Belgian M64 parka, surplus

Just got mine. Got lucky, got a new looking one. Ordered 6A since I usually wear a large. Fits good with ability to put thick sweater or US m65 liner. Great coat. Saw they still had 2 in 6A so I ordered another. Still worth price!

It smelled like it was taken off a man who died at sea and floated for a week before being found. Once it's aired out, it's a great jacket.

The Jacket just arrived, and the quality seems to be great - though it has some repairings already, and there are a few worn out seams that might need some support from my beloved sewing machine. But hei, this jacket is from 1967 !!! Anyway: The smell was horrible. Not like the regular "used smell". It was rather like a "we found some rotten corpses, probably died from an attack with chemical weapons, with the jacket still on, and we took off the jacket because it was still intact" smell. Well: I love it, and I will love it even more, after I have some hours of work invested, to get rid of that smell. My girlfriend btw. she said, she won't enter the bathroom anymore, before I don't get rid of that smell. But anyway: she sometimes is secretly smoking cigarettes in the toilet, and we're equal now. Anyway: I poured 1/4kg of Natron into the sink, added hot water, and soaked the Jacket. It took 5 minutes to turn the water into a dark-brown-red-black colour... Like if you take a box of watercolours and mix all colours together. I did this procedure 2 times. After that, I put the jacket into the washing machine, 40°C and added biozid bacteria & funghi killing solution. Damn. It still smells. Tomorrow I am going to apply some wax, and treat everything with my flame thrower, which will kill the rest of smelling bacteria, and put the wax deep into the fabric. Love it or hate it ? I do love it, I gave 5 stars, because this piece of gear is giving me a lot of fun, but I would not recommend it to a friend, because there is plenty of work you might have to put in it, before you can wear it - and the additional expenses to buy some fuel for the flame thrower, so I can kill the rest of the smelling bacteria will add some extra cost to the selling price (but to be fair: I bet there are pieces in different condition). EDIT: Some days later: I decided, not to treat it with a flame thrower. Instead I sprayed everything with Dissinfection (95%) inside & outside, let it dry in the sun. 2 times. Then I did the same, using half a bottle of Vodka. 2 times. It still smells. I ordered some more dissinfection. At the end I was using 0.3l dissinfection & half a bottle of wodka on it. This jacket starts to become expensive. I love it even more now. I gave 5 stars, but would not recommend it to a friend. Would you reccomend your girlfriend to a friend ?