The Wingnut
One Too Many
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I'll post this here, if anyone sees fit that this should have a separate thread with a link, I'll move it.
Customer service: 11 out of 10.
Stock: 9 out of 10 - if they don't have it, you probably don't need it, or can wait a while 'til they do.
Quality of items: 7 out of 10. Mixed bag. I've got some awesome stuff, at other times, marginal because I didn't know what to expect and it was in a bit more beat up shape than I was expecting. I've kept all but one item from them, which was the virst crusher I got, which was too small and had a felt top. I wanted gabardine, and ended up with their repro, which leads me to:
The Garcia Crusher:
INCREDIBLE CONSTRUCTION. Hands down, it's bulletproof. You can wad this baby up in a ball, toss it on a flat surface and never tell it had been wadded. Stuff it in a suitcase, pull it out 5 days later and it'll sit perfect on your head. It might be more durable than the vintage eagle you'll put on it, because those can bend or break!
The liner is the perfect color and pattern, a yellow gold rayon with a sewn-in gold paper swatch that - recalling from memory - states, 'Custom Made for James E. Garcia Aviation Catalog' There is a card holder pocket in the plastic overliner, which is true to the original designs, allowing the officer to place his calling card in the liner.
The leather bill is a soft, thick leather which bends quite easily. The only nitpick here is that the bill is not constructed like most vintage 'lightweight' crushers. It s is a solid, vat-dyed 3/32" thick piece of leather with a line of stitching around the edge. Most original lightweight crushers had a bill that was a very thin glossy aniline suface-dyed bill, with a leather welt on the edge for a rolled look, and a suede lined underside. The repro bill is also a bit darker brown than the russet tone of vintage crushers. Both of these points in my mind can be overlooked, as the style of a 'crusher' cap was so varied across different specs and manufacturers that it was quite posible during the war to have produced a crusher in this manner.
This is, in fact, a medium-weight crusher, has some heft and stiffness, has a metal brace for the eagle (which can easily be bent back for the 'flat-hat' look), and a plastic mesh stiffener behind the perforated sweatband running the circumference of the headband that 'pops' the crusher back into shape when it's left to its own. I consider this a plus!
The top is an excellent chocolate green elastique that can be steamed to take a good crushed shape, or if you're the West Point type, you can stick a stiffener in the crown and be very dressy.
It has the cavalry-style backstrap, with a correct roller buckle and loop in case you're mounted on a horse and need to cinch it down! This is easily removed for the hot-rock pilot look by pulling the true-to-vintage wire-fastened side buttons out, then replacing them and leaving just the front chinstrap across the bill.
It's not a Bancroft Flighter, and it's not Eastman's overpriced Flighter repro that's not even available stateside, but it's a knockout, and far better than some other repros. (What Price Glory and WWII Impressions just don't match up!) I owned mine for close to 5 years, loved it to death and probably would have ran back into a burning building to get it. It took a hell of a lot of coaxing myself to give it up, but the gentleman who has it now deserved it, and he gave me an incredible price on a vintage original that is missing some of the features that I liked so much in my Garcia.
GET ONE. Tell them A.J. sent you.
Customer service: 11 out of 10.
Stock: 9 out of 10 - if they don't have it, you probably don't need it, or can wait a while 'til they do.
Quality of items: 7 out of 10. Mixed bag. I've got some awesome stuff, at other times, marginal because I didn't know what to expect and it was in a bit more beat up shape than I was expecting. I've kept all but one item from them, which was the virst crusher I got, which was too small and had a felt top. I wanted gabardine, and ended up with their repro, which leads me to:
The Garcia Crusher:
INCREDIBLE CONSTRUCTION. Hands down, it's bulletproof. You can wad this baby up in a ball, toss it on a flat surface and never tell it had been wadded. Stuff it in a suitcase, pull it out 5 days later and it'll sit perfect on your head. It might be more durable than the vintage eagle you'll put on it, because those can bend or break!
The liner is the perfect color and pattern, a yellow gold rayon with a sewn-in gold paper swatch that - recalling from memory - states, 'Custom Made for James E. Garcia Aviation Catalog' There is a card holder pocket in the plastic overliner, which is true to the original designs, allowing the officer to place his calling card in the liner.
The leather bill is a soft, thick leather which bends quite easily. The only nitpick here is that the bill is not constructed like most vintage 'lightweight' crushers. It s is a solid, vat-dyed 3/32" thick piece of leather with a line of stitching around the edge. Most original lightweight crushers had a bill that was a very thin glossy aniline suface-dyed bill, with a leather welt on the edge for a rolled look, and a suede lined underside. The repro bill is also a bit darker brown than the russet tone of vintage crushers. Both of these points in my mind can be overlooked, as the style of a 'crusher' cap was so varied across different specs and manufacturers that it was quite posible during the war to have produced a crusher in this manner.
This is, in fact, a medium-weight crusher, has some heft and stiffness, has a metal brace for the eagle (which can easily be bent back for the 'flat-hat' look), and a plastic mesh stiffener behind the perforated sweatband running the circumference of the headband that 'pops' the crusher back into shape when it's left to its own. I consider this a plus!
The top is an excellent chocolate green elastique that can be steamed to take a good crushed shape, or if you're the West Point type, you can stick a stiffener in the crown and be very dressy.
It has the cavalry-style backstrap, with a correct roller buckle and loop in case you're mounted on a horse and need to cinch it down! This is easily removed for the hot-rock pilot look by pulling the true-to-vintage wire-fastened side buttons out, then replacing them and leaving just the front chinstrap across the bill.
It's not a Bancroft Flighter, and it's not Eastman's overpriced Flighter repro that's not even available stateside, but it's a knockout, and far better than some other repros. (What Price Glory and WWII Impressions just don't match up!) I owned mine for close to 5 years, loved it to death and probably would have ran back into a burning building to get it. It took a hell of a lot of coaxing myself to give it up, but the gentleman who has it now deserved it, and he gave me an incredible price on a vintage original that is missing some of the features that I liked so much in my Garcia.
GET ONE. Tell them A.J. sent you.
