Filson Ranger Short Cruiser Jacket

A lot of the winter, I wear Filson’s iconic Short Lined Tin Cloth cruiser. It is warm only because it’s heavy and cuts wind like a pro. As soon as the weather starts to warm up, that jacket can become much too warm to wear. Which is a shame, but luckily Filson looked to fill that gap this year with the new Ranger Short Cruiser.

This is an unlined, lighter weight, dry waxed jacket with similar styling. The cut is more modern and this is more casual jacket than it is true workwear. However, I have become a big fan of this jacket, as it’s likely the jacket most people actually want and need when they buy the Short Lined Tin Cloth Cruiser.

Specs & Materials

This is a 7-oz. 100% cotton dry-waxed fabric from British Millerain, which means that it is also machine washable. This is a very easy to care for, lightweight, variant of Filson’s more iconic offerings.

But the material is still amazing in its own right. Filson trimmed up the cut, where it is narrower than standard sizing, and I am true-to-size in size Large here. The Jacket is unlined and uses branded snaps for closures. It’s simple, easy, and light weight.

Wear & Style

As I mentioned in the opening, this is a lightweight jacket. Most waxed jackets you buy don’t feel light, even if they don’t wear warm. This jacket though feels very light in hand, as the material chosen is quite thin. The wax is also a dry wax, which means it gives you a waxed look, without any worry of wax transfer or greasy feeling.

This wears like a trucker jacket. It’s cut in a modern shape, and thus will run a bit trimmer — it’s not made for layering. The buttons are press snaps throughout, and the colors are slightly more lively than most Filson colors. I selected the navy, and am happy with the depth of the color.

This type of jacket is one of the easiest styles to pull off. It works well with basically any shirt under it, and with jeans, chinos, and even trousers if you are thoughtful.

Even though it’s quite lightweight, it does still offer impressively high wind resistance — though I do wonder how long the wax lasts. Even still, light rain falls easily off the jacket, and wind is no match. Thus it doesn’t wear cool at all, so you won’t be tossing this on during a hot day for looks, you’ll need to factor in that this does not breath well.

Which is likely the biggest downside to this. For me there’s a finite window where it’s warm enough that I can only wear this over a shirt, but cool enough that I won’t overheat.

This, for me, is the perfect shoulder season jacket to keep by the door. I can toss it on when I run out on errands and know that it is likely to work with the vast majority of the clothes I wear day to day, while being enough to keep me from freezing should the wind or rain pick up, but not so much that I roast if the sun makes an appearance.

This is a really good material selection for this jacket overall.

Overall

I said it already, I’ll say it again: this is probably the better jacket for most people wanting a Filson Short Cruiser. It’s a much easier jacket to wear on a practical daily basis, and cut much better for most people as well.

I really like this jacket, whether it gets enough wear to stay is more dependent on how well it fits with the weather for me than anything else. I recommend it over the Tin Cloth Cruisers unless you are wanted a serious work wear piece or are wanting a colder weather jacket.

Buy here, $199.