Filson clothing and gear.

[FCCDerek]

So, I recently had a back and forth over on Reddit concerning Filson clothing and gear, and their targeted demographic for their items. He's adamant that its outdoorsman, ranchers and farmers. I tend to disagree. I know a lot of ranchers and farmers, and a ton of outdoorsman and none of them wear Filson for work. Maybe for a night on the town, but not out in the woods and fields. My question is this, how many of you wear Filson gear for hunting, hiking, camping, work, or other general outdoor use? I'm honestly curious. Most farmers, ranchers, and outdoors types I know gravitate towards Carhartt or the like for workwear. Kuiu, Sitka, etc. for hunting clothing. Though I know a ton that wear Carhartt for that as well. Almost everyone I've met that wears Filson also wear boots that never leave the asphalt or pavement. They're K Mart Cowboys if you will, or hipsters, or lumbersexuals. To me, it feels like that brand has gone the way of Abercrombie and Fitch, which used to be a serious producer of hard use outdoor gear. I was looking at one of their short lined cruiser jackets as a general use every day jacket, but found out that the chest pockets aren't even big enough to hold a cell phone, and there's no internal pocket so I had to pass. Seemed to me it wasn't too well thought out for what people would actually carry in it. Thanks for any input y'all have to offer!

 

[HoosierHunter07]

I have a Filson Mackinaw I begged my parents for when I was about 16. Cabelas carried them. I wore it quite a bit for whitetail when I was younger. But that was 20 years ago. I still break it out sometimes.

But I don't think they are marketing to hunters anymore. See a lot of hipsters online sporting their stuff these days.

 

[NEhunter]

I have their wildfowl hat and a pair of chaps that get used for upland hunting.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Love their stuff. Caught a bit of a filson bug 15 years ago or so, just as the hipsters found them. I worked on a project in Seattle and the flag ship store was in between the job site and the airport. Stopped by a dozen times in a year. Probably spent more on filson stuff than I made on the gig.

It is expensive. USA made comes at a price. It also gets a cool factor premium. Everything I own is durable and well made, but heavy as hell relative to its more modern counterpart.

I have a couple of tin cloth jackets and a tin cloth hat that are going strong years later. I bought a set of their chaps for upland. Tough as hell but hot too. Love their upland strap vest. Foot wear was a meh for me. I have wide feet and the boots weren’t a great fit. Have a couple of shirts, belts and a mackinaw cruiser. They are great and worn regularly for around town. Their bags are awesome too. I have a duffle that is my go to for overnights and have worn through 2x of their computer briefcases.

As far as work wear or hunting, I call BS. I am sure there are some wealthy gentlemen farmers that use it as work wear and a few diehards that use if for hunting, but I think most of them do it for style points. The people I know that make a living with their hands are wearing Ariat and carhartt. No way they would pick a $300 wool cruiser that had to be dry cleaned over a $50 sweatshirt that is more comfortable and washable. For hunting, maybe some upland gear. For fishing, sure. Fly fisherman have more $ than sense. But anyone else wearing filson gear is probably doing it because they like it and don’t mind spending the money. But…you could probably say the same about yeti coolers, high end optics and just about everything in my hunting wardrobe so whatever.

 

[Eagle]

I use their heavy duty tin cloth brush chaps for upland, but that's it.

 

[Coldtrail]

I've got a bunch of Filson stuff but will qualify it by saying I haven't bought anything new from them in over 20yrs. Their wool shirts and pants used to be top notch and most of mine are still going strong. I have a wool lined Tin cloth packer jacket that I think they stopped making but easily the most bomb proof and weather resistant jacket ever made, has 3 different weight liners. I have a short wool lined Tin jacket that I wear in the woods daily that has had the free factory rebuild on it that's prob 30yrs old, and brush chaps about the same age still going strong.

Sadly, they haven't been American made for quite a few years now and prices went way up for lesser quality gear, so I would agree....now it's for a different high dollar market & being worn to micro breweries on Sunday afternoons where guys sit around in $200 flannel shirts, work boots with no scuffs, and skinny jean work pants pretending they do blue collar work.

 

[The Ri Guy]

Grew up near Filson HQ in a logging, farming, and hunting family. “The” traditional target audience of Filson.

Their older stuff is money and certainly targeted towards anyone doing anything in the PNW Forests. My Grandfathers held Filson in high regard, one being a career logger and the other growing up on the farm. My family still uses their wool pants in cold conditions, although I’ve moved on myself.

A few years ago they absolutely shifted their target audience to the aspirational and outdoorsy fashion crowd, not outdoorsmen.

Pants and jackets seem to be fine quality still, base layers, socks, etc are overpriced off shores garbage. Their wool socks used to be bomb proof, now they’re sloppy.

Most of my Filson only gets pulled out for fashionable purposes these days, aside from my tin cloth which is killer when battling blackberries. That being said, I still stop by the HQ store yearly as it’s a cool place.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Well the Filson store is in Boulder, Co here. The biggest anti-hunting, anti-ranching, probably top 3 ritzy zip codes in the state if that tells you anything…

 

[zeroforhire]

I wear Filson while upland hunting. Love their older stuff.

 

[ShortMagFan]

I’ve got a ton of Filson stuff

Their bird britches with the tin cloth on the front of the legs get worn all winter at the farm

I’ve been using one of their medium field bags as my deer hunting bag for over ten years and love that thing

I’m wearing a Filson puffy vest today around town.

Had a pair of their roper boots, did not like them at all

Think I also have a bird vest that I’ve outgrown. And I’ve got several Filson belts

I think I only have two pieces of Sitka gear both hoodies I bought from someone doing a gear dump. I do like them a lot

Do not own any kuiu or other of the newer performance hunting brands. I do own a fair amount of nomad stuff and plenty of carharrt

 

[bozeman]

I have some older Filson stuff like the waterfowler hat that I use duck hunting and I have a couple Filson shirts and jac shirts. I use mine for working outside all of the time. That's what I bought it for. Clothing is a tool. Older Filson stuff has been rock solid for me. Prob my favorite flannel shirt is a Filson about 15 years old and I wear a Filson cover cloth?? shirt as a jacket almost daily working around the house. There is a Filson Unfailing for 2nd hand/blemished goods if you want to try.

 

[Bama67]

Last couple things I got from Filson were Made in China crap.

 

[FCCDerek]

Love their stuff. Caught a bit of a filson bug 15 years ago or so, just as the hipsters found them. I worked on a project in Seattle and the flag ship store was in between the job site and the airport. Stopped by a dozen times in a year. Probably spent more on filson stuff than I made on the gig.

It is expensive. USA made comes at a price. It also gets a cool factor premium. Everything I own is durable and well made, but heavy as hell relative to its more modern counterpart.

I have a couple of tin cloth jackets and a tin cloth hat that are going strong years later. I bought a set of their chaps for upland. Tough as hell but hot too. Love their upland strap vest. Foot wear was a meh for me. I have wide feet and the boots weren’t a great fit. Have a couple of shirts, belts and a mackinaw cruiser. They are great and worn regularly for around town. Their bags are awesome too. I have a duffle that is my go to for overnights and have worn through 2x of their computer briefcases.

As far as work wear or hunting, I call BS. I am sure there are some wealthy gentlemen farmers that use it as work wear and a few diehards that use if for hunting, but I think most of them do it for style points. The people I know that make a living with their hands are wearing Ariat and carhartt. No way they would pick a $300 wool cruiser that had to be dry cleaned over a $50 sweatshirt that is more comfortable and washable. For hunting, maybe some upland gear. For fishing, sure. Fly fisherman have more $ than sense. But anyone else wearing filson gear is probably doing it because they like it and don’t mind spending the money. But…you could probably say the same about yeti coolers, high end optics and just about everything in my hunting wardrobe so whatever.

Unfortunatly much of it isn't made in the USA anymore. They also haven't adjusted their prices to reflect that. I'm of the opinion that it's mostly marketed to hipsters now as well. It's a shame. I'd really like a short lined cruiser jacket and one of their tin cloth duffels, but I just dont' wanna pay what they're asking.

 

[FCCDerek]

Seems like most of the replies here are pretty well in line with my thoughts on the subject. They're targeting a wildly different demographic for their sales now than they used to. I wish they'd have dropped their prices when they started outsourcing overseas.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I can’t blame them. Timberland, northface, yeti. These companies make good solid products that catch on and become cool. You pay a little more because they are made in the USA, are high quality or just work well and last a long time. Their sales grow. They lean into it to sell more. They get bigger. New leadership. They market like hell. They expand and cut costs and move production over seas and change designs and make things of lesser quality. It still sells for a while because of the name, lecgacy, noatalgia, etc. it becomes crap with a name and a marketing push behind it.

Someone starts a new company that makes competing high quality good solid products in response. They catch on and become cool. Rinse and repeat.

I guess I got lucky. Looked at some of my filson gear last night and it is all the US made stuff I bought years ago.

 

[z987k]

Wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pole. Chinese crap.

 

[bozeman]

I can’t blame them. Timberland, northface, yeti. These companies make good solid products that catch on and become cool. You pay a little more because they are made in the USA, are high quality or just work well and last a long time. Their sales grow. They lean into it to sell more. They get bigger. New leadership. They market like hell. They expand and cut costs and move production over seas and change designs and make things of lesser quality. It still sells for a while because of the name, lecgacy, noatalgia, etc. it becomes crap with a name and a marketing push behind it.

Someone starts a new company that makes competing high quality good solid products in response. They catch on and become cool. Rinse and repeat.

I guess I got lucky. Looked at some of my filson gear last night and it is all the US made stuff I bought years ago.

Looks like Chene is trying to fill this niche somewhat from the waterfowl hunting side, like the old Filson Guide sweater, Filson wading jacket etc........

 

[JDBAK]

I used to see loggers wearing double tin cloth pants and jackets growing up in SE AK in the 80’s and 90’s. It was pretty hard use stuff, not for a night on the town. It made sense for that kind of wet cold brushy work. I used to wear tin pants hunting, but they don’t move well and never fit great.

 

[wytx]

Ranchers wear the tin cloth coats and jackets, see them all the time for work wear around here.
Wool vests too as a layer but the wool coats are for cold night out. They want a durable outer layer for work.
I have a couple of wool packers type coats and a tin cloth/ lined short cruiser. All are super warm and comfy.
When it's bitter cold out I reach for my Filson wool coat.

Spouse wears his Filson wool vest all the time in cold weather, he's hardly a hipster lol.
I see all types wearing it around here, but not hunters so much.
If I didn't have a KOM wool vest I would wear my Filson vest hunting. They are a great layer in the cold.

 

[sconnieVLP]

I have a pair of the dry tin cloth double front pants that I wear for upland hunting. I really like them and should have bought a second pair while they were still available and on clearance before being discontinued.

If I’m doing anything else where there’s a strong likelihood that my clothes are getting trashed, there’s no way I’d be buying Filson for that purpose. I’ll pick Carhartt or similar where I can get 4 pairs of pants for the price of one pair of Filson pants.