Filson Short Cruiser Jacket

[Seb Lucas]

So I got this today.

It's an oil cloth short jacket and a nice alternative to leather and denim.

I've heard great things about Filson but this jacket doesn't appear to be anything special. The oilcloth is light (compared to Drizabone products) and see-through. To look at this jacket could be a $50 Carhartt rather than the $260 item it is. Despite this I like it well enough and I guess I need to live with it for a while.

I wonder how it will wear since it is very light material. I will need to wear this a bit before I make up my mind. Any one else got one of these?

Note: sizing is neat. I chose an XL and it fits like a standard 42 which is fortunate since that is my size. Just enough extra room for a bit of shrinking if it gets wet (Filson's advice).

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Never had any Filson jackets but like you I've heard a lot of good things about them. (mostly by Americans ) I did once have a filson's waxed cotton hat & to be honest, it didn't match the Aussie oilskin hats in either style or performance.
Is it waxed ? difficult to tell from the photo. Sounds like it's a summer jacket or over shirt made from a 6oz fabric as opposed to the 10oz or 12oz as used by the Aussie brands, (Driza Bone does make some 6oz cotton coats but they're only considered showerproof.)
Filson also uses a hefty 16oz cotton on some of their heavy duty stuff.
It will wear as well or as badly (depending on your point of view) as any other cotton jacket of similar thickness. If it's waxed it won't last as long as untreated cotton.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Interesting. It's tin cloth or waxed duck cotton, I'd say 10oz. Everything I've heard suggests waxed cotton wears much longer than untreated cotton. Which I thought was kind of the point of the waxing process alogn with proofing. Certainly that's what I've found with other jackets I have owned.

Checked with Filson - its 15 oz Tincloth (waxed)

 

[ProteinNerd]

That looks almost identical the the Gustin waxed cotton trucker that I believe a few of us have. Nice jacket.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Everything I've heard suggests waxed cotton wears much longer than untreated cotton. Which I thought was kind of the point of the waxing process alogn with proofing.

Waxing/proofing or whatever one wants to call it, is to render the fabric rainproof. Unfortunately impregnating the cotton threads with oils & waxes weakens them & whenever the fabric is put under repeated stress such as in folds & creases, the threads break producing small holes. I've been using oilskin/waxed cotton coats for quite some time & they all develope holes & splits where the fabric continually folds, as indeed do the oilskins of other folk I know. It's just the nature of the fabric.
You have to regularly reproof these types of coats too if you want them to retain their water repellancy which doesn't help.


Had a look on Filson's webssite & infact your jacket isn't waxed but has a dry DWR finish so no worries. It also states it's 13oz which is pretty heavy but because it isn't waxed may be why it feels less 'sturdy' than the Driza Bone coats you mentioned.
One thing puzzles me though, your jacket is quite different from the ' Short Cruiser Jacket' on the website http://www.filson.com/men/coats-jackets/short-cruiser-jacket-10568.html

I've solved the mystery....Filson in their wisdom have 2 coats with the same name .http://www.filson.com/short-cruiser-jacket-1.html

 

[Seb Lucas]

Sorry LnM I have a different experience - I've been using waxed cotton for 20 years and have never worn through a single item. I've worn through a heap of untreated cotton jackets. The key is to treat regularly. Then you get 20 plus years out of an item. My dad is still using his waxed cotton Drizabone rain coat from 1985 which he reproofs every two years with a special touch up on seams every year. This Filson stuff however looks less robust. I suspect it's just because it is new.

 

[Seb Lucas]

.
Had a look on Filson's webssite & infact your jacket isn't waxed but has a dry DWR finish so no worries. It also states it's 13oz which is pretty heavy but because it isn't waxed may be why it feels less 'sturdy' than the Driza Bone coats you mentioned.

Not sure what you've read on line but mine is Tin Cloth: oil finish wax cotton - as per the label it came with and Filson's on line description, that, and I got a tin of Filson wax with compliments for any touch ups. But the oily/waxy surface would have given it away.

 

[Fanch]

I have a waxed cotton tin cloth Filson Levis Trucker jacket that was only offered for, I think, only one season and is now being sold on ebay for what I consider obscene amounts, particularly the black model. Mine is an XL tan jacket that fits more or less like a 42/44 long/tall and has a 27" back as opposed to the current shorter Filson Short Cruiser jacket. Makes a great windbreaker and occasional rain jacket for N Texas.

 

[Seb Lucas]

This one is 27 inches at back too.

 

[Fanch]

This one is 27 inches at back too.

In which case our two Filsons might be made from the same pattern? Feel free to send a fit pic. Here's mine:

 

[navetsea]

how does these waxed jacket feel when you sit against leather seat, I have a waxed jeans that sticks to the seat after sometime from the warmth of the body, very annoying. it (mine) also is a magnet for lint and animals hair, I love the look of it, but I get crazy everytime I wear it

 

[Seb Lucas]

Hair and dirt fall off because of the oils. I've always found them easy to wear garments with no sticking. But there might be variations between brands,

 

[l0fielectronic]

That looks almost identical the the Gustin waxed cotton trucker that I believe a few of us have. Nice jacket.

I think this was what the Gustin one was based on, well this and the Filson/Levis collaboration.

I picked up one of these on eBay but it was sadly and, in person, quite obviously a fake. A shame, as the fit was really good. I gave up trying to get another as Filson is tricky to get here in the UK and while there were several others on eBay I could see those looked to be fakes too. I did eventual get the Gustin model but nice as it was the fit just didn't work for me so well.