I’ve had this jacket for some time now, and I’ve bought many less expensive clones of this jacket before getting this. So when I tell you that this is end-game for a waxed work-wear jacket, know that I say that as someone who has tried hard to avoid paying the premium and dealing with the sizing, but also as someone who now owns two of these iconic jackets.
No matter how you look at it, Filson’s Short Lined Tin Cloth Cruiser is amazing.
Materials
The setup on this is simple:
- The shell is 14oz oil finished Tin Cloth (cotton)
- The body lining is 6oz dry finish Cover Cloth (cotton)
- Sleeves are lined with Polyester Twill
- All the buttons are metal shank buttons
- Pockets: hand pockets, slotted utility pocket, and flap pocket on the front. No interior pockets.
Of all the waxed jackets like this I’ve owned, there’s none heavier than this jacket. This jacket has very thick canvas, and weighs quite a bit because of that.
Tin Cloth is one of the better fabrics Filson makes, as it’s a very tight weave, and thus very durable and resistant to tears/snags material. This is still cotton, and it will wear out over time, faster with hard use. But for city dwellers — well the tan one in these pictures I’ve had for a couple years now and it still looks new.
Another key part is the oil finishing, which is an oily-wax compound. This compound keeps the jacket pliable, but very resistant to wind, while adding good water resistance. This is not like your normal waxed jackets you might have tried before.
All in all, the materials are top notch.
Wear & Performance
Filson’s blurb on the jacket:
Our Short Lined Cruiser Jacket is made with Tin Cloth, our signature waxed cotton that has protected foresters and outdoorsmen from weather, brambles, and abrasion for a century. Its durable weather resistance is unequaled.
The first dozen or more wears of this jacket, it will most likely feel like the jacket is wearing you. You are the one molding to it. The sleeves are stiff, the collar never lays how you want it, and the cuffs are all sorts of shapes — just not the shape you want them to be.
You sit down on a dark color leather seat, and get up — oh, it’s a little shiny there now. Don’t even get me started if you turned on seat warmers.
The jacket is a heavy weight on your torso. You can feel it there each time you move. It’s not stopping you from moving, but it’s letting you know it’s there. You probably tossed it on to stay warm, but are now quickly realizing that you are not staying that warm. The next time you toss it on hoping for better results, but then you get too warm.
This is how the start of owning this jacket is going to go for you. It’ll be a roller coaster of no-quite-rights. Then suddenly you’ll sort it out, it’ll all click, and it’ll be magic. Like me, you’ll be shopping for which color you want next.
But, until then, you keep coming back to wearing this, because there’s something very effortlessly great about this jacket. It feels like armor. When worn correctly, you find that you can wear it in a very wide range of temperatures. You still check that spot where that rough edge of something scraped across the jacket, in disbelief that there’s not a mark to be seen.
Why you keep coming back, could be:
- A material so heavy that it feels impractical to damage it if you are not actively trying. I cannot tell you how many cut edges of cardboard have sliced at the sleeves during recycling runs — but I can tell you I can’t see the marks.
- The oil-wax finish is a little persnickety on your leather chairs, but the first time a large gust of wind hit the fortress of oil-wax, you smiled deeply with satisfaction. You didn’t even feel the wind. The distinct scent has become something you look forward to.
- You tossed a layer on under it, and realized just how warm it can keep you with the right flannel, or wool sweater. You don’t wear synthetics with this.
- Worn over your t-shirt for am impromptu deli run, netted you the perfect layer to tackle the harshness of lines, and be comfortable doing it.
At some point you will toss this on and do up a few of the buttons — you realize that you fastened those once seemingly impossible buttons without a thought, and the jacket feels like you are finally wearing it. Like your favorite boots, it matches to the bends of your elbows, and the collar lays just how you want it.
There’s marks on the jacket, you are not sure where most of them came from, and you rarely notice them — somehow this is less about patina and more about it being your jacket. It has folds and creases which you never feel becuase they are your folds and creases.
If you can bear to get to that point with this jacket, then you’ll end up with what I’ve found to be the best waxed jacket on the market.
Here’s the positives:
- A trucker jacket style, made to be worn harder than any denim trucker could imagine.
- A very rugged and durable fabric which will wear just fine going to the coffee shop, and will handle clearing brush just as well.
- Warmth when you need and want it through layering, but never a cool wearing jacket. This is not your summer jacket.
- Some of the best windblocking I have in any jacket, synthetic or not.
- Ability to shed light rain and snow with ease.
- A collar that is simply underrated. Wear it turned down for a cleaner classic appearance. Flip it up and it’ll hold some sort of form, but it’s so tall that it’ll curl properly as your chin pushes the points to the side. Yet remain fully functional to protect your neck from the elements.
- A jacket which actually feels as though it’s going to last you a lifetime, even though it likely will not.
There are, of course, a few downsides:
- Oil-wax is oily. Most ‘waxed’ jackets use what’s called a ‘dry wax’ which feels dry to the hand, and gives a little stiffness to the jacket. Dry wax is also often washable, and won’t transfer. Oil-wax is none of that. You cannot wash this, you can only spot clean. It doesn’t feel stiff because of the wax. It does feel a little greasy, especially when new or freshly waxed. It will transfer on to things. It has a distinct smell to it, which will drive some crazy (don’t fly in it). All of this gives you the above positives, but has clear negatives.
- Just-ok-pockets. The hand warmer pockets are cut high, and cause your hands to feel unnaturally high on your belly when in the pockets. Certainly the pocket layout looks quite cool, but they are not highly functional pockets for anything outside maybe a couple pencils and stashing your work gloves. There is no inside breast pocket, which would be amazing to have.
- Sizing is messy. Filson cuts their jackets wide. I have this in both a Large, and a Medium-Long. The medium-long fits me perfectly, while the large is boxier and means I can wear it with good layering under it, but the medium-long only with light layers (now you know why I have two). Most people can size down one size, but be prepared to return (so make sure you can). The sizing can be tricky, but when in doubt, pick the one which allows some room for layers, you can thank me later. This is real work-wear, so it should be cut so you can move and work in it. Note: Filson currently says this runs small, which could not be more wrong, even the size chart shows that. I am not sure what is going on there.
While this jacket takes a lot to break in, once you get it there, you’ll find yourself in your next predicament: convincing yourself not to pack it on your next trip.
Overall
This is a trucker jacket for people who don’t sit in trucks to work — but for people who work out on the ‘land’ or at least want to look that part. It’s also a fantastic jacket for the hard work of walking to get your kids from school, raking up some leaves — and of course those runs to get rid of your accumulation of Bezos-Boxes.
I’ve owned a lot of work-wear waxed jackets, and a lot of Filson waxed jackets, and if I had to consolidate down to only one: it’d be this one without hesitation.
The biggest downside is that it’s hard to travel with — you won’t want to wear it on a plane, and it’ll take up half your bag if you pack it (fold it inside out to keep the oil-wax off everything else). But, at the same time, you’ll end up liking this so much, you’ll probably pack it a few times, I have.
It’s the best waxed jacket.