Filson clothing and gear.

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FCCDerek

FCCDerek

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
172
Location
North Idaho
I have worn a Folsom softshell (schoeller fabric) on every single big game hunt I've been on the last 5 years.

Did wear some double tin pants chasing elk in the rainforest a couple years (I rather be wet)

Just wore my Mackinaw on a successful moose hunt Thursday.

But I don't wear anything else or there's and have no intent. I did snag a button up shirt to wear to wedding. Returned it the day after. The damn shirt was $150.
Yeah. I just couldn't justify $150 for a button up shirt. I get my flannel shirts for $20 at Larsens (local store) and so far they've made it 5 years and counting without issue. I hear those double tin pants are pretty tough, and wear your skin out as much as they deflect brambles and brush. All this being said, I'd still really like a short lined cruiser jacket. I like them a lot. I dont' like that they don't have an inside pocket or a chest pocket big enough for a cell phone.
 
Joined
Aug 21, 2016
Messages
692
Location
Midwest
Filson is absolutely beyond a doubt no longer a hunting, outdoorsman, etc brand. They are targeting fake Chicago type urbanites who take “outdoorsy” trips up to WI and want to “look the part”.

No different than the uppity, snobby REI crowd who look appalled when i tell them im buying some sort of gear to actually use while hunting. It’s astounding how many people walk around that store wearing $400 down puffy jackets but the extent of cold they suffer is the walk from their Tesla to the store and then back again. Those are the same people also buying Filson now when they go to Door Cty in the fall to be “outside” as they walk from store to store in Fish Creek.
 

musty

FNG
Joined
Apr 15, 2023
Messages
15
I wear the tin pants/tin coat all the time. Older made in the US stuff though. I bought a tin vest a couple years ago and was pissed to see "made in bangladesh" on the tag. If I ever wear out the tin stuff I have I will replace it with their competitors stuff.

Once a year they send me a brochure and it's a bunch of coca cola cowboys and wanna be fishermen. Makes me cringe. Oh well, hopefully they found a market to sell their overpriced overseas junk.
 

Wrench

WKR
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
6,275
Location
WA
Pro tip, when you need to rewax your gear, put it in the dryer and check it every couple minutes. The wax will suck into the cloth instead of just seal the top of the fabric.

Don't over cook it or your wife (or husband if you're a recent filson fan (no judgment)) will will kill you.
 
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Messages
586
Location
WA
Pro tip, when you need to rewax your gear, put it in the dryer and check it every couple minutes. The wax will suck into the cloth instead of just seal the top of the fabric.

Don't over cook it or your wife (or husband if you're a recent filson fan (no judgment)) will will kill you.
Good tip! What temp and time do you find work best for this?

I am dreading hand waxing my double bibs this winter.
 

wowzers

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
200
I’m on my fourth pair of double tin pants. I also have several hats from them, one being a tin cloth baseball hat that is probably fifteen years old. I work in the woods and like their stuff but it’s definitely not targeted for guys like me anymore.
 

bozeman

WKR
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
2,879
Location
Alabama
What other company provides similar shirts/jackets/pants? As I mentioned, Chene is on the waterfowl, but what about the remainder?
 

Oregonboy

WKR
Joined
Sep 19, 2019
Messages
582
My experience with Filson: A once great company that now sucks and has gotten extremely overpriced. I've bought a handful of items over the past 5 years (mostly during the sales) and there's very little consistency in their quality. All the t-shirts I've ordered fit very differently. Even the Filson merino beanie I have has a hole wearing in whereas all my other beanies don't. I don't see Made in America on any of it, most of it is made in Indonesia per the tag. Such a bummer.
 
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FCCDerek

FCCDerek

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
172
Location
North Idaho
What other company provides similar shirts/jackets/pants? As I mentioned, Chene is on the waterfowl, but what about the remainder?
I'm curious about this as well. I have a Schaeffer Outfitters waxed canvas brush jacket, and its nice but it's not made in the US either. Not sure of any legit outdoor gear brand anymore that makes any waxed canvas gear.
 
OP
FCCDerek

FCCDerek

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
172
Location
North Idaho
Because it seems to me all the newer popular hunting gear companies are going with high speed synthetics for their stuff.
 

S-3 ranch

WKR
Joined
Jan 18, 2022
Messages
1,146
Location
Texas / Hillcounrty
I have and use the wool mackinaw pants, shirts, main wool jackets when it’s super cold
Yes hipsters in Austin Texas love fulson and there burkinstock sandals
But F the hipster crowd, I am a comfortable clothing ranchero & hunter and don’t care about style besides my wife does the shopping for us
 

hibernation

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 11, 2020
Messages
132
Location
Oregon
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.
It's absolutely not their target demographic, but it is exactly what they want their target demographic to think. They've changed ownership several times since the 1980's, but the most recent I think was 2012 where they made a concerted effort to market themselves as more of a "lifestyle" brand.

There's so many brands that follow this path. Selling to people who will use your products hard for a full lifetime is tough and not very profitable. Selling an image to people who will use your product lightly and occasionally, replacing it out of boredom every few years, is very profitable and doesn't actually take careful manufacturing or design.

It's not an organic trend, hipsters didn't just "discover" filson and take over. The company was floundering and new ownership decided this was the way to rebrand and revitalize the company. I'd add Pendleton and Woolrich to the same category, they're coasting off reputation and don't hardly make a real wool shirt anymore.
 

ahlgringo

WKR
Joined
Mar 27, 2014
Messages
1,033
Buy a couple old Jac shirts, a single or double mackinaw and some tin pants- all used and made in USA and I think you can call it good for Filson gear. Beat the shit out of it and use it like it’s supposed to be. Good stuff that has been going 15+ strong for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
306
I have worn Filson clothing for over 30 years. They have definitely gone down in quality the past few years. I’m glad I have a lot of their older clothing. Bemidji Woolen Mills, Johnson Woolen Mills, and Stormy Kromer all still make good stuff though.
 

Poser

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,622
Location
Durango CO
I once had a girlfriend who had a super wealthy boss who fancied himself as a bit of a country boy because he owned a "farm". It wasn't actually a farm, rather a house in the country on some property. Once he bought that place and started spending time out there and hiring local fellas to solve all of his problems with owning a house in the country, he started doing a little hunting. I didn't know anything about the kind of hunting or hunter he was, but every time I saw him he wanted to aggressively talk hunting -as in we're in a room full of powerful and influential people and he's got me concerned at the bar talking hunting and I can't escape. whenever high rollin' whoever comes over to shake hands, he starts telling them how we're both hunters. Rather embarrassing, but the fact that he liked me so much was fantastic for my then GF's salary.

So, company Xmas party was a huge deal every year. He'd rent out a different bar every year and have an open bar. If the bar didn't have a pool table, he'd rent one and have it delivered for the party. This guy had everything so his employees struggled to buy him presents and the present opening was a BIG deal as he'd hand out bonus checks and they were hefty. I suggested a rather fancy, waxed Filson hunting hat of some type or another in blaze orange as its a rich man's hunting hat, afterall. He opened it, looked at it for about 3 seconds, threw it across the room and proclaimed loudly, "real hunters don't wear orange!" He didn't even take it home.
 
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