Woodard
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Post by Woodard on Aug 1, 2007 19:54:30 GMT -5
A company in England appears to be reproing the M-43 Pile liner. This garment seems to have been popular in Korea, judging from all the pics of guys wearing them in the Shelby Stanton "Uniforms of the Korean War" book. Pretty pricey, but no one over here seems to be making them. Keep in mind that 50 Pound comes out to about $102. www.sofmilitary.co.uk/reenactors/index.asp |
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Post by John Abshire on Aug 2, 2007 7:49:24 GMT -5
Sweet, another way to keep warm on those cold MTA nights...and days it seemed.
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Post by Glen K on Aug 2, 2007 9:00:49 GMT -5
How interesting... it seems there's lot of stuff being reproduced overseas that isn't really making it over here, like those M51 parkas I found. I noticed they had a lot of late WWII original gear that would be perfect for Korea, but they sure seemed pricey. I was also suprised to see how much they wanted for their late WWII/Korea Brit web gear. (which, btw, it's interesting to see they're starting to reproduce THAT stuff too... I honestly never thought I'd see the day.  ) |
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Woodard
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Post by Woodard on Aug 2, 2007 9:30:41 GMT -5
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Post by sdfoster on Aug 2, 2007 10:45:46 GMT -5
Whoa I never thought I'd see that item being repro'd. £50 is about $100, plus who knows how much for postage to the US.
And I sold one of my originals not so long ago for $70! I shouldda known better.
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Post by foxholetom on Aug 2, 2007 15:20:23 GMT -5
From what I've seen, that's a good price considering they're made size 40 and up. Especially for the larger size. VERY cool news.
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Post by sdfoster on Aug 2, 2007 15:42:37 GMT -5
Oh yes, the price is good. Didn't intend to suggest otherwise.
It's the postage that has me concerned. It could easily cost as much to ship it to the US as it does to buy the item itself. These are bulky.
I wish they had detailed pics. I'd like to see a close-up of the interior.
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Woodard
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Post by Woodard on Aug 2, 2007 17:39:26 GMT -5
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ben
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Post by ben on Aug 3, 2007 3:10:49 GMT -5
Excelent find, now if we can find a source for M43 pile caps as well ;D
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Woodard
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Post by Woodard on Aug 3, 2007 6:52:16 GMT -5
postage to Wilmington NC (I suppose this would be about the same for all of us on the East coast) is £16 for one, £25 for two. You're looking at about $135 total.
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Post by foxholetom on Aug 3, 2007 12:42:22 GMT -5
That's still not bad. Sounds like combining shipping is the way to go.
I'm always trolling for them on e-bay for originals, to pass them on to other reenactors. So far I've done that twice. One was neat, it had a nylon lining over the pile. The one I currently own has a stamp on the back that says "Adak Alaska".
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Post by jonprince on Aug 4, 2007 15:45:43 GMT -5
Their new catalogue came out a few weeks ago and I was seriously surprised to see them in there especially considering how little use they got in WW2, will be picking one up though and saving my originals, collar and cuffs look like they may need a litle alteration but the pile looks superb. Bare in mind also that very, very little of what SOF sell in actually manufactured directly for them, they buy in stuff made for other dealers so there there may be a direct sourec for these at a lower price eventually, failing that perhaps contacting someof the US dealers like What price Glory who deal with SOF could yield something. being in the U.K. it makes a change for us to get good stuff first though, normally we end up having to bring it in from overseas and get a huge Customs charge for it!  |
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Post by foxholetom on Aug 4, 2007 18:37:31 GMT -5
Quick funny story about its usage in WW2. A friend of mine was telling me about his great uncle the other week, and how he was first stationed on a base on the high plains, Nebraska, or Montana sometime in 1944. Basically in the middle of nowhere and colder than a witch's teat in the winter. So he's telling me about the field jacket he's wearing in one of the pictures, and how he isn't sure what it is. Sure enough, when I actually see the picture, his great uncle is wearing an M43 liner.
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Post by jonprince on Aug 30, 2007 18:21:50 GMT -5
Finally had the opportunity to have a good look at one of these repro's over the weekend (didn't actually buy one due to being short of cash). Overall I was very impressed, pile lining looks very good, though is somewhat softer and less bulky than originals, outer cotton shell is again good, good colour and weave but again perhaps a little lighter weight than originals. Knit cuffs and collar seems good quality and colour but the cuffs do seem a little long and the collar as I suspected is a full band all the way around ala the old WW2 type winter combat "tankers" jacket and doesn't taper down towards the front, really needs someone with a sewing machien to unpick, alter and reattach it which wouldn't be overally difficult. Overall weight of the garment is I'd say 2/3rds - 3/4's that of the oiginals as materials seem overall lighter weight. Overall I'd give this one a good solid 7 or 8 out of 10, needs a little work but would defintaly be O.K. for reenactment if you want to save your originals, one is definately going on my shopping list for the near future ;D
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Post by sdfoster on Sept 6, 2007 9:46:40 GMT -5
I heard rumor that At The Front is considering making repros of this as well. But who knows if it is true or not.
Thanks for the review!
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Post by JR Smith on Sept 12, 2007 11:00:11 GMT -5
I sold a original to Rollin of At The Front at the Indiantown Gap event last January... He was planning on using mine to base his repro off of... Except he wanted to line the liner with blanket weight wool instead of alpaca!
I wonder who is making these? Hong Kong Keith?
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Post by foxholetom on Sept 12, 2007 11:44:21 GMT -5
Blanket wool? That would be a freaking joke. That literally defeats the whole point of it being a pile liner. Mind you, I'm sure reenactors with low standards would buy it and talk about how authentic it is...*sigh*.
The SoF liner seems like the best thing we're going to get for a while.
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Woodard
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Post by Woodard on Sept 14, 2007 20:49:08 GMT -5
Yea, I can't imagine anyone going through the trouble of making the thing and then farbing out on the liner like that. SOME kind of Grey fuzzyness has to be available, probably cheaper than wool too...
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Post by foxholetom on Sept 14, 2007 23:06:16 GMT -5
Juan Gonzalez of WW2 Impressions has said he can repro them exactly if there is enough interest.
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ben
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Post by ben on Sept 15, 2007 10:15:56 GMT -5
Juan Gonzalez of WW2 Impressions has said he can repro them exactly if there is enough interest. Yes hes said the same to me. The only question is how many orders is "enough interest" and how much will it cost. It'd probably be significantly more than SOF, but Id trust Juan's quality over anyone else's. |
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