Good Wear Leather Coat Company: Sale Rough Wear B-3 Flight Jacket

This item has been sold.
Rough Wear Type B-3 Redskin/Seal Mixed-Batch Flight Jacket
Price: $1,550.00 (new condition) — note shipping costs below
Fit: this jacket has a comfortable fit in the correct size
Sheepskins: chrome-tanned with redskin and seal brown finish
Horsehide trim: veg-tanned Italian horsehide with russet finish
Buckles: vintage AAF-sourced iron buckles
Belts: russet cowhide, 4mm veg-tanned
Snaps: vintage United-Carr originals
Thread: mid-brown cotton
Zipper: reproduction nickel M-41 with vintage M-41 Talon slider
Size: 44R

This Rough Wear B-3 was made recently, and was an unintended production. We had cut a jacket for a customer, but noted that he wanted a bit more grain in the sheepskin, so we cut a second one, and that second one had more grain than the first. The customer has the grainier model, but the first jacket was worthy of being sewn up as well, so this is the same jacket in his size.

We color the skins ourselves, and as was common with Rough Wear B-3s of this contract (W535-AC-17756), the skins could have either seal or redskin finishes. Why is this? We believe (without documented proof) that several tanneries were providing the skins, and there were several contracts commissioned during a brief period when the finishing method was altered from redskin to pigmented seal brown. The contractors would receive batches of hides from each tannery, some having earlier redskin finishing, while a second or third tannery would have seal. It would make sense to have three tanneries supplying hides as B-3s are made with 3/4" pile in the body and collar, 1/2" in the sleeves, and 1/4" in the wind flap and cuffs. If each tannery only worked one thickness of pile, no mistakes would be made in the exact amounts needed to complete a contract for each level of pile. We may be wrong in this thinking, but large productions with complex requirements can be seriously compromised with a single mistake. Having one tannery only tan and cut a certain pile would ensure their whole shipment is done right. And if several tanneries had been supplying redskin first, but then seal, it would make sense if some tanneries lagged in readily switching from one method to another. Rough Wear may have also had many skins from previous contracts.

The result is a wonderful, mismatched set of colors, burnt umber, chestnut, sienna, auburn, and chocolate. These are, in our opinion, the most interesting B-3s which were made for the Army, a haphazard form of beauty. While this jacket has only the lower hem with seal brown, the original we copied had seal brown sleeve panels and one front hem, with the rest redskins of various shades. Other originals from this contract have similar variations. Even the word redskin is awkward, as the coloring seen in originals which have redskin is a wide array of reddish brown colors. Dying sheepskin will have quite a bit of variation dependent on how the skins receive the dye, the intensity of the dye, and other factors.

We took apart our original (in very rough condition) to get as exact a pattern from it as we could. This size 44 is a strict scaling from a size 42 to a 44, and fits comfortably on those who are familiar with size 44 jackets by Good Wear.

The trim is a wonderful grainy russet Italian veg-tanned horsehide. The belts are a heavy 4mm cowhide, the buckles originals from WWII, and the zipper is a reproduction M-41 Talon with vintage M-41 slider with a straight pull tab, which most, but not all, of this contract had. The snaps are vintage United-Carr originals from 1943 (identical to those used in 1941).

While the customer got the jacket with more grain, this one will develop wonderful grain as well, as the skins are stressed from regular use. This is what most B-3s would have looked like new, but over a short time, the creasing and grain become pronounced with these American hides.

The weather is getting cold, and this heavy B-3 will keep you toasty and look sharp at the same time. Just like airmen did during the war.

The jacket would ideally fit someone in the range of 5'11" to 6'2", with a chest of 41" to 43", and a weight of about 180-205 pounds.