The Propper Fit: An Update

In my last post, I talked about how my next thing would be dyeing a navy blue Propper brand flight suit charcoal gray. Well, that has not gone so well!

In my attempt to get myself a GB2-style suit before I ended up throwing this Propper suit in a fire, I bought a new Tru-Spec flight suit. When it arrived, I immediately noticed something: this looks nothing like the old Tru-Spec I’ve had since around 2009.I was almost confident that what I had was a Tru-Spec; I remember feeling so great to have upgraded from a Rothco when I bought it. But it clearly is an older style that they don’t offer anymore. I took a moment to search through my profile on GBFans.com and found an old thread discussing my purchase. I did indeed buy a Tru-Spec, and it was a discontinued style even back then. Which is a shame, because that original Khaki Tru-Spec is still the best-fitting flight suit I have owned. Now, I want to correct my original post comparing the Propper to a Tru-Spec. 

So the two suits are very close to each other now. Each sports brass zippers, though again the Propper suit has its zippers coated in black. The placement of the top chest pockets is much closer to each other, both being too low. Both also now have the “storm flap” where my original Tru-Spec did not, and there is a flap over the pencil pocket on both where my original Tru-Spec did not. 

The Propper suit has all the pockets running down the legs, way more screen-accurate there. The new Tru-Spec doesn’t have any lap pockets, but it does have zippers at the feet and the pockets at the ankles, but it still has side openings like my original. Both have back gussets; my original did not have them. Now, unlike the smoother material of my original Tru-Spec, the Propper and my newly purchased Tru-Spec are much more textured and have thicker pocket stitching. The Propper still has the most texture, and the Tru-Spec is much darker.

Honestly, if you don’t want to mess with dyeing a suit, the navy Tru-Spec is near the right color of a GB2 charcoal suit to start. 

Okay, so how do the fits compare? 

My new Tru-Spec fits a lot closer to the Propper suit, with one difference: the crotch length.

The Propper suit still has the longest crotch length of all three. 29” to the bottom of the zipper and 31” before the crotch ends. My new Tru-Spec is still longer than my original, going to about 27 1/2” with the crotch ending at 30”. For a refresher, that original Tru-Spec was 24” and 28”; it still has the most comfortable fit. Everything else was pretty close to the other. If you do not plan to dye your suit, you may want to go with a Propper. It is more readily available, cheaper, and a bit softer. The only major thing I do not like about my Propper suit is how long that crotch is; it feels a little weird to walk in. 

Okay, that's enough about how the suits fit. I have a lot to say about dyeing these now; hopefully my experience will help someone. Stay tuned for that blog and tutorial.