Mark G
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 342
- Location
- Camel, California
I've wanted one of these coats for years and never could justify the expense having a cold weather coat this nice living in coastal California. My wife and I have been going on several trips to the National Parks in off season (late fall, early spring and winter), and I got a Filson gift certificate for my birthday and thought, this is my chance to finally get the coat.
The Good:
This coat is warm. This is me standing on the rim of Crater Lake National Park at dawn at about 25 degrees. We were there for about 2 hours and with the collar up didn't need a hat!
Some of the nice details include the cartridge pocket on the left side.
The inside pocket.
The back game through pocket
and things like the canvas backing on the snap.
The inner sleeves of the coat are a black melton wool. It's been fulled so it is a lot like felt and allows the use of the coat over a wool shirt or sweater without getting hung up.
The Bad: The weight of the fabric is 24 oz. and I've heard from other people who've owned the coat that it used to be 26 oz. Since I have no way of comparing them I can only comment that it is a very warm coat and that almost all of the coat is double layered.
The second time I wore the coat the "military grade" button fell off. Not a biggie but a little disappointing none the less. A couple of minutes with a needle and thread solved that.
And lastly, the inner sleeves are attached to the outer with a 4 inch stitch at the elbow. When I first took the coat off I didn't grab the inner sleeve and heard a loud tearing sound. No real damage but I wish they had sewed a reinforcement patch to prevent this from happening.
The Ugly:
Online ordering is atrocious! I got the gift certificate in July and their website said it had one in my size with a 10 percent discount for first time orders. Great, placed my order, got a confirmation, they charged my credit card and waited... A week later no shipment notice or any other communication. I called customer service and was told that they didn't have the coat in stock and I couldn't back order. Okay, when will you have them in? Probably late August was the reply. So I put a request to be notified when it comes in.
A month goes by and I get an email stating they have my coat in stock. I call this time and got the order through... A week goes by. Nothing. Now they've charged my card again (the gift certificate wasn't for the entire amount). Two, three, four weeks go by. Now it's a game. I call them again. No they don't have the coat. No they don't know when they'll be in stock. By now this is late September and I'm leaving for my trip the first of October. I'm about ready to just forget the whole thing except the certificate is not redeemable for cash. Then the operator tells me he shows two in the New York store but I should call to verify. Not, oh let me see if I can call them for you but just gives me the number.
I don't have much hope by this point but I call anyway. I talked to a man named Michael who not only said he had the coat in stock but physically checked to verify. I told him I really wanted the coat for my trip in less than a week and he said no problem and would ship it two day air. I still got my 10 percent discount and free shipping.
I have to say that I will NEVER shop at Filson online again! Not only was there no attempt to keep me notified of anything, it took them 4 weeks to refund my card!!!
As of 2012 Filson is owned by Fossil Group founder Tom Kartsotis, who also owns Shinola Watches. I can't help but wonder if the owner is more interested in selling overpriced quartz watches than he is maintaining Filson's core products.
The Good:
This coat is warm. This is me standing on the rim of Crater Lake National Park at dawn at about 25 degrees. We were there for about 2 hours and with the collar up didn't need a hat!
Some of the nice details include the cartridge pocket on the left side.
The inside pocket.
The back game through pocket 
and things like the canvas backing on the snap.The inner sleeves of the coat are a black melton wool. It's been fulled so it is a lot like felt and allows the use of the coat over a wool shirt or sweater without getting hung up.
The Bad: The weight of the fabric is 24 oz. and I've heard from other people who've owned the coat that it used to be 26 oz. Since I have no way of comparing them I can only comment that it is a very warm coat and that almost all of the coat is double layered.
The second time I wore the coat the "military grade" button fell off. Not a biggie but a little disappointing none the less. A couple of minutes with a needle and thread solved that.
And lastly, the inner sleeves are attached to the outer with a 4 inch stitch at the elbow. When I first took the coat off I didn't grab the inner sleeve and heard a loud tearing sound. No real damage but I wish they had sewed a reinforcement patch to prevent this from happening.
The Ugly:
Online ordering is atrocious! I got the gift certificate in July and their website said it had one in my size with a 10 percent discount for first time orders. Great, placed my order, got a confirmation, they charged my credit card and waited... A week later no shipment notice or any other communication. I called customer service and was told that they didn't have the coat in stock and I couldn't back order. Okay, when will you have them in? Probably late August was the reply. So I put a request to be notified when it comes in.
A month goes by and I get an email stating they have my coat in stock. I call this time and got the order through... A week goes by. Nothing. Now they've charged my card again (the gift certificate wasn't for the entire amount). Two, three, four weeks go by. Now it's a game. I call them again. No they don't have the coat. No they don't know when they'll be in stock. By now this is late September and I'm leaving for my trip the first of October. I'm about ready to just forget the whole thing except the certificate is not redeemable for cash. Then the operator tells me he shows two in the New York store but I should call to verify. Not, oh let me see if I can call them for you but just gives me the number.
I don't have much hope by this point but I call anyway. I talked to a man named Michael who not only said he had the coat in stock but physically checked to verify. I told him I really wanted the coat for my trip in less than a week and he said no problem and would ship it two day air. I still got my 10 percent discount and free shipping.
I have to say that I will NEVER shop at Filson online again! Not only was there no attempt to keep me notified of anything, it took them 4 weeks to refund my card!!!
As of 2012 Filson is owned by Fossil Group founder Tom Kartsotis, who also owns Shinola Watches. I can't help but wonder if the owner is more interested in selling overpriced quartz watches than he is maintaining Filson's core products.
