Atolls and the Aleutians.

Another idyllic morning on the Atoll. A warm soft breeze off the Pacific gently caresses the palm fronds and the tropical sun with its early dappled light sits low in its trajectory.
Behind the lagoon on the leeward side of the island where the PT boats are moored, stands the base laundry.
The Papa is in urgent conversation with Boats Mulcahey. In the background under a tree, Papa's side kick Moloko, is napping.
" Aww c'mon Boats, I need those t-shirts", the Papa pleads.
" Yeah yeah you're always needing something aren't you Papa, last week it was an ice machine and a dynamotor and the week before that an electric iron and a hot water heater, now you want more t-shirts! Geez, you damn near cleaned me out last time Papa, The Admiral even sent his shore patrol down here to see if they could recover his civvies!"
The Papa rubbed his stubbled chin and replied, " Well Boats you know how it gets, supply, demand, its the economics of free trade".
Boats spat, " You might call it free trade, but I call it black market. Papa you're just a huckster!"
" Now now Boats no need for name calling here", the Papa replied, " I'm just doing my bit. I've got an order to get up to our boys on the front and the Supply ships leave tonight.", he said.
" A dry goods salesman Papa, a damn mountebank! ahhh to hell with it alright alright!
But 30 is all you get! I can't spare anymore, as it is I best start thinking of an excuse for those two sub crews that put in the other day, boy when they find out their laundrys been appropriated, seesh! Go on take them now and git, and don't come back soon!"
"Thanks Boats," the Papa said genuinely as he hurriedly filled his kit to overflowing with the white T-shirts.

Back to Papa's quonset supply shack and the screenprinting whirls into action. An exclusive release. A new print. A celebration of our boys in the North. A gift from the Papa!

30 reclaimed t-shirts, all bearing the wear and tear of campaigns past, stained by distant battles forgotten on the road to victory.
Water based ink, hand printed hand washed and individually measured. Each shirt completely unique, no two holes the same.

Send $45 to the Papa now. PayPal rocket_ace47@hotmail.com
Measure your favourite tee across the chest and email the Papa, he will get Moloko to select a corresponding size from the Boats Mulcahey collection for you. International airmail to all destinations is absolutely FREE, none of that ebay fixed postage shit here folks!

Papa Nui, a product, a state of mind. Come live in Papa's world, it's pretty cool here, you'll like it!

Papa Nui wears the Eastman USN t-shirt.

How often do you read the description of products as being an authentic pattern based on a period original? All the time I bet, and yet you know its all bullshit but these companies honestly believe their customers will buy these claims. Well not this Papa!
Gary Eastman of the Eastman Leather Company has done what every other company claims to have done, except that this time its the real deal. Using several vintage WWII USN t-shirts as a base, Gary has used the best of Japanese manufacturing techniques to pull these originals apart stitch for stitch and then recreate them in especially loomed wheel-looped slub cotton jersey. The results are outstanding and worthy of the 2 years R&D it took to develop the idea.
The fit is awesome with a narrow and close fitting body shape with a shorter sleeve and a neck opening that is wider that a crew but not ridiculously scoopy either. In short, its about as perfect as you can get without buying a dead-stock original. This is high praise I know, but realistically this is perhaps the best t-shirt I've ever owned and coming from a part of the world where t-shirts are the au-rigueur you get to know real quick what's what.
Beautifully packaged and priced at UK 39.99 it's a must buy for any true enthusiast.

Packaged in a small printed cardboard container this tee is beautifully presented.

Fit reference, yes I knew you'd want to know about this so Giggles got her camera out to shoot this expose.

The Papa is wearing his new Corsairs Cap in Experimental Night Op's colourway and original American Optics aviators sunglasses.

Note fit: slim through the torso but not contemporary tight. Sleeve is short and fits just above the biceps. Neck opening is actually really flattering and doesn't choke rub and irritate like a crewneck tee does. Length is sufficient to tuck in and stay tucked but not too long as to not be worn out.

Sizing is genuine and accurate. In everyday wear I would normally wear a size medium, somewhere between a 38"-40" or around 18" across the shoulders ( the way I ensure vintage purchases fit me is always to know my shoulder measurement). In these photos I'm wearing a size 38". At first it appeared quite snug but after repeated washes and wearing the size is a beautiful fit, by far my favourite tee I own and the beginning of repeated purchases.

Nomenclature contract print is authentic and is reproduced exactly from the original samples.

Combat Corsairs Caps Now All Japan Manufacture.

The Papa knows caps. A lifetime under the Pacific sun has taught him a thing or two about being able to hunker down under a brim of substance and so with a generous adaptation of the WWII A-1 sun visor, the Papa introduces to his battalion, the Combat Corsairs Cap. Produced exclusively in Japan by special arrangement with the John Lofgren Clothing Factory this is quality as only the sons and daughters of Amaterasu can produce.

Limited to 100 pieces you can choose the colour of your cover, Beach landing brown or Jungle patrol green. Sizing runs from 57cm through to 61cm.

To support the Papa and his thrill thundering salute to the men of the South Pacific, Pay Pal the sum of $75 USD to rocket_ace47@hotmail.com and recieve a cap worthy of duty on any front plus free airmail shipping to any location on the globe

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Papa Nui, never your standard 782.

* wholesale orders available on orders over 10 pieces, email the Papa.

Pappy loves the Papa

"Men of the Battalion, as a veteran fighter ace I can tell you that you don't scratch 26 meatballs on good luck alone, what you need is to have the right equipment to do the job. This is why I fully endorse Papa Nui. The Papa know that a life spent under a tropical sun requires a cap of substance and his new Corsairs cap will give you the edge every time in the air or on the beach. Made to exacting standards from a solid 9 oz frog spot pattern Herringbone twill the Corsairs cap features an inspired A-1 sun visor extended peak and 4 panel ball cap construction. You're only as good as the gear you use and that's why I'm the best."

Semper Papa!

Major Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington.

Recommended.

Wearing a prototype Papa Nui Corsairs Cap, Phyllis Jarman of Ypsilanti Michigan writes up a report in her workbook. Like many other Avenger Field pilots Phyllis only wears caps made by the Papa.
" The Papa ain't no 90 day wonder", says Phyllis, " He knows that you need a cap of substance for hunkering under when the sun is hot enough to shrivel you into a New England hag".

Speedlines at Noosa

Word. Perfection.

M.Nii tailor vs Birdwell Beach Britches.

There's a marketing concept that suggests that customers buy the 'why' you do something rather than the 'what'. If you accept this premise then you will understand that a product story becomes all important, sell your 'why' and then you're half way to success.
 For the past year or so I've been following the M.Nii surf wear brand, whose story is absolutely second to none.

Peter Lawford one of the period celebrities known to wear M.Nii

  
   ("Makaha in the 1950s, was a surfer’s Eden. Situated on the west side of Oahu, the sun shined brightly, the prevailing winds were offshore, and the ocean shimmered in vibrant sapphire blue.
   Down the road, at a mom-and-pop tailor shop called M.Nii, some of the first surf trunks were about to take flight. It was a natural progression: first, local waveriders brought their “baggies” to M.Nii’s for repairs. Recognizing the need for durability and comfort, M.Nii built simple twill trunks made specifically for surfing. 
   With feedback from some of the best surfers of that era, he added stripes, wax pockets, patches. They earned a nickname: the “Makaha Drowner.”
  They were not just a pair of surf trunks; they were a memento, a badge of honor. The faded back-side spoke of six-hour marathon sessions in ten- foot waves. Those beads of sandy wax stuck in the eyelets smelled of coconuts. That stain on the cuff? Pork laulau. The more weathered and beaten your M.Nii’s, the more wholeheartedly you understood ‘Aloha.’)".

  Often however the 'why' doesn't always correlate to the 'what' and we are easily caught out and so with my nostrils imagining the smell of tropical trade winds mixed with pig roasting on a spit, I bought into the brand. An online order conveniently done, 'Makaha Drowners', black size 34", $150.00 plus an equally ridiculous postage charge and presto a few weeks later my trunks arrived. Excitedly I try them on, pulling them up fastening the lace waist and stepping in front of the mirror, as I move the trunks fall off my hips and down to my knees, ahh jesus too big!  I take them off check the size, 34" yes okay they should be right but they aren't. I visit their website and check the sizing chart page, 34" waist is a 34" waist and are designed to sit lower on the hips, okay so no big deal there, almost all mens bottoms these days fit low so I'm not surprised at all, still these do not fit anywhere on my body. I get the tape measure out and soon all is revealed, the 34" suddenly becomes 36". No mention of an oversized fit anywhere in the size chart I can find, and so I must assume the sizing is just    out of whack. So this is the point where I start getting the shits and ponder the question why can't companies just tell you what the actual size is? These shorts being vintage inspired are meant to be worn fitted and close so why is the waist oversized? 

 The M.Nii Makaha Drowner simple cotton twill no fuss construction $150 a pair.

 

Vintage styled rear pocket high on the hip so your not sitting on your wax.

  Still however that pork laulau lingers on, the palms are swaying and my hand reaches back into my wallet again for my credit card. There's so much history in this brand, I want, I need to be a part of it, the brand is talking to me, its calling me, its dialled into my sense of history, my sense of brand soul. Size 34" all wrong so I've got to be a 32", never been a 32" before but what the hell, go down a size and this will be fine. 'Makaha Drowners', khaki size 32", click, done. The weeks past, my imagination is running, khaki vintage style trunks, yes! In my mind I've an image of National Geographic magazine November 1943, A line of Naval swimming Instructors are standing along the edge of a pool in California observing aviation cadets undergoing water training, khaki trunks, blue cotton zip jackets, navy blue aviators caps, the reference doesn't go unnoticed its locked into my head for the pending summer season.
  The mail man arrives, package in hand, my new trunks! Again the ritual pulling of paper and cutting of carton, revealing my purchase. Here we go. I strip down and slide on my 'Drowners', they in turn slide right off! What! I can believe it, not again. The magical 32 inchers are yet another hoax sent to torment me. They don't friggin' fit and now I'm really really not happy. Out comes the tape measure again and these ones measure almost 35" in the waist, this lack of consistency is killing me, not only has the laulau dissipated but I feel like I've gone under in that Californian pool with the instructors looking on. 

 M.Nii khaki Drowners undergo a transformation. To make them wearable cost me another $45 in alterations I had the waist taken in and the length taken up. The existing length on the Drowners is an awkward one so the adjustment made all the difference in balance. The USN Jacksonville Florida patch is my ode to the National Geographic Magazine November 1943.

  All illusions are now gone and I begin to see the thing for what it really is, a great marketing campaign with a fantastic story masking a mediocre product. I dig a little deeper and take my blinkers off, these are a cotton twill short, not a bad quality either with a decent thread count. The construction? Yeah its alright, nothing special really though and certainly not a $150 worth of product that I can see, then I realised what I had just thought, and I had my answer, nothing special really! What had I thought was special? The story! The story encompasses everything a surfer could want and the people that reportedly wore them was everyone you wished you could have been, but at the end of the day there was nothing to the product other than the very clever vision of an ad company. M.Nii had closed decades and decades ago and if it wasn't for a couple of savy Californians who thought to revision the brand M.Nii would have passed into eternity along with many of the surfing legends that wore them. There was no continuity to the brand outside of that moment in history when everything seemed to revolve around the conquest of water mountains at Makaha and for me it took the best part of $400 in product, postage and alterations to realise this fact and to come to terms with the reality of this product falling short of all claims. 
  Sometimes we need an awakening, an opportunity to critique. Too often we accept new brands or new products within our sphere of interest and immediately jump into support them because we feel a need to validate others that are apparently in tune with ourselves. But the truth is not everything is good and some things are just damn disappointing and often there are those that will spin a great yarn so that they can tap into an energy and try to capitalise on it. I've learnt from experience, often quite expensive lessons as this post will attest but on the other hand I can also tell you there is great stuff out there right under our noses. I really had no need to look for surf trunks anywhere else but with Birdwell Beach Britches.

 My collection of Birdwell's, 9 pairs, the backbone of my surf kit. I just thought the M.Nii's would be a nice addition, but upon reflection.......

Perhaps its just that yearning for something new that leads you astray? Upon reflection I could have whatever I wanted through the Birdwell custom service, their talent for building surf trunks and my ability to imagine it is all I ever really needed in the first place.

 Custom Birdies for the Papa, three difference camo patterns for the Battalion.

 Did I really need any other brand? I think not, Birdwell's amphibious and airborne.

 Three pairs of frogspot camo Birdwells, three different fades. The oldest are about 6 summers old and have graced a thousand waves or more.

Of all the companies out there in the surf industry, Birdwell has been consistently servicing the beach community since 1961 and is now in its 4th generation of being family operated and that's a story that isn't made up. They have only recently redone their online webpage which previously was so antiquated that one had to conclude that they were just too busy in their workshop making great shorts that they couldn't be bothered with dealing with the new technology. I forgive them for that absolutely! Despite all the frustrations at times in the ordering process and some on the stupid online reviews I read from dopes who have no understanding of the brand, I will stand up anywhere and honestly say that Birdwell Beach Britches have never let me down, not in quality nor in performance. 
  Birdwell is something that you can't just make up, it doesn't flow off the end of a copy writers pen, nor does it need a press release to tell you its great, happening or the latest, it just is, and at the end of the day that is all that really matters, that is the story of Birdwell, 50 years of just getting on with the job, making great surf trunks.

Summertime with the Papa. Battalion Tees celebrate RHD tour.

The Papa Nui Atoll to Adelaide exclusive tee. A celebration of the amazing Papa Nui x RHD store collaboration tour.

Limited numbers available. Re-purposed vintage tees from a rag house rescue, hand picked, hand printed and hand stamped. 

Don't delay, as with all the works of the Papa, once they're gone they're gone.$50 Australian includes airmail delivery to any destination on the planet. Measure the chest of your favourite tee and let the Papa know. 

Email the Papa or go direct to the RDH ( Right hand Distribution Store Adelaide) website and talk to Andy and Akira.

 

Sweat it out.

Looking for the perfect vintage style sweatshirt isn't an easy process and with so many options available to choose from it can become confusing. The more you search however the more you begin to realise there's lots of very generic choices. For me so far its come down to a few options, this beauty from Warp and Woof and another marle wonder by Hellers cafe.



Papa Nui Corsairs Caps coming soon!

Winging their way from somewhere in the South Pacific, watch this space!

Papa's Wahines.

Now you know how the Papa finds tropical climes tolerable.

The Papa and the Salty Merchant.

                                           Papa Nui meets Salty's Short Supply.
For the first time in decades there's an excitement back at the beach. All along the coast small entrepreneurs are doing interesting things. building businesses or supplying select customers with goods that the major surf industry in its complacent ignorance could never have imagined. Walk into any large surf retailer and the concept is so obviously stagnant, dead and dated. Venture into the world of the Internet, blog pages or the revitalised back streets of the beach where rent is affordable and you'll find an air of excitement, a buzz, a thrill, a renewed cultural explosion of the beach lifestyle in all its alternative magic, a million miles removed from glossy posters and pro events.
One of the hundreds of young individuals thumbing their noses at the surfing Kremlin is Byron shire local Brent Wayling. Brent is owner of Salty's Short Supply. He's just a regular guy with an idea about beach togs. Salty's shorts encapsulate Summer, pure and simple. They're lightweight, bright and fun. There's no tech here in cut or fabric, but there's life! There's the breath of the ocean and a warm glow on your skin, there's cool drinks in hot climes and a knowing wink from fellow beach-goers that also know where its at.
Salty's are available online at  http://www.saltysbyronbay.com/ or at any of the weekend markets along New South Wales north coast, Byron Bay/ Lennox Head or in Queensland at Burleigh Heads or Like Salty's on facebook

Papa gets a brand new coconut.

I looked and looked but no messages from JFK or the crew from PT-109.