New work jacket help

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smitty1505

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Oct 24, 2009
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Hey everyone, I need a new work jacket for this winter and hopefully many more. In the past I've had Carhartts and one from Duluth Trading. The Carhartts have always been the standard action jac's and the Duluth was their superior work jacket. Both are good jackets, but neither were super comfortable and neither breathed. Especially the Duluth, anytime I did anything other than walk I immediately started sweating and my arms would stick to the inside of the sleeve. That was extremely annoying and uncomfortable. Another draw back was that neither we're repairable or made in the United States. Ive thrown Carhartts out in the past because of rips in the fabric. Lastly Ive decided to adopt the hiker way of layering for work, so this new jacket will basically just be a shell of harder material protecting the layers underneath. So here is what I'm looking for in order of importance:

High quality (price isn't a big issue if its worth it. buy once, cry once)
Breathable (this is a huge thing for me. I would like it to be as breathable as possible)
Repairable
Made in the US.
Doesn't need to be waterproof or resistant (I have a rain jacket for that)

I was thinking of something from Filson maybe. My only concern with that is that their jackets probably don't breath at all. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance!
 
Waxed cotton jackets from Filson (or Barbour or others) do breathe, but not as well as a non-treated jacket, it's true. I say go Carhartt and have done with it. I just bought a heavy canvas one for riding my motorcycle and I'm very happy with it. Another possibility is a new or surplus M65 field jacket. I wore mine for over a decade before it was attacked by my brother's dogs in a fit of play and torn to shreds (two adolescent Rottweiler mixes). They hold up to all sorts of abuse and can be repaired with either standard or rip-stop material that is easy to color-match if you go with OD. They can be sprayed with Scotch-Guard for a light water-repellency. They also accommodate a liner for added warmth.

Zieg
 
I’ve got an old Filson waxed cotton jacket. The last thing I’d call it is breathable.

I sweat in it as much as I do in standard, non-breathing rain gear. A rain coat is more comfortable.

I haven’t worn the Filson since it was new.
 
Check out the madeinusaforever dot com website. They've got jackets by King Louie, Schaefer, Round House, etc, all made in the USA. I bought a King Louie jacket from them that I was really happy with, but it was probably more lightweight than you're looking for.

And from the Schaefer website, it looks like Schaefer makes jackets in a couple of different breathable materials:

"Schaefer Brushcloth® is specifically designed to handle harsh riding and hunting conditions. Designed in 2003, the heavyweight 15 oz. canvas construction is basically thorn proof and lasts much longer than most fabrics on the market. This investment grade 100% cotton fabric is fully breathable, features a weatherproof finish and adapts to a wide array of products from lined and unlined coats to vests and dungarees."

"Schaefer RangeTek® is specifically designed as lightweight breathable protection against rain and snow. The next generation of moisture protection, RangeTek® nylon features a waterproof, breathable membrane allowing condensation to dissipate maintaining stable body temperatures regardless of the season."

TAD Gear (Triple Aught Design) has a variety of soft and hard shell jackets made in Canada and the USA.
 
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Raymond1000 said:
I’ve got an old Filson waxed cotton jacket. The last thing I’d call it is breathable.

I sweat in it as much as I do in standard, non-breathing rain gear. A rain coat is more comfortable.

I haven’t worn the Filson since it was new.
Click to expand...

If you ever want to give your Filson a new home, give me a shout. thezieg AT myedl DOT com.

Zieg
 
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Smitty,

Do I guess correctly that the jackets that didn't breath well had nylon (or polyester) linings in the sleeves?

IME, it's very easy to out sweat nylon, especially if it's close to your skin.

Basic trade-off: ease of putting jacket on and off vs better breathability and less claminess.

My experience is that jackets (like some softshells or wool hunting jackets) that have no lining in the arm are very hard to put on initially but don't give that sweat box feeling. I can deal with less breathable nylon so long as it on the outside of the garment. The Marmot DriClime Windshirt is like this. Hard to get on but not clammy feeling since sweat passes through liner to the outer shell.

Regarding outer shell durability...

I find that denim/twill weaves are more durable than canvas (e.g. Carhartt). It seems to me that canvas wears fast at frequent fold points and once it fails, the garment fails fast.


If it were me, I would look for a lightly insulated or uninsulated and oversized outer jacket, like a Dickies Chore/Barn coat and then layer up under it with wool or fleece jackets as needed.

Another possibility is to get a full bore wool jacket, like those from Johnson Woolens. Not sure what you do for work and how fast you trash clothes. But they're pretty rugged. Not as rugged as canvas or denim depending on the wear pattern. More rugged in other ways.
 
Are any Dickies jackets still made in the USA? The only ones that I could find at Mark's were all imported.

The Johnson Woolens look nice.
 
I have several waxed Filson jackets, including Tin Cloth, Shelter Cloth and Cover Cloth fabrics and a dry Tin Cloth jacket. The waxed Tin Cloth jackets are by far the toughest and hardest wearing but they just don't breathe that well. The dry Tin Cloth is pretty rugged and breathes well but the Schaefer Outfitters BrushCloth jacket is my favorite ranch work jacket and I like it over any Carhartt I have had. Schnee's of Bozeman used to have a Ridgeline Jacket that I believe was made by Schaefer Outfitters for them that was outstanding. It looks like they just have the vest now which is also great. I've had some of the Duluth Firehose pants which are nice but haven't had any of their jackets.
 
We're assuming cool to cold weather here, and with varying levels of activity.

I'd go with layers: generally some thickness of fleece over a shirt of some weight (t-shirt to chamois, depending on conditions), then a large nylon anorak over that to stop the wind. The anorak is light, cinches around the hood, the middle, and the bottom, slips on or off easily, and rolls up to nothing and goes in the pack when not needed.

If the weather looks dampish, then I'd take the Woolrich mountain parka (wool lining and moderate wet-resistance).

If it's bucketing down cold rain, we're at home with a big bowl of buttered popcorn, a book, and a fire.
 
My Carhartt coat has nylon sleeves, that is an issue for getting wet. I just received Filson double tin bibs and I can tell they are definitely not for warm weather, sweat will build up for sure. They are for working in wet-cold.

Depends on your work and the temperatures mainly, but also your own tendency to sweat. Mors Kochanski has some interesting charts on the thickness required according to temperature and energy output. I know for myself that hard work requires very little clothing, as in extremely breathable pants and lightweight shirt, and about the same even at around freezing, 0C to -10C (32 to 14F). Pants don't matter as much as the top and carhartts are pretty good generally. A short sleeve or long sleeve merino wool shirt is about the best. And below 14F, just add a cotton canvas anorak and I'm good.

Do Carhartt make just an outer shell of canvas? Something like that would be good, although Carhartts seem to be much lower quality now. Those Schaefer coats that Brisket mentioned look good, so it'd be nice to hear a quality comparison.

Something like the Filson mackinaws are too heavy most of the time for heavy work, but are fine in a cold situation where you can vary your pace.

Depends a lot on your work, what you have to carry, the temps, and exposure to wind.
 
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Schaefer Ranch wear definitely worth a look & they've got a few less 'cowboy' styles too.

Absolutely unbelievable quality!
 
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