Here are some pictures of my Buzz Rickson’s MA-1. I got it at the start of summer, so I haven’t really had a chance to wear it until now.
You can read about the Black MA-1 at History Preservation, or the Buzz Ricksons site.
You can read how William Gibson wrote about the Buzz Rickson’s Black MA-1 before it existed.
…and then you can read the Gibson book “Pattern Recognition”.
Here is a close-up of the nylon oxygen mask flap.
A close-up of the zipper.
In this close-up you can see a peg between the top teeth to stop the zipper.
This picture shows the bunching of the nylon on the inside of the arm.
In Pattern Recognition Gibson talks about the sewing machines not being able to grip the fabric (because nylon was still relatively new) so this was evident in the bunching and skewing of these seams. On my jacket it seems like the bunching/skewing is done on purpose to shape the arms.
A close-up of the front pocket with snap and bar-tack.
The lining, with the inner pocket – which looks the same as the finishing on the outside.
Impressions so far: The jacket is suprisingly heavy and VERY warm. It isn’t like the modern versions you might see. It feels like it contains a double blanket layering between the nylon shell. I think it’s only wearable for days where the maximum temperature is below 19°C.
Thanks to DDML for posting pics of his MA-1 and for sizing advice.
