Let's talk about wool coats, jackets, and vests

[Peacoat]

It's crazy how prices of things have gone up.
My woolrich barn jacket cost me like $38 a year ago and now you can't find them for under $90.

Maybe people are realizing new woolrich is worthless so they're willing to pony up for the better American made examples ?
I can't imagine that " Elmer fudd looking " hunting coat with that kind of ugly looking collar being very fashionable, but then most fashion trends never make any sense to me.
I don't get fashion and could never correctly guess what's gonna be popular next.
For all I know the next cool think will be wearing old celluloid toilet seats around your neck.

Don't know about Woolrich, but the Filson jackets/coats are a lightweight version of the old stuff. If I remember correctly, their Mackinaws are in 24 oz. and 26 oz. That's as heavy as they get. By comparison, my old Woolrich is about 30 oz. It is a warm jacket. I can't say the same for my 24 oz. Filson. More fashion wear than cold weather wear.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I just looked at a little vintage advertising. You can hardly find a Woolrich ad without the inclusion of a shotgun, and in the few cases without a shotgun, they're backpacking a deer or dealing with a shot deer in some way. That's not the case for Filson advertisements. I'd be curious to see some laymen research on this. Did Filson never specifically hit the hunting market, or have they altered their marketing in the past couple of decades to be politically correct?

Buffalo plaid has become the "it" thing. I don't know about this season, but the past couple of seasons, it's been huge in fashion and home decor. It's weird. Urban Farmgirl country motif.

I don't believe any mill sells 100% wool anymore. I contacted Pendleton Woolen Mils a couple years ago, and they didn't sell any heavyweight/blanket weight 100% wool anymore. It was all a partially nylon blend, which isn't such a bad idea anyway, but finding fabric is probably very difficult.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Don't know about Woolrich, but the Filson jackets/coats are a lightweight version of the old stuff. If I remember correctly, their Mackinaws are in 24 oz. and 26 oz. That's as heavy as they get. By comparison, my old Woolrich is about 30 oz. It is a warm jacket. I can't say the same for my 24 oz. Filson. More fashion wear than cold weather wear.

24 and 26 were the highest weights at Pendleton Mills, and I think they were either 10 or 15% nylon. I still have the swatches they sent me, but I'd have to dig them out to be certain.

 

[TLW '90]

I don't believe any mill sells 100% wool anymore.

Off the top of my head i can think of 3 100% wool options from Johnson, maybe some hunting pants but I'm not sure.
Their hunting jacket, the double caped Jac shirt in orange, and the double Cape jac shirt in Canadian plaid.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Off the top of my head i can think of 3 100% wool options from Johnson, maybe some hunting pants but I'm not sure.
Their hunting jacket, the double caped Jac shirt in orange, and the double Cape jac shirt in Canadian plaid.

I shouldn't have said something so definitive. Sorry about that. I believe Pendleton supplied Filson, and Filson said this in advertising? I know I have that notion from somewhere. Most likely a proprietary fabric for Filson only. My point is that when talking to Pendleton, because I was considering a small project of my own, they said they didn't make heavyweight/blanket 100% wool anymore. They also couldn't give me any leads on where to look for it. If it is still out there, I'm guessing these places are possibly making their own fabrics. I believe there were a couple wool mills in Minnesota and/or Wisconsin, but I didn't look into it once I talked to Pendleton. I'd love to know where 24oz+ 100% wool fabric is still made.

 

[TLW '90]

I shouldn't have said something so definitive. Sorry about that. I believe Pendleton supplied Filson, and Filson said this in advertising? I know I have that notion from somewhere. Most likely a proprietary fabric for Filson only. My point is that when talking to Pendleton, because I was considering a small project of my own, they said they didn't make heavyweight/blanket 100% wool anymore. They also couldn't give me any leads on where to look for it. If it is still out there, I'm guessing these places are possibly making their own fabrics. I believe there were a couple wool mills in Minnesota and/or Wisconsin, but I didn't look into it once I talked to Pendleton. I'd love to know where 24oz+ 100% wool fabric is still made.

Johnson woolen mills offers their hunting coat in a 24oz 100% wool, so they apparently are making it.

You weren't all that wrong, Johnson woolen mills offers some 100% wool pieces but barely, and I wouldn't be surprised if nobody else in the US does.

 

[Peacoat]

I shouldn't have said something so definitive. Sorry about that. I believe Pendleton supplied Filson, and Filson said this in advertising? I know I have that notion from somewhere. Most likely a proprietary fabric for Filson only. My point is that when talking to Pendleton, because I was considering a small project of my own, they said they didn't make heavyweight/blanket 100% wool anymore. They also couldn't give me any leads on where to look for it. If it is still out there, I'm guessing these places are possibly making their own fabrics. I believe there were a couple wool mills in Minnesota and/or Wisconsin, but I didn't look into it once I talked to Pendleton. I'd love to know where 24oz+ 100% wool fabric is still made.

Filson is advertising their Mackinaws as 100% virgin wool. In one of the comments, they mention the wool is sourced through Pendleton Mills.

Interestingly, the Double Mackinaw is no longer in the catalog. So, now all we have through Filson are overpriced and lightweight fashion wool jackets.

 

[TLW '90]

Filson is advertising their Mackinaws as 100% virgin wool. In one of the comments, they mention the wool is sourced through Pendleton Mills.

Interestingly, the Double Mackinaw is no longer in the catalog. So, now all we have through Filson is overpriced and lightweight fashion wool jackets.

I don't think a lightweight wool necessarily makes a less functional and practical tool to keep you warm in the outdoors, I think it can have it's own place and practical purpose but yes it is certainly less than it could be.
I am positive it costs much more than it has to as well.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Filson is advertising their Mackinaws as 100% virgin wool. In one of the comments, they mention the wool is sourced through Pendleton Mills.

If I was a jerk, I'd call Pendleton again and push a little harder this time. I'd still be interested in working on my project. Then again, it might be cheaper to find some vintage wool blankets and use that material.

I just looked at https://johnsonwoolenmills.com They sure do like their zippers and linings. Am I seeing it right and they only have a single photo for each jacket? At those prices, I want to see about ten different angles and closeups of details. I particularly want to see what they do with the pockets, because I've seen some smart ideas on pockets. One of mine has has the obvious use of a storage area underneath the flap, but then they added another layer of material and left the side open to use as a handwarmer separate from that storage. Not revolutionary or anything, but it's something I almost demand after using them.

 

[Peacoat]

I went to the Woolrich website to see the weight of their jackets. No joy. They don't even offer a wool, lightweight or otherwise, jacket, coat or parka. Plenty of other materials and a wool shirt, but no outerwear.

 

[tmitchell59]

I like Wool. So many affordable choices on ebay. I often have to turn away and limit what I will buy. This is a Hercules form around 1946.

 

[tmitchell59]

I like Old and New. I would never part with this jacket. I can't say that about many jackets. Freewheelers Wigwam jacket

 

[TLW '90]

I like Wool. So many affordable choices on ebay. I often have to turn away and limit what I will buy. This is a Hercules form around 1946.

Just in the fold of the collar alone you can see that this is a nice heavy weight wool.

 

[TLW '90]

The woolrich Cape coat arrived, and I like it but it's definitely a lighter weight.
I thought my barn jacket was possibly towards the lighter side ( no point of reference) and this has gotta be 1/3-1/2 the weight.
Still this beats the heck out of a hateful cotton or fleece hoodie ( fleece makes my skin crawl and I cannot wear it ).
This will be perfect for early fall and very early spring.

It has YKK zippers BTW.

 

[Peacoat]

Does Johnson woolen mills still make good stuff ?
I really want one of their cruisers in either spruce green or the green and black buffalo " small stag " as they call it.
I'm just not sure however if I wanna pay $289 when I might be better off looking on Ebay.

Their green and black plaid just doesn't seem to pop up on Ebay in my size very often and it always costs more.

I don't want to pay more for the same condition just to get a particular color, and I'm starting to think It might be nice to get something new for once.

Johnson's Mackinaw is 24 oz. 100% wool. In my opinion that is light for a Mac. I think 26 oz. is light also, but that is the heaviest they are made these days.

 

[JMax]

Nothing to add except that I never thought I would ever follow with such interest a random conversation about wool jackets.

 

[TLW '90]

Johnson's Mackinaw is 24 oz. 100% wool. In my opinion that is light for a Mac. I think 26 oz. is light also, but that is the heaviest they are made these days.

That's probably perfectly fine for me.
I'm going to get the cruiser.

 

[belfastboy]

Don't know about Woolrich, but the Filson jackets/coats are a lightweight version of the old stuff. If I remember correctly, their Mackinaws are in 24 oz. and 26 oz. That's as heavy as they get. By comparison, my old Woolrich is about 30 oz. It is a warm jacket. I can't say the same for my 24 oz. Filson. More fashion wear than cold weather wear.

I live in very temperate west coast climate and the Filson is perfect for our winters save for a few odd cold days. My 85/15 Woolrich is a little heavier and works on those real cold days....the few we have.

 

[Cornelius]

I can't recall where I came across it, but some years ago I read that making 100% wool fabric heavier than ~26oz in the USA was now going to be impossible essentially due to the fact that the last machines capable of looming this weight were being "retired." I don't know if it's true. But I have searched for 100% virgin wool fabric heavier than 26oz since with zero success.

Bemidji might've been a mill someone had in mind in an earlier post here - north central Minnesota. They offer 30 oz but only as an 85/15 wool/nylon blend. Their 100% wool cruiser only comes in 24 oz, and this is the fabric supplied to Filson.

While the patterns for Capotes are certainly centuries old and the Filson-style cruiser/mackinaw more than a century, there's absolutely no way that design would cut it along Lake Huron or Superior during the winter when executed in a 24 or 26 oz fabric. The wool used for these coats in 1800 or 1900 surely must have been much, much heavier. A shame it no longer exists.

Curious if we could leverage the power of this board to commission some, say, 32 oz wool from some mill or another, in the way some other threads have commissioned special leather runs...

 

[TLW '90]

So far I'm quite liking this woolrich I just received.
Paired with a henley under a flannel it's just enough enough for cool ( say low 60's ) and allows for good mobility in my arms when I'm out back plinking.

I've been an airgunner since I was 7 and it's mostly vintage or just traditional American multi stroke pneumatics, so leather is a no go because it makes pumping difficult .
the old Woolrich barn jacket is perfect when it's in the 40's-50's becsuse it's much thicker but this is perfect for low-mid 60's days like today.