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dustin
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  • 1 month later...

Yep! Just that!

 

Beutifull! One of the piece on my whish list! I have ever love it... Would be great with my named M450 flight helmet!

 

Thanks for posting!

 

Cheers, Tiger

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The vest is named to a Photographers Mate , he was not a aircrew member but part of a Fleet Camera Party. He served aboard many vessels but most notably the USS Argonne in Pearl on December 7th 1941. His career started in July 1941 through 1948 where the trail runs dead. So between those years he obtained this vest.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Of the whole picture of the MK-I life vest it is unusual to see the 288s prefix. There were only 3 contracts with that prefix all other contracts were NOs prefixes but the 288s is the most common actually! due to the volume that were procured under those contracts. 288s is specifically the Aviation Supply Depot Philadelphia which is the primary body for supply and procurement of the Bureau of Aeronautics. The MK-I life vest is technically not an aeronautical item and does not have a Naval Aeronautical Specification but a Navy Department Specification. All procurement aside from the three ASO purchases procurement was made through the Navy Department purchasing offices hence the NOs prefixes. NOs prefixes pre date the typical NXSX or NXSS etc.. prefixes which were established circa July 1942. The Aviation Supply Office was established in 1941 in which one of the 288s prefixed vests were procured making for one of the very first purchases by this office, the other two in 1942. The last procurements for the MK-I life vest were made in early 1942. By 1943 aeronautical funds were allocated to purchasing B-4 life preservers. On a technical stand point the Navy Dept. Spec. for the MK-I was superseded with the acceptance of specification AN-V-18 but in real world circumstances it's use was discontinued gradually as the B-4 vest became available to service activities making for no specific date. A timeline could be made by using photographic and document evidence. In any scenario when a new item is introduced front line units have priority kicking back the old items to secondary units then eventually there would be ample supply for all activities. By January 1943 the Bureau of aeronautics were using two life preservers as standard, those being the MK-I and Type B-3 life vests. By the spring and summer of 1943 photographs illustrate the mixed use of the MK-I, B-3 and B-4 fairly equally. At the dawn of 1944 the use of the MK-I was phasing out with more prominence of the B-4 and by late 1944 the B-4 dominated the scene. By late 1943 early 1944 significant quantities of the B-4 were being delivered and in turn replacing the MK-I on an issue stand point. IMHO I would not use a MK-I in a display of an aviator circa 1944 and 1945.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Change to the life preservers

Left to right.......1943 contract Navy, AAF contract that was in Navy service, Navy camouflaged life preserver, late war vest configuration.

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WOW,I am speechless, I have never seen a private collection to rival yours. It must have been a labor of love to bring all of the resources together to procure such a complete assortment. I take it you have a very understanding wife.

Thanks for sharing.

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  • 1 month later...

I know that I am late to the party and I have been trying to read past post as much as possible on this site. But when I read this thread , I just have to say, Dustin you have an absolutely outstanding collection of emergency rescue gear.

That was a pleasure and a learning experience all in one thread.

Thank You!

 

Semper Fi

Phil

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Thanks very much Neuron an Phil for the compliments, it has been a labor of love/addiction. The love is for the specific field and addiction ....well takes you to a new level like collecting the B-4/AN6519 by contract both Navy an AAF.

The Land-O-Life Vests

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Dustin,

 

Incredible! Higly professionally displayed and complete (?) collection. I know how hard are such items and complete sets to find today. Your long time work should have been difficult getting good and pertinent informations but it have been paid.

Congratulations!

 

Any parachute?

 

Franck

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Thanks for the kind words Franck. The collection is far from complete. Nope, I do not have parachutes I use to have an array of them but they went when I sold of the bulk of my collection some years ago.

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ohhh there is a list Jerry and as most know when your collection grows your "want" list narrows toward the rare and scarce. 90% of what you see is individual equipment, there is a whole other world of multi person, I will be collecting till I die.

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Hi Dustin!

 

You got right, that was a reson why I sold most of my collection and keep only the best and rare items...

 

But I saw that You scored nice multi person raft kit at Ebay some weeks ago! Cool!

 

Cheers,

Jerry

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  • 4 weeks later...
BlueBookGuy

do not know what to say, I finished just now watching the whole topic with great attention..

presume of course terms like "astounding" " amazing" "speechless" etc. would be know 100,000 times, also on Saturn planet as well? I suppose it needs half one's life devoted to these things, personally I decided to go out of active collecting after about 16-17 years and even so they seemed to be a long period.

My half "squadron" of full-sized pilots, when still all together (now collection is reduced) required to be somehow tightly grouped in a small room, with nylon covers on them to keep dust away to possible. Yours looks like a full garage room, to accept all that tons of material?

 

A "Compliments" as huge as a B-52 is the least I can say... the remaining is all to be seen and enjoyed.

Regards, Franco.

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