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The Great Flight Jacket Thread (wearing/buying Leather, NOMEX, WEP jackets/patches)

Dawgfan

Pending
pilot
The lady there told us to get one a couple sizes larger than that of your flight suit... I wear a 42L and she recommended a 46. Fits good. Anyone else get this advice?
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I wear a size 40R flight suit and I got told I needed a 42R jacket. (right when there was a brand new 40R jacket there for me to try on, too. Grrr . . . ) Personally I think I would be swimming in one that was 2 sizes bigger.
 

kray1395

Active Member
Some guy I met this weekend who is in advanced helos said something about a lawsuit against the government by PETA was holding up the issue of leather jackets. They are trying to say that too many sheep were being killed in order to make the jacket. Any truth to this?? He also said it's been done several times before and it never amounts to anything, so it would just be a matter of time before they would be issued again.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I've heard that story and I've also heard that the Navy was suing one of the manufacturers for some reason; dunno if there's any truth to that. I also heard that PETA made a big stink over the AF's re-issuing leather jackets when they initially made that decision some years ago. Oh, well. I suppose there's room for all God's creatures . . . right next to the mashed potatoes.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Chest size is a general guideline, I'm a technically a size 37 yet I wear the aforementioned gear. If you're a skinny type like me your shoulders might be wider than your true chest size, thus the higher number. They basically throw something on you at gear issue and decide if it looks and feels good or not. If not, they throw something else at you and repeat as necessary.
 

Whalebite

Registered User
" I suppose there's room for all God's creatures . . . right next to the mashed potatoes" This had me laughing for 5 min straight, that was great.
 

UncleFester

Hummer NFO To Be Reckoned With
For what it's worth, I wore my leather all the time, Pri, Int, E-2 RAG, and never got any crap about it. And that's with a SWO pin on my nametag (previous life). I almost never wore my summer-weight Nomex; didn't get my winter-weight until I got to the RAG. The only people I ever saw get shat upon for what they wore: some dude who wore an Ike jacket, SWO sweater AND black Corfams with his khakis for SDO; a guy who patched up his jacket, Tom Cruise-style, with patches he'd bought at air shows; and a girl who went out and bought a nice civvie leather jacket and wore that with her uniform because "the wooly collar (on the issue jacket) made her neck look big".
Oh, and while I'm at it: buy some damn brown leather shoes. Take pride in being in the aviator community. This "I'm not buying brown shoes 'til I get winged" thing always bugged me.
 

46Driver

"It's a mother beautiful bridge, and it's gon
I traded in my 44 for a bigger one last year and the jackets were plentiful, but that was out at Whiting. Given the choice, I would rather wear the Nomex jackets because I think they are warmer, however, the leather jacket is nice overseas - (regulations be d@mned.....) :)
 

UncleFester

Hummer NFO To Be Reckoned With
Oh, and they keep closer track of those things than nuclear weapons. When I got back into the program, I asked the grouchy lady at gear issue for the same jacket I'd had before (meaning the same size). She came back and told me exactly when and where the exact jacket had been reissued. Creepy.
As for sizes, I'd say get the same size you wear in civvie jackets for your leather, but go with a size or two bigger for your Nomex so you can wear it over your SV-2 and harness if needs be. Never fails: walk on a night flight in Norfolk in February and you get the plane on the far end of the flight line.
 

zilber

Registered User
pilot
Are the jackets in yet? I remember they promised the jackets would be available in August.
 
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