Tin Cloth Outerwear by Filson

What Is It?




Tin cloth is an old fashioned oiled canvas water-resistant fabric. Filson makes pants, bibs, jackets and hats out of the cloth.

Where To Get It:
Amazon.com
Filson.com the official Filson website

I give these a 9 out of 10 acorns.

This is some of the toughest outerwear that you can get your hands on. Filson's motto is "Filson - might as well have the best" and they try to live up to it. These are made of all natural materials (metal zippers and snaps are the only exception) and waterproofed with a natural waterproofing agent made mainly from beeswax and natural oils.

These garments are stiff, especially until they are worn enough to be properly broken in, but I feel like I'm wearing a suit of armor with this stuff on. As long as you maintain the finish (every garment comes with a can of wax/oil) this stuff laughs at the worst weather. You can crash through thick underbrush without worrying about the fabric snagging and tearing, even blackberry brambles have a hard time getting through (although some do).

These aren't made to be a fashion statement, but they are made to do their job. You don't wash these, you brush them off with a stiff brush. Once you've had them for a while and done a few coats of finish the fabric starts to look a little like leather. This is the same stuff that old time woodman wore to protect themselves from the harsh PNW winters while logging in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Forgot to mention that Filson also makes some pretty good bags and packs if you can handle the price and want something you'll hand down to your grandkids.

I give this Filson Tin Wear 10 out of 10 acorns!

Years ago I worked as a Hooker on skyline logging jobs.  My first month was a miserable wet soggy horrible time. Bad boots , cheap gloves and a crummy jacket... The fallers (old guys, probably 40 lol) both wore Filson tin wear... they were warm and dry... admittedly their job had a lot less running around than mine. Needless to say as soon as I got paid I purchased top of the line logging boots and a Filson tin jacket !
BEST EVER !

Holy expensive...

Their cheapest cotton t-shirt is $32.  Ugh.

I was prepared to pay the price for top notch equipment made with the good stuff, but after a good 15 minutes at the Filson site looking at the Tin Cloth stuff it seems to all have Primaloft and/or polyester lining in it.

I did find a 100% wool Anorak from Arcturus for almost half the price of the Filson one, I'll see how it does without the wax layer...

Howdy,
It's not Filson, but...

https://www.outbacktrading.com/

randal cranor wrote:Howdy,
It's not Filson, but...

https://www.outbacktrading.com/

Given the option, I'd probably go with the Outback Trading Bush Ranger jacket over the Filson Tin Cloth Cruiser jacket. One, the Outback jacket is half the price. Two, the Bush Ranger is a bit longer than the Cruiser, meaning your butt doesn't get as wet. Three, I like the snapped side vents on the Ranger because you can control your range of movement. Four, the removable shoulder cape is nice to have in a downpour.

I have a jacket similar to the Bush Ranger made by Brassada, a Texas company, that I bought ten years ago. A quick Amazon search shows a couple of jackets by Brassada, but they don't look too impressive. At the time I bought the the jacket,  they sold exclusively on E-bay and seemed to be a home operation. I've beat the crap out of the coat and not maintained it hardly at all. It could use a re-waxing, but other than being faded and dirty it's held up remarkably well. I think you can find pre-owned Brassadas on E-bay.