Waxing Over Tin Cloth

When is a criticism more than complaint?

I've arrived at that time in life when I might sound like too much the grumpy old man disapproving the present or change or whatever is current.  I don't want to be that guy.  And since I further associate the crabby disgruntled thing with the downright evil that wants to make things "great again," I must distance myself from those opprobrious politics.

Not many things "back then" in truth were better any more than they are better now.  That said, there are improvements on what was---like the best denim, boots, and leather jackets.  Democracy may be failing and the world burning down but this is the golden age of workwear Amekaji style.  It's always worth thinking about change because without it we're not here at all.

Some things are surely better than ever: the quality, availability, diversity, and execution of denim is a benchmark that carries into other exceptional workwear.  Thank you Japan and those micromakers elsewhere who have decided that quality is worth the effort, the cost, and the risk.  It's got to be harrowing to try to make fewer and better when the immediate response is who would spend that on a pair of jeans.

Certain "repro" brands like The Real McCoys make everything better than it once was even though they mean to, you know, make repros.  I'm not terribly impressed by reproductions that mean to give us the corner-cuts and choices based on wartime or other compromises.  Why not just make it better.  But that is a judgment call too.  What makes it better?

Some are making things as they always have and once did and are also keeping up with the times, especially in audio---VPL makes turntables, McIntosh still builds in Binghamton, New York and while much is now unaffordable, it's still the very good stuff.  

Now we get to the rub because lots of old brands have simply lost the plot.  Not many remember when Abercrombie and Fitch was quality hardcore outdoor goods.  Even Eddie Bauer once stepped up and now steps down.  While A&F is no longer recognizable or rather has "successfully" rebranded for investors and those who would have never liked the original styles, Bauer has price pointed their way to mediocrity.  Carhartt has never taken this dive because it has never had pretenses: it is as good as it has ever been at being affordable, durable, and doing what it is supposed to do for the in-comparison-affordable.  (Their WIP doesn't compete well with its higher end competition but there's some charm to it, no?)  Kudos to those who have not forsaken their vision, whatever it is.

Hey Filson,  I'm not impressed with what's happened to you.  It's not just the price increases for things that have always been around, like the fine Mackinaw wool vests and smaller canvas bags.  It's that some of the best designs have either disappeared entirely, like the double Mackinaw, or changed in ways that are clearly inferior, like my beloved Tin Cloth Cruiser.  (The legendary Double Logger has been out of stock so long that one shudders to think what they will or will not do to it should it return, as currently promised.)  

Let's get back to the Tin Cloth Cruiser.  I pulled mine out of the closet yesterday because the weather was foul and I was going outside to do things involving trash, mud, and other messes.  I think I bought this jacket in 1986, which by Filson standards does not make it old.

Yeah, it's old school boxy but it's hard not to believe that Ship John's Wills---a far better fit design---was not inspired by the waxed Cruiser.  There are plenty of other waxed cruisers and chore coats but it seems to me that Filson is the benchmark.  Bless Ship John for upping the game exponentially and trying make their work accessible.  This picture of my Filson Cruiser doesn't do justice to the deep grime and patina that I now enjoy.  I have done nothing to this jacket but wear it since its purchase.

For yucks I went looking for the current version of the Filson Cruiser and was unsurprised by my WTF.  It doesn't have the same double flapped top pockets with that smaller cigarette pocket stuffed into the larger one nor does it offer these deep dish fronts.  Mine also has side hand pockets but I didn't bother to notice if the new version even tries.  I bet it does because this is the new Filson vibe: it's actually streetwear that just looks like workwear.  My is also unlined and I vaguely recall that this was once an option.  The new version comes only lined.  Meh.  I can see why some would say this is superior.  Who likes that feeling of stiff waxy canvas on bare arms?  I guess I do.  

I'm heartened to see that their Double Tin Cloth pants and bibs are both (supposedly) making a comeback, along with the Double Logger jacket.  I'm not holding my breath and if the Cruiser is any indication, someone will think a "new" design superior.  That remains to be seen.  I'm not ruling it out but certainly now counting it in.  Is it really so grumpy to think these were all unbroke so don't fix'em?

Considering that my jacket is now 35 years old I am confident it will outlive me. You can call dibs if that suits you. I don't wanna say they ruined a good thing but I think I just said that.

I'm going to get some Oil Finish Double Tin Cloth pants when (and if) they come back in stock just to be sure you can bury me in something that guarantees I won't haunt you.  Filson is apparently winning new friends while some old ones are barely holding on to what's left.  (Don't get me going how they have screwed up their flannels.)  They might be banking on folks not knowing the difference, like when those other guys filled up perfectly good ketchup with corn syrup and made us all sick.  Or they might just be making bank.