Mil-TecClassic US M65 Jacket Olive

Wow. What a pleasant surprise this jacket was. Great quality. Stitching was perfect. All lines perfect. Zipper, buttons and snaps all a quality job. I took the Marine's advice and took it outside to apply an entire can of scotchguard fabric guard to it in a few passes. I was sure to pull the hood out and hit it inside edges and outside entirely as well. The liner was already buttoned in when I received the jacket and it seems a very good quality. A great fitting jacket! I am 6'1 180lbs and the large was a perfect fit with liner in. Plenty of mobility. This will serve me well both at work and in the woods.Update 10/7/19Wore the jacket all night in a steady cold rain jumping in and out of my truck as I worked. Stayed dry as a bone and rather warm without the liner. I was active so that probably helped. The scotchguard may have been the trick! The jacket even dried out rather quickly once I was indoors. I'd say I spent just as much time in the rain as I did out of it and I am glad I was wearing it. It breathed so much better than a traditional rain jacket that I was not sweating in it.

Zipper on wrong side.

This a nice coat with the lining it very warm. A few comparisons I would like to make. First, the feel is not that of the original material. It is much lighter in weight. Secondly, the zipper (on the coat I received) is a left handed zipper usually this is only found on womens' clothing. Also with the zipper, it is about 10 inches shorter than it should be. It starts high at the adams' apple and ends about the naval. It should go all the down to the waist, at least. I feel short changed by this as it allows winds to blow through. The zipper also has a hollow cheap feel. But so far, been wearing regularly about a month, it has held up. I am happy enough with this coat that I will pay to replace the zipper with the appropriate length zipper.

Qualifier: I was in the USN, embarked on ships, and, unlike SeaBees or Corpsman attached to a Marine unit, did not get an M-65. This is my first so I do not have service experience to provide a proper baseline comparison.I wear a large and it fits as I would have expected. Came exactly as presented in Amazon description. I selected it over the other M-65s by other sellers because of the 65%/35% poly/cotton v. 50/50 and other blends. With a bit of Scotchgard (as suggested by other reviewers) I expect it to be even more water repellent than it now is.A couple of style considerations: the collar zipper (it provides access to the attached lightweight hood) is bright brass. I'm sure it will dull a bit as it oxidizes. The outer shell has a sheen to it, no doubt due to the poly part of the fabric blend.Three oddities (refer to pics): the collar has two button holes, the right storm flap has a snap on the inside about 3" down from the top of the zipper, and the right storm flap has a button on the outside with no mate.This jacket was mfg'd in Germany, consequently the zipper has the pull on the >left<, European style, v. on the right US style.Edit 3/4-19 -- I learned the purpose of the 2 extra button holes (plus 2 more I found on the back of the collar) are apparently for attachment of a cold weather hood. The purposes of the extra button and snap I am still clueless.Regardless, I highly recommend both this particular jacket and the seller.Edit 12/20 -- A nit that I have had with the M-65 is the partial length zipper vs. a full length zipper. I understand the design intended to allow a soldier access to equipment on his belt so my nit has little merit. Howumsoever, since I'm not humping a belt loaded with grenades, ammo pouches, canteens, etc., I replaced the partial length European-style zipper with a full length double American-style zipper so that I could open my jacket at the waste without unzipping the entire front. Now, if it only had slash pockets between the liner and the cargo pockets I'd be a totally happy camper. All else said, my previous comments stand.

First glance - pretty good facsimile. Second look - fabric is lighter and different. Third look - shortcuts to make it cheaper: buttons barely sewn on, no-name zipper, seams not straight. Hard to say anything about durability, but the previously bought copy didn't last nearly as long as the original army issue.

I compared this jacket to my Army issue,it's probably 95 percent close.wonderful jacket

The cost was quite reasonable given the quality of the garment and the delivery was accomplished in a reasonable manner.The jacket was what I expected with 2 exceptions. The zipper pull is on the wrong side! The male of the species has been trained from infancy to pull his zipper pull with the right hand while the female of the species pulls hers with the left. As a piece of trivial information, the buttons on a male’s shirt are on the right side and the button holes are on the left side as viewed from the wearer side. A female shirt (blouse, coats) are just the reverse. Another piece of male/female inequity? (Read the last sentence with a great deal of sarcasm!)The other minor irritation is the sleeve cuffs. There is an addition that is triangular in shape and tucked up inside the sleeve cuff and secured with a piece of Velcro tape. The reason for this is unknown but I would suspect that it has something to do with heavy duty gloves. It tends to come unsecured when the hand is inserted into the sleeve. A curable irritation. Sew it up inside the sleeve.Oh, one other thing. There are 2 button holes in the back side of the collar above the zipper that conceals the hood that have no obvious reason for their existence. Another part of the coat that is not normally used? Probably can just be ignored as irrelevant.I should make one more comment. You should REALLY pay attention to the multiple recommendations about ordering 1 size smaller if you desire a “stylish” fit particularly if the garment is to be worn with the liner removed. It tends to be a little bit of a loose fit without the liner if you order your ordinary coat size or go by the recommendations of a coat size as related to waist dimensions.Richard Mitchell