacoats of the World" thread. I will do a search and see what comes up.

 

[Peacoat]

Found the "Peacoats From The World" thread, linked below. There are a lot of pictures there of peacoats from various countries. Still no sighting of a Royal Navy peacoat, though. There are some links to pictures of a RCN peacoat, which was based on the RN version in about 1910.

There are also pics of a West German peacoat like Edward used to have.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/peacoats-from-the-world.59996/

 

[Sloan1874]

Sloan, hold out for a WWII version in good condition. They can still be found and at decent prices most of the time. I paid $90 for mine a couple years ago. Then sold my Kersey wool Coast Guard issue for $75 so not such a bad deal. Anyway, back to the point. The war issue ones are much nicer. One caveat being, they have a bigger collar, that isn't appealing to some? Other than that, they are lovely things and made to last. They do run a little big so get detailed measurements.

Definitely. I've waited for long enough to find one that fits the bill - I like the larger collar, personally. How could I wear an ANJ-4 if I didn't?

 

[Pdxgeo]

Sloan the one I just got is a 36, ww2 era. Maybe overpaid but Im very happy with the fit. The WW2 models run fairly TTS as they are more fitted than the later models.

If you find a Kersey wool one from any era in a 36 or maybe even a34 (if it is post ww2) you will be very happy with the quality and the warmth factor.

 

[Spoonbelly]

I bought a peacoat on eBay for $70. Looked nice in the pictures. When I got it, I could see it had significant pilling and is more or less unwearable. My next peacoat will be new.

The old vintage ('40s, '50s, '60s) dark blue peacoats made from Kersey wool do not pill, nor does the lining material. The newer black ones ('80s, '90s) made from melton wool have lining material which pills like crazy. The melton wool does not pill it's the lining that does.

 

[Edward]

Do you have a picture of your wearing the West German Navy coat? If not, how did it look compared to the US Navy peacoat?.

I do have photos..... somewhere, but none digital. I do still have the coat somewhere, I think ,though - I'll photograph it when it turns up.

Found the "Peacoats From The World" thread, linked below. There are a lot of pictures there of peacoats from various countries. Still no sighting of a Royal Navy peacoat, though. There are some links to pictures of a RCN peacoat, which was based on the RN version in about 1910.

There are also pics of a West German peacoat like Edward used to have.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/peacoats-from-the-world.59996/

The Bundeswahr one in that thread is close to it:

This is the same as the current issue models. The one pictured above, however, is a wool/acrylic mix shell, with a poly-filled, quilted nylong lining. Mine were of an earlier period, and were all-wool with the body lined in the same wool as the shell. As far as I can tell from this photo, the fit was basically the same - a bit neater at the waist - more shaped, less boxy-feeling than the US version. Buttons are the same. I have a memory that the handwarmer pockets were more curved in design, but I can't swear to that being accurate. Essentialy this looks like they took the one I had - probably in the seventies - and revised it, using some more modern materials to put them out cheaper. Still a nice coat, but for myself I'd go lookingh for the earlier version.

 

[Musher]

Here it is. Kersey wool USN peacoat in size 48.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162356471718




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does this look like the real deal "Peacoat"?

 

[Bushwalker]

Does this look like the real deal "Peacoat"?

Yes, it looks like my 1949 USN peacoat. Only the size tag is slightly different.

So I guess it's an early 1950s USN peacoat.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Peacoat]

Yes, it is the real deal; a 1949 peacoat.

 

[Maxwell Von Chesapeake]

I've tried on quite a few, including Mister Freedom, Buzz Rickson, and The Real McCoys, but the best I have tried is Freewheelers, which is the one I ended up buying.

The real question is...what were you looking at when this pic was taken? It's been more than six years since you posted it, and I can still feel your anger.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

The real question is...what were you looking at when this pic was taken? It's been more than six years since you posted it, and I can still feel your anger.

I was probably just angry at how out of shape I was. I fixed that since this photo was taken, though.