IHJ-96-OLV - 10.5oz Chino Tanker Jacket - Olive
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A good resource on the history of the tanker jacket:
https://olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_clothing_combat_ww2_jacket_combat_winter.php
Bomber jacket is more of a generic (occasionally misused) term. The original bomber jacket was actually the B-3:
What you may be thinking of is the MA-1 flight jacket:
The key differences between this and the tanker is the zipper pocket high on the arm, the buttoned pockets (originally with flaps) and the fact that the MA-1 is normally made of nylon or some other water resistant synthetic. They were a more recent development than the tanker jacket.
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that's a very interesting source, thank you @neph93 !
after all the tanker jacket really seems to be 'a highly satisfactory item' (as Maj. Gen. White put it), making me looking forward to the IH version.
and you were right, regarding the bomber jacket I was more thinking of the MA-1, which must have been also what Haraki san had in mind when he created the upcoming.
this forum is so educational …
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regarding the bomber jacket I was more thinking of the MA-1, which must have been also what Haraki san had in mind when he created the upcoming.
Haraki-san’s tanker has been done in a number of different versions, all have the same design as this one, in terms of collar, cuffs, pockets and cut, but they have been done in different colours and with and without lining. This one just happens to be green. The black blanket lined version from a few years ago, with brown waist, cuffs and collar was a beauty. To my knowledge he has never done an MA-1.
Great tune btw
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FWIW, I believe the deciding difference in Bomber vs Tanker is the collar:
Tanker is a stand up collar - Bombers either have a flat ribbed collar or fold over collar. I'm totally guessing, but I take a bomber has no stand up collar so it would fit a flight helmet comfortably, while a tanker artillery soldier would have a top crown helmet, not infringing on a stand up collar.
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That may well be the case… makes sense to me.
Based in what I’ve been reading, the interesting thing is that what we now call a “bomber” is actually a flight jacket. Whereas the OG bomber jackets were necessarily much heavier as the bombers during WWII were sitting in rickety air fortresses that went quite slowly at much higher altitudes.
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