Hello, and Happy Christmas!
My name’s Abel Gleason, and in October of 2015, I ordered a Genuine Texas Steerhide “Indy” jacket from US Wings. It was an item I’d long coveted, and I’d done no shortage of searching before I finally squeezed the trigger on buying from US Wings as opposed to a lot of the other companies selling “authentic” Indy jackets. Many claimed to be the true progenitors of the genuine article, since their tailor, or owner, or chief buyer was the second cousin of the the costume assistant from Crystal Skull (or similar nonsense). And a lot of those replica jackets looked great, just like the ones on the US Wings site. But here’s the thing…
I didn’t want a PROP REPLICA. I wanted my OWN, REAL jacket for REAL ADVENTURE, and according to the scuttlebutt that I turned up during my exhaustive research of vendors, the only jacket that was really meant for real wear and tear was the US Wings, U.S.-made line. So I took the plunge.
Your company does not disappoint.
I’ve had the jacket for just over two years now, and I’ve worn it nearly every day that the temperature has been below 60°F (which, in New England, is quite often). It’s comfortable, protective, and hard-wearing in nearly every type of weather or situation, and it seems to just get better with age. I’m also pleased to say that, right from the moment of my order, the customer service with US Wings has been exemplary (when my initial choice of jackets was out of stock, and the resupply delayed, Amber, the rep with whom I spoke, gave me a slightly more expensive model with a nicer lining for the same price as my original order).
The real test for the jacket, though, hadn’t come until the last few months. I’m an Army Guard UH-60 Blackhawk pilot, and I recently got hired on to fly civilian airliners. As part of the hire, I needed to bulk-up my fixed-wing flight hours, so I was basically given a small plane to fly around and build my time. I’ve flown almost 10,000 miles since that time, and my Indy jacket has been with me the entire way, standing up to heat, cold, fuel spills, leaking oil, celebratory booze splashing, alternate use as a pillow and blanket, and, in the case of one rainy night in Florida, an ad-hoc umbrella. It has endured everything I’ve thrown at it, and only keeps looking and wearing better.
So, basically, thanks for making and selling a great product and being excellent to deal with. I look forward to picking up a B-3 jacket from you in the future for small-aircraft flying in the dead of winter here in Maine, but until then, my Indy jacket is holding me in fine stead, and more than measuring up to the real-world adventure that is my life.
Keep up the great work and the excellent quality.
Yours,
Abel Gleason
CW3, US ARMY
