BYSON LEATHER

Please read this.

Prices for Irvin work (and to a lesser extent that on other vintage flying kit) are a guide. These garments are getting on for 80 odd years old in some cases and working on them can be a minefield. When you send an Irvin jacket (or any other vintage flying kit) to us, PLEASE don't cram it in a bag. Place it in a box, as flat and unfolded as possible -they really can be that delicate. On receipt we will go over it and send you an ESTIMATE detailing the work we consider necessary. Sometimes you may be able to "cherry pick" from this but sadly for some jackets, when we say "necessary" we mean it.
We have tried to provide this estimate service at no charge but for Irvins and some others we have to charge for time. A recent jacket took us well over an hour and a half to go over.

We would rather not alter wartime jackets. We will (and can) however alter modern reproductions within reason. As always it is easier to make them a little smaller rather than a little larger. Although we CAN make them a bit larger, matching the hide for inserts is not always possible. We can't alter them blind however and a visit will almost certainly be necessary. A good opportunity to visit the IWM at Duxford.

The price guide is not exhaustive, it just covers the more common repairs on the more usual garments.

Prices WEF Jan 1 2022

IRVIN					A2
Mould treatment			£12.80
Front zip	fit		£56.10		Cuffs	fit pr	£32.40
Sleeve zip	fit		£56.10		Cuffs	Supply	£27.70
Riri zip	long		£29.90		Cuff & waistband set	Supply	£55.50
Byson "DOT" front zip			£64.20		Cuff & waistband set	Fit	£64.80
DOT arm zip			£80.90		Waistband	Supply	£27.70
Riri zip	short		£15.00		Waistband	fit	£32.40
With Byson "DOT" puller			£32.10		Clean & condition	light	£37.40
YKK zip			£15.00		Clean & condition	heavy	£62.20
New banding	per inch		£2.40		Fit zips		£56.00
Hand stitch old banding per side			£1.20		Talon M39 (triple marked)		£112.10
Seams under banding	"		£1.00		Talon zip M-42		£69.60
"Fluff transplant"	for hole	from	£8.80
Shorten cuffs with zips	<2"		£60.70		Collar	fit	£24.90
Shorten cuffs with zips	>2"		£109.30		Hook & eye		£6.20
Re-make collar			£64.20		Re-line in cotton		£174.10
Wartime Lightning zip (front)			£112.10		Re-0line with customer provided fabric		£145.60
Wartime DOT zip dt			£138.70		Repair patch pocket		£24.90
Wartime DOT zip st			£121.40
Neck strap			£12.80		G-1
D rings & strap			£15.00		Fit zips		£55.90
Area of stitching			£6.30	min	Cuffs	supply	£27.70
Mend & Patch			£12.80	min	Cuffs	fit	£24.80
Repair half belt			£12.80	(each side)	Waistband	supply	£27.70
Make half belt			£62.30	Complete - buckle	Waistband double	fit	£37.30
Belt loop (make & fit)			£15.00		Waistband single	fit	£48.10
Zip puller (make & fit)			£8.80		Collar	supply	£12.80
Hanging loop			£10.10		Collar	fit	£53.50
Hanging chain			£12.80		Conmar zip, Aluninium
Anti-fungal treatment			£37.50		Conmar zip, brass, "safety pin" puller		£79.60
Clean & condition	light		£49.80
Clean & condition	heavy from		£62.30		G3
Clean to work			£12.80		Make side strap	per half	£12.80
Condition only			£18.80		Buckle		£12.80
Extend sleeve where cut down			£42.80	(each side)
Restore cuffs (ea)			£26.70		D1
Shorten sleeves without moving zip			£60.90		Make collar		£53.50
Shorten sleeves moving zip			£117.70
Restore waist			£107.00		M422a
Rivets			£6.40		Waistband	fit	£64.20
B3					MA1
Replace straps			£12.80	Each.	Knit collar		poa
Replace cuffs			£60.00
Replace collar (fit only)			£80.00

And this...

Single layer waistband knits in US jackets are MUCH harder (and therefore more expensive) to fit than single layer ones. Hence the price differential.

Original zips can be HORRIBLY expensive. A nice, working DOT zip can go for well over £100 on a well-known Internet Auction site - the DOT zips tend to be much more fragile than the stronger Lightning type. The zips we quote above for US jackets are new old stock. They are getting harder to find & are going up in price. And we can't get them in the UK so prices are subject to the vagaries of the exchange rate and HMRC. We can however source reasonable reproduction zips.

A couple of times we have been asked to re-line reproduction USAAF flying jackets which are lined with an"escape and evasion" map. It is pretty much impossible to source this fabric now so we have had to fit a plain lining (or even sew the old lining to a new one) Having done a bit of research into this it is now possible to offer an alternative. To order we can fit a lining with a custom map printed. This will be a modern map in most cases, but you can choose exactly what area you would like to have on it and what scale you would like.. This is NOT a cheap option (the map would cost us in the region of £50) but will be printed to a very high standard and be cartographically correct.

I have said this elsewhere on this site but I can't over emphasize that we carry out functional REPAIRS. We don't do museum quality restoration, which is a very different thing and not something we feel we are qualified to do.

The RiRi zips we use as replacements are made to our order and are a good match in colour and size for the originals, but we order relatively short runs so even they are expensive. They are however of very high quality and if I were going to actually WEAR a wartime Irvin fitted with DOT suspect I would take the DOT zips out & replace them with the RiRis. Then keep the DOTs in a safe & mothproof place. And on the subject of WEARING wartime Irvin or similar jackets, many of them, unless very well stored, will NEVER be good for every day wear - They are getting just too fragile. We can stabilize them to a certain extent but if they are worn they should be worn rarely and with GREAT care and very much at your own risk. Having said which we occasionally see specimens that look and feel as if they were just issued so it IS possible to find a wearer out there, but don't expect it to be cheap.

Payment: We cannot accept credit or debit cards as the card providers charge us for the privilege and we are not allowed to pass that charge on to the VERY small number of clients who wish to pay in that way. We COULD raise all our prices to cover the eventuality that a vanishingly small number of our customers want to pay by card but we have decide simply to cease taking card payment. We can accept cheques made out to JP or GJ Warr, cash, postal orders or direct payment to our bank (details on request). We can also take payment by Pay Pal (again, details on request) BUT PLEASE can you ensure that we receive the invoiced sum. Direct transfer (details are on your invoice) is probably your best option if you are not visiting us.

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