Treasure Chest??

[Clemson]

By way of introduction, I am new here, starting my first thread. I've been lurking long enough to believe that this is the correct place to post. Background: I am a gunsmith, and some unusual stuff comes into the shop from time to time. A few months ago a gentleman came in with some "stuff" from his uncle's estate. The uncle had been a WWII veteran of the Pacific. I bought several guns, some civilian and a couple of Japanese bring-backs. A couple of months later the same gentleman called and asked if I would be interested in some more "stuff" found in his late uncle's closet.

He showed up with this:

Footlocker1 by jakefromclemson, on Flickr

Inside were a bunch of interesting (to me) trophies that I will try to post about as I can, primarily to get help with identification.

I'll start with what has been identified to me by one source as a Navy "Deck Jacket". I know the gentleman used it after the war as his hunting jacket. There was a Cutts Compensator tube and a wrench for it in one of the pockets. Unfortunately, he had managed to tear the jacket up one side. It was repaired with duct tape!

Footlocker3 by jakefromclemson, on Flickr
Footlocker4 by jakefromclemson, on Flickr

Can anyone confirm exactly what this jacket is? Thanks in advance. I'll post additional photos of this material as I get an opportunity.

Bill Jacobs

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Clemson]

This is a Japanese Flight Suit.

Flightsuit2 by jakefromclemson, on Flickr
FlightSuit1 by jakefromclemson, on Flickr

[Flying10uk]

Welcome to the forum Bill. If that flight suit is WW2 it is probably a valuable item because I don't recall ever seeing a WW2 Japanese flight suit offered for sale. Are there any labels inside?

I'm not sure about the naval jacket; are there any other labels inside giving a date?

Why not post a pic of the inside of the chest as someone may be able to identify it's original purpose and country of origin?

[Clemson]

There are no labels that I can see. The inside is lined with what appears to be rabbit fur. It is very lush and soft feeling. There is a mark, shown below, about the actual size of a dime. It is inside the zipper opening just below my hand in the photo and blown up in the second photo.
The suit is covered with zipper pockets and adjustments and has a snap-on leather tab inside that you can see in the photo. I have seen ebay auctions for Japanese "Flying Suits" that look like this one.
It shows wear on one leg and the seat, so it obviously saw service. I sure wish the descendants had questioned the vet about this stuff, but apparently they did not know it existed until after his death.

Flight Suit 4 by jakefromclemson, on Flickr
Flight Suit 3 by jakefromclemson, on Flickr

[cherokee5425]

It appears that the Japanese flight suit is a heated one, hence the plug hanging out on the right rear of the suit. I don't believe that they were all of the heated style. Correct me if I'm wrong.