ATF "Summer" M1941 Jacket "Review"

[stealthytyler]

I just received my brand new At The Front Summer M1941 Jacket. These were just imported from China in August 2015. Here are some thoughts (pre-washed).

 

Why I was attracted to this jacket:

 

I was attracted to this jacket for a few reasons. The price is great at $83.58 shipped, my skin hates wool and I live in a warm climate. I do not reenact so i don't care that the lining is cotton. I wanted something to put on my mannequin display and wear occasionally on cool days. It looks great with jeans!

 

Sizing:

 

The ATF website describes this jacket as having extra material so that way when you wash it, it will shrink to size. I ordered the medium size (36-40). My chest measures 38.5 inches and I am 6'2'' tall. I have not washed this jacket yet but the chest is perfect, the torso length is perfect sitting right at my belt but the arms are HUGE and long. The sleeves go all the way down to my mid fingers. I am a little worried about washing this jacket because ATF states that it will shrink 1.5 - 2 inches. The arms will probably be perfect but I will almost be wearing a belly shirt! I am yet to wash it so I will update this post later.

 

Sleeves from seam to seam pre-washed: 26''

Collar seam to bottom of jacket: 27.5''

 

ATF states that these will shrink 1.5 to 2 inches and the sleeves will be roughly 25''. If this is true, my jackets sleeves will actually be 24" of 24.5". 1 inch may not seem like a lot but it really is.

 

Material Quality:

 

This being my first ever M1941 jacket (repro or original) I am reluctant to talk about the quality. However, I believe I can judge the overall quality based on my experience wearing clothes my whole life haha. The jacket seems to be pretty solid. The material seems to be of good quality. I do not feel like this jacket will break down that fast overtime but I do not think it will last a lifetime (given that I wear it daily...which I will not). The stitching seems to be pretty solid and even across the whole jacket. I do feel like the buttons could have been stitched on a little more solid. They are not going to just fall off but I feel like I could snap them off with a good tug.

 

Attention to Detail

 

Again, this is a solid jacket. Overall, it looks very nice. When you give it a critical eye, things do pop out at you and given how much OCD you have, it may or may not drive you crazy. There are 5 main build issues with my jacket.

 

1- The most obvious is that there was a button missing from the bottom of the jacket on the backside. Easy fix... I know... but that was sort of irritating.

 

2- The zipper teeth material is uneven on the jacket. See photo below...

 

3- The stitching around the left lapel made the material bunch up around the split in the lapel. This creates a collapsed look unlike the right side.

 

4- The tag will not lay flat ... at all! It scratches the back of your neck and the best fix for this is to just cut it off.

 

5- The button on the back side of the cuff is so far away that if I wanted to tighten my cuff, it is way too tight. The only way to tighten the cuff comfortably, is to bring the tag the opposite way to attach to the button. Hope that makes sense!?

 

False Advertising

 

There are 2 main things with this jacket that are not as described by the ATF website.

 

Color:

While researching companies to buy my first reproduction M1941 jacket, I took into account the color of the jacket. Some companies make them "khaki" (sportsmans guide) and others make them pea green (WPG). Both of these colors are not attractive to me. I wanted to find a nice neutral Olive Drab #3. The ATF jackets on the website look pretty good to me as far as color goes. Well, when I opened the package, the color was not even close. See photo comparison below. I would judge the color of my jacket as a "light brown" or "dark khaki" with maybe a slight tint of OD#3. The buttons are pretty much the same color but slightly darker. I suggest that ATF updates their photos that correctly represent the color of their product.

 

Zipper:

The website states, and I quote, "The Summer M41's are identical to our regular M1941 Field Jackets except that they are lined with cotton fabric instead of wool." The regular M1941 jackets use TALON zippers. The Summer M1941 jacket that I received came with some generic no-name zipper instead of a Talon zipper. See photo below.

 

Summary

 

Besides the flaws that I have mentioned, I am overall happy with this jacket. I have reached out to customer service regarding the missing button. I hope they send me a replacement so I can put it on myself. Once that happens, I will them wash the jacket in cold water to hang dry (as stated on the tag). I will update this post on how much it shrinks and HOPEFULLY it does not become a belly shirt on my tall 6'2'' body! Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I hope it helps your decision on wether or not to buy the Summer M1941 from ATF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stealthytyler]

Bunched up material around the left lapel giving it a collapsed look. Very minor stuff here but worth noting for attention to detail.

 

[stealthytyler]

The zipper is not a TALON zipper as promised by ATF. The zipper teeth material is uneven on both sizes. This does not affect functionality of the zipper.

 

[stealthytyler]

Missing button with two small white marks where it should be.

 

[stealthytyler]

Back of jacket

 

[stealthytyler]

The color is not even close compared to the advertisement photo on the ATF website.

 

[WW2JAKE]

in all honesty thats not even just camera tricks or something theres quite a few differences between the 2

[stealthytyler]

in all honesty thats not even just camera tricks or something theres quite a few differences between the 2

 

Yeah, look at the size of the tag on their jacket compared to mine. Also, look at how much further below the jacket my sleeves hang than theirs. Crazy! Again, these are super detailed observations but worth mentioning! At the end of the day, you are purchasing the product they represent on the website.

[stealthytyler]

Forgot to mention how low the shoulder seam is compared to the shoulder seam on the jacket in the ATF photo. I wonder if their jacket photographed was pre or post-shrunk?

[Crackiswhack140]

they changed the pattern and color this year. they went from not-correct OD3 to correct OD2. they also increased the sleeve length. the tag is meant to be torn off immediately. the button thread on mine from last year was super loose and I dropped a few buttons. but that's why needles and thread were invented. also there's a huge difference in color perception depending on light conditions and your monitor. http://www.90thidpg.us/Equipment/Articles/ColorPrimer/index.html -article on how color changed depending on light

[doyler]

....and above all its a REPRODUCTION and will never be like an original.

 

ATF and WW2 Impressions strive to bring the best product out that can be had

 

Roland bought a set of camo coveralls from me and they were used for the basis and copied for production.Speaking to him face to face and candidly you cant imagine the production problems he encounters trying to keep the details as authentic as possible.He has made endless trips and visits to the factories and manufacturers to keep the standards as high as possible but you have to keep in mind who's manufacturing them.

 

The one conversation stood out the most....The chinese making these have a different spin on the production.Make as many as you can.The more you make the cheaper they are and the more you can sel to increase profit.The concept to them is quantity over quality.

 

Im not a reenactor but found the process of the business intresting.Speaking of zippers he recited one story on a early run of jackets.The order called for talons marked zips but the manufacturer used another as they "were cheaper" and looked the same.Recall he went over and straightened this out in person.

[Garandomatic]

I've read that the sleeves were strangely long on originals. My original shows a good bit of field use. Removed epaulets, no adjustment straps, etc., and it has had the cuffs folded back and sewn. When I fold back those on my ATF winter jacket in the same manner, they are about comfortable. I just haven't washed my original yet because I want to avoid shrinkage if possible.

[BOLO]

I saw a repro at the swap meet and the material felt like a lightweight poplin material, these are very light jackets, almost like a wind breaker

 

I prefer the Tanker jacket like the one Clint Eastwood wore in Kelly's Heroes with knit cuffs & waist, this style would make a nice casual jacket for wearing with jeans.

[mpguy80/08]

I have one of ATF's 2009 run M1941s before they started making the "summer" jackets. I've worn it comfortably up to about 70-75 degrees before it became too warm and I had to shuck the jacket. Conversely, a few years back I did a Battle of the Bulge event in Indiana in sub 20 degree weather and a foot and a half of snow. With the M1937 wools, a t shirt, and a five button sweater, the M1941 jacket and it's wool liner kept me fairly warm. Remember, the 41 jacket wasn't meant to be anything more than a light weight combat jacket. In hotter weather the HBT jacket was used, and in colder weather, there were several different cold weather coats to choose from (Melton overcoat, Mackinaw to name two). I've never had an issue with ATF's stuff... and if there was an obvious mistake on their part, they fix it right away such as when my new paratrooper boots lost an eyelet. I contacted them, followed their instructions for the return and they not only set the new eyelet in place, but went over ALL the eyelets to ensure they were installed tightly. I've always received fast service from them. Rollin is always up front, blunt and honest from my experience. If you read his rant pages or even his updates, you'll see that having to use overseas suppliers is a constant nightmare for him. Overall, he gives the best quality product he can produce (for his in house stuff) and takes pains to ensure that he's receiving the best he can from the overseas suppliers.

[riggo66]

Picked one up at Conneaut last year and have the same issue with the loooooong sleeves...any update on the shrinkage attempt?

[svt40]

I too have one of ATFs summer M41s. The color of mine is exactly what they show on their website. A nice OD2.

 

The buttons were rather flimsy and 2 fell off rather quickly. I ended up removing them all and replacing them with originals. I also prefer the brown buttons over the dark green buttons that came on the ATF jacket originally.

 

My only other complaint is the very long sleeves. I've actually toyed with getting them altered to a more useful length but have not done it as of yet.