Club Obi Wan

Heyo,

I’ve been lurking around here for a bit, reading pretty much all the posts in every forum, and have finally decided to get around to acquiring some gear. Now, I’m very much in the “close enough” camp when it comes to Indy gear, and most of my stuff reflects that; I like to bring my own style to the table, so that I don’t feel like I’m just wearing a costume. I’m not looking for a whip or gunbelt/holster, for example, but rather practical everyday Indy-wear.

My first piece of equipment was the MKVII satchel and oiled leather strap from Indy Magnoli that I ordered a couple of weeks ago; this is very nice indeed, and I routinely wear it around town and university. Earlier this week I bought four cheap, original MKVII bags from a guy here in NZ who was selling them purely as militaria, and who was a little confused as to why I wanted so many of that particular model. He sold one of them to me much cheaper than the others because it didn’t have a strap - naturally I didn’t complain!

For the shirts I went to my local op shop (thrift shop) and for NZ$22 (which is practically nothing) picked up six assorted long-sleeved, collared, button-down shirts in a variety of materials and colours (tan, khaki, stone, and sand), each one of which I believe plays the part rather nicely. I’m quite fond of the linen Eddie Bauer shirt, as it just has the rough feel of something a classic adventurer might wear. The other good thing is that I’m able to wear the shirts in a rotation and always have that adventurer look/feel, without getting strange looks from people thinking I’m wearing the same thing every day.

The pants and shoes I’m not bothered with; I always wear black dress pants and black dress shoes in urban settings, and have good hiking boots for my offroad travels; this will remain unchanged (famous last words).

As for the jacket, I’d spent a long time reading through the forums and doing research: trying to figure out which jacket I wanted, which material, which manufacturer, even what size I am supposed to be. I’m aware of how picky some people around here can be, so it might cause some to recoil in horror knowing that my previous “close enough” lambskin jacket had buttons instead of a zip, side-entry pockets only (no cargo pockets, no flaps), no side straps, no pleats - but was otherwise exactly like the movie jacket.

Up until a couple of days ago I’d managed to persuade myself to stop mucking around and pick up an off-the-rack Wested in goat, but then I realised that it would just be easier to break into Indy Magnoli’s house and steal his old 40R G&B goatskin Expedition, so I did that instead (alternatively, I bought it from him through the Cairo Bazaar, but if it’s fact you’re interested in, Dr. Jones’ archaeology class is right down the hall).

Now I have an Expedition circa 2001, which has been very nicely Magnoli-Distressed™, and which I think should satisfy me for the foreseeable future; it fits as if I’d ordered it personally using my own measurements. That’s right, just like everybody else, I’m never going to buy another Indy jacket…

>.>

<.<

Never!

Maybe a Wested denim.

Now, about a fedora... I know I probably won’t wear one all that much, but I still feel the need to have one just in case. Is this wrong?

And yes, I know the general consensus is that threads, sans illustration, lack value, but I’ll try getting some photos up in the near future.

Welcome aboard, Weston Freeman.
Welcome to the madness, as they say...

Always good to see a fellow Australasian. (I hope that term doesn't offend you Kiwis)

Who's the guy you bought the MkVIIs off? Good condition?

You say you won't buy another jacket?
It's too late- the idea to buy another one is already there... if you hang along here long enough that idea will grow... nah, just kidding, but seriously it is tempting!

Welcome aboard! Nothing wrong with adding your own style into the mix or with the idea of close enough gear. Enjoy the ride!

Neolithic wrote:Always good to see a fellow Australasian. (I hope that term doesn't offend you Kiwis)

Australasian is fine; Australian, well, them's fightin' words.

Neolithic wrote:Who's the guy you bought the MkVIIs off? Good condition?

I got them from a guy named John Newsham. He also offered me a couple of cheap S6 bags from the 1970s, but I think that's straying a little too far in wrong direction. I finally had time to give the ones I bought a closer look this morning, and it turns out that one is actually a MKVI, which is neat.

They're in good condition structurally, and all the right colour, but they'll certainly need to be cleaned; most of them have names written on them, amongst other assorted stains. One of the bags came with an anti-dimming canister, and oil and rust from that has wreaked havoc with the back of the bag itself.

The divider for the large compartment has been cut out in all of the bags (some cleanly, some pretty roughly), but that's more convenient for me anyway; ironically, I can't bring myself to damage or alter my Magnoli reproduction, but I'd have had no problem doing that to the originals!

That aside, with a little work removing the names of the previous owners (sacrilege to some, I know) I'll have some very nice Indy bags; they already look the part otherwise.

Neolithic wrote:You say you won't buy another jacket?
It's too late- the idea to buy another one is already there... if you hang along here long enough that idea will grow... nah, just kidding, but seriously it is tempting!

I think spending too much is liable to incur the wrath of the goddess; I'll possibly end up sealed into a crate and stored in a warehouse myself.

I already have a somewhat dressy jacket (my old one), and an adventuring jacket (Magnoli's old Expedition), but I guess I could go for one of the denim jackets to fill that particular niche. Of course, this is how the snowball always starts, isn't it?

Welcome on board Weston Freeman
Mixing up the "gear" with your personal style was also my aim, as you already said, wearing a costume every day is something different.
As for the jacket... ...lets see what time will bring

welcome on board! you really have come to the right place

so you got the G&B jacket from Tony..he talked about some guy from new Zeeland buying it not long ago.congrats.I have seen that jacket,it's really nice! wear it with pride.

hopefully we will se some pictures of your gear so far.

anyways nice to see you on the

best
Holt

Welcome to COW! You sure have come to the right place. Would love to see some pics of your Jacket, when you can.

Cheers!

Dan

Welcome, and may I say, good name.

Weston

Weston wrote:Welcome, and may I say, good name.

Much thanks to everybody for the warm welcome; of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from you folk.

Indiana Holt wrote:so you got the G&B jacket from Tony..he talked about some guy from new Zeeland buying it not long ago.congrats.I have seen that jacket,it's really nice! wear it with pride.

Ha! I certainly intend to. While the jacket is already as broken in as I think it's going to get, I decided to take the sleep-in method and wore it to bed; I don't think I've had a better sleep in a long time.

As for my MKVII bags, seems that two of them are mostly okay and should clean up fine with a bit of effort, but one is pretty heavily inscribed with what appears to be permanent marker, as is the MKVI to a lesser degree (the MKVI is my current test subject for cleaning methods; I don't mind if something bad happens to that one in the name of science). I couldn't find anything in the archives about dealing with this particular kind of stain issue; is there any easy way to remove these kinds of marks?

I've run all four bags through an Oxi Magic soaking and thrown them in the washing machine (the bags came through unscathed, fortunately), which has cleaned off the dirt and gotten rid of the smell, but these pen marks need seeing to. Bleach seems to lighten the fabric, but not really do much to these marks; maybe with some effort and time I can bleach those parts completely white and re-dye them if need be.

As for photos of the jacket, my camera currently needs its batteries recharged, but I'll try to get that sorted and get some pictures up tomorrow.