Filson....Yeah or Nay...?

[entropy]

I need a new mid weight work/chore coat. My old Carhartt has seen its better days and now the zipper pull broke. I looked at Shaeffer, but they’re continuously out of stock. Filson is generally the same, but with some availability.

I will not support Carhartt anymore. Shaeffer appears to be GTG (and mostly USA made which is what I will buy). What’s the opinion on Filson? There are quite a few companies these days that have gone off the woke cliff, and I refuse to support them.

Thanks

[SD]

Waxed canvas weekender jacket (mile marker coat) approximately 20 years of seasonal field work, held up excellent. Gets a fresh application of wax as needed. If you are using this in cold temps it will get somewhat rigid, also the vest is insufficient in colder climates you need a full liner with sleeves.

[Flamingo]

I have an old, but it still looks brand new, Filson Macinaw Cruiser. I don't know if I would plop down the $500 bucks a new one costs.

[Crawls]

I have a good bit of Filson stuff that I've bought over the years. I generally think the build quality of their newer stuff doesn't measure up to their older stuff, and I'm not sure it's still worth the price premium. There is a definite decrease in the quality and durability of the leather used for belts and and luggage. The wool is also slightly less substantial than it used to be. I was also disappointed when they went from actual measured sizes for their outerwear to the standard S,M,L,XL. I kind of fit in a 44, but a L is too small and a XL is too big.

Fit is also worth mentioning. I'm far from the athletic build of my college and Army days, but I've found most of their items are cut for men who are better fed than I am. I have an old waxed tin cloth jacket that is so stiff and rigid that I feel like the clapper in the middle of a big bell. It's tight through the shoulders; way oversized in the waist and slaps up a against me every time I lean one way or the other.

[vcdgrips]

Much of Filson's line is now sewn off shore i.e. The Tacoma Work Jacket is made in Sri Lanka.

https://www.filson.com/outerwear/jac...-fco-005997191

Schaeffer's has multiple functional equivalents at the same or less money/sewn in the USA. No brainer in my mind.

[60pilot]

It depends if it’s still an item made in the US, I think. I have one of their waterfowl jackets that is a few years old now and it is great, except for having shrunk a little. The replacement that I sent back had been made in Asia someplace and was a pale comparison. They’re sizing definitely runs large and I’m not super thin.

[okie john]

I have a good bit of Filson stuff that I've bought over the years. I generally think the build quality of their newer stuff doesn't measure up to their older stuff, and I'm not sure it's still worth the price premium. There is a definite decrease in the quality and durability of the leather used for belts and and luggage. The wool is also slightly less substantial than it used to be. I was also disappointed when they went from actual measured sizes for their outerwear to the standard S,M,L,XL. I kind of fit in a 44, but a L is too small and a XL is too big.

Back when I lived a few miles from their factory and flagship store, I wore a lot of their gear and I dropped by the store every month or so. Their merchandise was rugged and durable, but wool and waxed cotton are 19th-century technology at best. Still, I bought into the legend until I wore one of their wool jackets to hunt Roosevelt elk on the Pacific coast. The rain here during elk season is like getting sprayed with a hose. The jacket kept me warm, but it also soaked up about 20 pounds of water and a bunch of green dye leached into the clothes I was wearing under it. That might have been OK had I been humping my way to Alaska during the Gold Rush, but I wasn't. After that I went to fleece and GoreTex for serious work in foul weather but still wore their gear around Seattle in cool, dry days.

Then they started selling stuff made in China.

Then they moved even more of their fabrication offshore.

Then they started selling non-clothing items like axes and knives. I have more than a passing acquaintance with tools like that and I promise you that what I saw in their showroom was designed, built, and priced for people who have never worked with their hands.

Then the flagship store went from looking like a hunting lodge to being a full-on retro hipster experience, and Filson became a fashion house like Abercrombie & Fitch.

I have given away all of my Filson gear except for two jackets. I haven't bought anything new from them in years and probably won't until they bring the jobs back home.


Okie John

[DDTSGM]

I need a new mid weight work/chore coat. My old Carhartt has seen its better days and now the zipper pull broke. I looked at Shaeffer, but they’re continuously out of stock. Filson is generally the same, but with some availability.

I will not support Carhartt anymore. Shaeffer appears to be GTG (and mostly USA made which is what I will buy). What’s the opinion on Filson? There are quite a few companies these days that have gone off the woke cliff, and I refuse to support them.

Thanks

Would this help:

https://workwearcommand.com/chore-coats-made-in-usa/

[entropy]

Would this help:

https://workwearcommand.com/chore-coats-made-in-usa/

Yes. Yes it would. Thanks much.

[Mark D]

I will not support Carhartt anymore. Shaeffer appears to be GTG (and mostly USA made which is what I will buy). What’s the opinion on Filson? There are quite a few companies these days that have gone off the woke cliff, and I refuse to support them.

I'm done with Carhartt too. Been wearing 'em since 2000, but I won't make another purchase.