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Repro M1937 wool shirts and trousers?


rjhyden
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Try WWII Impressions and At The Front.

 

They both make excellent reproduction. I personally own the ATF wool set and they're excellent.

 

Keep in mind the wool sets tend to be pricy as the wwii quality wool needs to be custom made and cost is high but you will be satisfied with the set.

 

Leonardo

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Thanks Leo, I actually have a wool set in the cart at ATF , but I`m somewhat unsure about the color , apparently they have changed the pants color recently. I Like ATF though. Look at what they have and let me know what ya think.

RJH

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What sizes do you require??

 

If its a standard size I would buy the real ones.Many times its cheaper and they are not real hard to find.I passed up 20 pairs of trousers on sunday at a small show.Had no use for them.All were 34 waist size.

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yes well just about everything I see in original is 28-30. I`m 33, which is a bit more normal these days. Lot of those guys weighed 120 pounds. I`m 180.

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Go with WWII Impressions for trousers and shirt. Their stuff is incredible, I have both the trousers and shirt, absolutely love them. I use the Ike jacket from ATF, top flight stuff, excellent quality. Both guys are great to deal with and with a broad selection of sizes...avoid eBay for this stuff as you may never find the size you need. Do not try to use original stuff as they will only get ruined. I can relate to size as I am 210lb at six feet...I am not the skinny lot they were in the 40's.

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You are probably right about WW2 Impressions wools. I ordered a shirt and pants from ATF and the shirt looks good , but is very similar to the sanforized stuff we used to wear in the Boy Scouts, mid 60`s. The pants look and feel great but jeeze the size is way small for how it is marked. Will exchange the pants if I can figure what size to exchange them for and go with WW2 Impressions shirt, whch is not too out of line pricewise with ATF. WW2 Impressions pants are like GOLD in price, they must be worth it. Anyone have any experience with WPG wools?

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As a blanket rule I stay away from WPG. The qualify of all of his items have steadily declined since moving his operation to the middle east.

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Mack-the-Finger

I own & regularly wear a wool officer's regulation shirt from ATF & a wool EM shirt from WWIIimp, both are simply outstanding under any possible mean; since I've got originals of the very same size, I can say from the comparison they're simply spot-on, no reasonable improvement needed. I must say, even so, that the ATF one seems to come from an older run, as a matter of fact when I've purchased another one I've found it decisively different, thinner & less comfortable than the previous one, more similar to other reproductions from China I've yet seen time before. Being not expert in the field, I'm not in the position to state the actual correctness of the latter.

As for WPG, which I keep in high regard, I've always found positively helpful a close reading of the reviews from other buyers, because the sizing matter is really critical in this case -just compare the "M-41" field jacket from WPG with others of the same size & you'll get the picture straight; sometimes buying from WPG can be rather confusing. As for the quality of wool, all I can say is that all the wool garments I've bought from them are excellent & correct, although I can only mention the M1916 OD Pull-Over Shirt in regard of this particular topic; in my case, the quality of wool is simply outstanding -again, I own an original one from about the same size- only the tailoring is slightly different, I cannot explain it well, but the difference is really slight. I wear it and hand-wash it regularly and it's just right as new; like almost any other wool garment of WPG, it's made in Pakistan.

For any one may be concerned, their wool socks: They Do Shrink, decisively. Like army's real ones, no more no less; as I was in the italian military in 1992, they still recommended us to get army issue wool socks a size larger, or else buy our owns; same I do when I buy from WPG, unless they're british/indian items (in this case, shrinking is minimal). As I've said, one must pay a bit of attention about sizing, buying from them.

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I own & regularly wear a wool officer's regulation shirt from ATF & a wool EM shirt from WWIIimp, both are simply outstanding under any possible mean; since I've got originals of the very same size, I can say from the comparison they're simply spot-on, no reasonable improvement needed. I must say, even so, that the ATF one seems to come from an older run, as a matter of fact when I've purchased another one I've found it decisively different, thinner & less comfortable than the previous one, more similar to other reproductions from China I've yet seen time before. Being not expert in the field, I'm not in the position to state the actual correctness of the latter.

As for WPG, which I keep in high regard, I've always found positively helpful a close reading of the reviews from other buyers, because the sizing matter is really critical in this case -just compare the "M-41" field jacket from WPG with others of the same size & you'll get the picture straight; sometimes buying from WPG can be rather confusing. As for the quality of wool, all I can say is that all the wool garments I've bought from them are excellent & correct, although I can only mention the M1916 OD Pull-Over Shirt in regard of this particular topic; in my case, the quality of wool is simply outstanding -again, I own an original one from about the same size- only the tailoring is slightly different, I cannot explain it well, but the difference is really slight. I wear it and hand-wash it regularly and it's just right as new; like almost any other wool garment of WPG, it's made in Pakistan.

For any one may be concerned, their wool socks: They Do Shrink, decisively. Like army's real ones, no more no less; as I was in the italian military in 1992, they still recommended us to get army issue wool socks a size larger, or else buy our owns; same I do when I buy from WPG, unless they're british/indian items (in this case, shrinking is minimal). As I've said, one must pay a bit of attention about sizing, buying from them.

Mack , If you could get a load of this "wool" shirt from ATF, you would say, where`s the wool? Looks like OD khaki to me. I have an original M1937 , also , and it looks like wool, feels like wool, must WOOL , huh? But the ATF "looks" ok as long as you don`t "look" too close. I have`nt bougt the ww2 impressions all wool M1937 shirt yet, but it is not much higher in price and promised to be all wool, i have a feeling it is finally going to be the one. I wear 17x34, that`s why I`nm buying repro anyway.

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Mack-the-Finger

Yup, as I've said, I went enthusiast about the first shirt from ATF I've bought, but after a while, as I've ordered another one for spare, I've got the unpleasant surprise of finding it totally different. It's still wool, not definitely cotton nor any other fabric else, but it's tougher, sensibly thinner and the best word to define it is surely "felt": actual wool becomes that way after a lot of use & improper washing an' drying methods; so I went into thinking that the first one was from a previous, best quality run; for the current production, I obviously cannot speak.

As for the WWIIimp's one, I took the chance of an Halloween sale a couple of years ago and believe me, it's exactly the way it has to be, comparison made, plus it's a damn comfortable one. Can't speak for WPG, which I trust anyway, but it seems reasonably unlikely a better result than the WWIIimp repro.

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I picked up a set of wools from WPG a few months back when they had their sale. Major disappointment is all I can say. The material did not feel nor look like wool and the colors were WAY off. I have quite a few original shirts andpants and the shirt did not match anything I have in my collection. The pants could maybe pass for the late war trousers but only at first glance. They are so bad I have not even unpackaged them.

 

I really would like to get the WWII impressions wools but they are a tad out of my price range atm. Juan keeps checking in to see if I am still interested via e-mail (I am) which is very nice to see from a company (great customer service). So right now I am settling for the ATF ones. They have a whole uniform package (shirt, trousers, belt and garrison cap) atm for the same price as WWIIimps trousers alone. Hard to spend the money when you only wear them 4 days a year.

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I picked up a set of wools from WPG a few months back when they had their sale. Major disappointment is all I can say. The material did not feel nor look like wool and the colors were WAY off. I have quite a few original shirts andpants and the shirt did not match anything I have in my collection. The pants could maybe pass for the late war trousers but only at first glance. They are so bad I have not even unpackaged them.

 

I really would like to get the WWII impressions wools but they are a tad out of my price range atm. Juan keeps checking in to see if I am still interested via e-mail (I am) which is very nice to see from a company (great customer service). So right now I am settling for the ATF ones. They have a whole uniform package (shirt, trousers, belt and garrison cap) atm for the same price as WWIIimps trousers alone. Hard to spend the money when you only wear them 4 days a year.

 

 

Yes, I like Juan, too, have only done a little with him, but the wool stuff looks it might be great great, I think I`ll settle, like you, with ATF, for now, but just out of desire to be as authentic as possible and considering i`m not 128 pounds with a 29 inch waist, I`ll try to put a little by and get some WW2 Impressions unis. Thanks for the reply, looks like WPG is the main loser here. I can`t imagine there are so many sucker reenactors that sooner or later they wouldn`t run out of sales.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The wools from At the Front arrived. It was a complete uniform including the M1937 wool pants and shirt plus a belt and garrison cap with blue piping.

 

The shirt and pants definitely have a much thinner feel when compared to originals and are much smoother in texture. The shirt is close but not the exact same color as my originals but is passable unlike the WPG shirt.

 

The pants were a different issue for me. I chose my size based on the size of my Levi's. Not a good choice. I wear a 38 blue jean and they fall off me. So I was really surprised when the 38 wool pants barely fit me. I ended up sending them back and am getting another pair a few sizes larger and will just have them tailored down as well. As for the color they looked good from what I remember of them.

 

The belt looked good with a nice greenish OD3 and the garrison cap was not exactly the style I was expecting but is consistant with originals in cut. The fit is spot on if not just a tad large. The piping is a wee bit on the small size but all my originals have probably been ironed to within an inch of their life during the past half century which possibly flattened out the piping, making it seem larger.

 

Will post pics once I get the pants back.

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The wools from At the Front arrived. It was a complete uniform including the M1937 wool pants and shirt plus a belt and garrison cap with blue piping.

 

The shirt and pants definitely have a much thinner feel when compared to originals and are much smoother in texture. The shirt is close but not the exact same color as my originals but is passable unlike the WPG shirt.

 

The pants were a different issue for me. I chose my size based on the size of my Levi's. Not a good choice. I wear a 38 blue jean and they fall off me. So I was really surprised when the 38 wool pants barely fit me. I ended up sending them back and am getting another pair a few sizes larger and will just have them tailored down as well. As for the color they looked good from what I remember of them.

 

The belt looked good with a nice greenish OD3 and the garrison cap was not exactly the style I was expecting but is consistant with originals in cut. The fit is spot on if not just a tad large. The piping is a wee bit on the small size but all my originals have probably been ironed to within an inch of their life during the past half century which possibly flattened out the piping, making it seem larger.

 

Will post pics once I get the pants back.

 

I got my pants in a couple weeks ago and I, too, sent back to exchange for a larger size , this time I erred the other way, but I1m having them tailored to fit. The shirt is growing on me, but I may yet go for a ww2 impressions 100% wool shirt without the flap. I have a great orginal with a ruptured duck, machine sewn to the chest. It fits in all but the neck , but I`m just not going to mess with that patch. I got the garrison PX cap too, I like it ok, don`t have much experience with it.

My kit is fairly complete now. I don`t think we are going to be doing the haversack, but I`m playing with one anyway to learn and for fun. I`ll do a series of pics too, when all ready. I have a `43 etool , but wow it is a tight fit behind that meat can pouch. I don`t like the dark color cover much, but it was pointed out to me that in the fall of `44 that was common. A dark od cover on a m-1928 od 3 haversack. The 90th iD in Normandy `44, note the contrast:

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Raygoon Gasbar

I have owned wools from the "big" 3.....WW2 Imp, ATF, and WPG. The order I listed them is the order I would rank them as well. Each have there plus's, and each have there minus's. The WW2 Imp are the most accurate in look, feel, durability and weight, but have always been a little "snug" for the marked size around my.............ahem............round frame LOL. Plus a little more than the others $$ wise. ATF's are pretty good, and a little roomier. WPG's looked ok, felt ok, and the shirts are better than the trousers. I found the trousers to be WAY to baggy, and not very durable.

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90thDivHistory

I love to see my research used to determine what was and what was not used. I still believe that the film footage of WWII is the most under used resource from the era and has been virtually untapped in its use to confirm the way it really was. Wether it is locations, uniforms and equipment, or markings, being used to prove or disprove something, I really enjoy reading the posts or being contacted by the various researchers about their discoveries.

 

Keep it up all, there is still a lifetime of learning to do.

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I love to see my research used to determine what was and what was not used. I still believe that the film footage of WWII is the most under used resource from the era and has been virtually untapped in its use to confirm the way it really was. Wether it is locations, uniforms and equipment, or markings, being used to prove or disprove something, I really enjoy reading the posts or being contacted by the various researchers about their discoveries.

 

Keep it up all, there is still a lifetime of learning to do.

 

I`m glad I used that clip! Thanks for the reply, I have so enjoyed what I`ve seen so far.

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