Blast from the Past - Flightjackets

[Indiana Jeff]

A friend of mine (and fellow jacket nut) recently told me he ordered an "Indiana Jones style jacket." With a genuinely stunned expression I asked him, "Without talking to me first?" He chuckled, then looked worried and said, "Yeah...I guess not. Is that a problem?" I told him, "Well, there are Indy jackets and there are Indy jackets." Now, I wasn't too concerned because I know he knows jackets and isn't shy about paying for quality. I asked him from where he ordered and he answered, "Flightjackets." I said, "Oh, you mean Flightsuits. Gibson and Barnes, really good jackets." He said, "No, it was Flightjackets." I told him I had not heard of them, but I would see what I could find out.

I came here and found a few threads, none of them particularly recent, but none that were awful either. I went to their site to take a look at their offerings and it's not the most SA jacket out there, but that's not something that's going to bother my friend. The real selling point for him was he wanted to get the jacket in HH and that was the only manufacturer he could find that had HH available as an offering.

He showed me the jacket when he got it in hand and it's a pretty decent representation. It actually had a lot of features in common with my circa 2000 Wested. The most noticeable is the side straps are sewn into the back panel seam rather than attached to the back panel with X, K or Q box stitching (take your pick).

As for the quality of the jacket, it is very well put together. Stitching looked good and the fit was just right for him.

At the end of the day he is very happy with it and that's all that matters. Since they aren't a maker that gets a lot of time here, I thought I'd give a first hand review.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Texan Scott]

Saul is over there. Too bad there are not more posts and reviews over the years. Any chance of photos, Jeff? I don't think I've ever seen one posted here?

[Canasta]

Flightjackets is the company the put the new collar on my Gibson and Barnes. They did a FANTASTIC job.
You can see the post here. http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=58751" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chris

[Canuck Digger]

The leather looks good but at that price, I would expect the back panel to NOT have that gap like US Wings has and the pocket flaps to be a little more true to shape. I'm far from a jacket expert but even to me this stuff jumped out. Otherwise it looks like a good jacket.

[Texan Scott]

I think its calling card is that it is handmade in the US, and apparently pretty well. Would like to see more examples of the skins.

[Canasta]

I would call them ask for samples.
I did and received all sorts, plus mutton collar samples.
They are very accommodating.

Chris

[Michaelson]

As an aside, since they did a collar replacement on a G&B for a member, I wonder if they also replace zippers on other competitors jackets too?

Regards! Michaelson

[Indiana Jeff]

Good question.

I'll work on getting pictures. My friend just left for a two week trip through Myanmar/Burma traveling early (last) century style of river paddle boat, train, etc. He took his jacket along so I'm sure it'll be nicely along getting broken in. I'll post them once he's back.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[davyjones007]

As an aside, since they did a collar replacement on a G&B for a member, I wonder if they also replace zippers on other competitors jackets too?

Regards! Michaelson

I e-mailed them last year about replacing cuffs and liner on an old G-1 of mine and they said no problem.

[Hunter57]

I'll be having them re-line my Wested custom shortly. I also have one of their Indy jackets, which held up well on a 6500 mile trip in 2010. I did have some modifications made to the basic pattern - longer body, custom-shaped pocket flaps, etc.

I have a few quibbles - the sleeve lining is over long, and peeks out when I wear it with a long-sleeved shirt. Also, the handwarmer pockets are designed what I consider "backward" from my Wested jackets - they're in front of the cargo pocket, not behind. It's the only jacket I've ever seen like that.

[CM]

This is odd. I was just wondering about Flightjackets last night, although the jacket looks wrong in many ways, I wondered why it has so rarely come up here.

[WConly]

I'll be having them re-line my Wested custom shortly. I also have one of their Indy jackets, which held up well on a 6500 mile trip in 2010. I did have some modifications made to the basic pattern - longer body, custom-shaped pocket flaps, etc.

I have a few quibbles - the sleeve lining is over long, and peeks out when I wear it with a long-sleeved shirt. Also, the handwarmer pockets are designed what I consider "backward" from my Wested jackets - they're in front of the cargo pocket, not behind. It's the only jacket I've ever seen like that.

Then they are like the pockets on a G8 style jacket, which they make quite well, thus -- they are used to that pattern style. W>

[Hunter57]

I wondered where that design came from.

I will say that Shaul and Company do excellent work, even with my design quibbles, and customer service is excellent.

[itsnottheyears]

Hi, I've not been on awhile but I've been reading various posts about jackets. I'm a big fan of Wested and to date have had seven Indy jackets, one X-Men jacket and one War of the Worlds jacket from them. I find their customer service second to none.

I'm about to get fitted for a Wested Hero jacket - I'm thinking crispe lambskin as they say it's the most SA replica. Anyone have any opinions on that because I don't want to choose poorly!

Also, has anyone ever noticed / commented that US Wings put their zips on the opposite side of their jackets? I think it's a USA thing. I almost bought one of their Urban Adventurer jackets (I am a jacket freak!) until I noticed the zip thing. The zip pull on their jackets is on the right hand side instead of the UK left. It might seem a small thing but it really throws yo when trying to do the jacket up.

I always thought a zip on the right hand side was a female thing...

[Indiana Jeff]

Yes, the zipper pull is a US vs the world type item. In the US most men's jackets have the pull on the right-hand side.

Beyond that, please keep questions about the Wested Hero jackets and leather choices in one of the Wested threads so this one can stay on point with Flightjacket discussion.


Regards,


Indiana Jeff

[CM]

Are there any photos of one of these by a COW member?

[davyjones007]

I have never seen anyone post FJ's Indy jacket. I have one HH A-2 from them and had a goat A-2 from them. The leather on both is was very nice. The goat felt a little stretchy but very soft. No break in needed on either one.