If you love nature, the outdoors, frosty mornings or cool evenings then you will love Filson. If you hunted with dad or grandpa or read about the hunts of the past then you experienced the comfort simplicity and tradition of wool. You saw the red/black wool coat the first morning of the hunt, or worn around the evening campfire. If you drink coffee and walk with your dog, Filson will be perfect for you. If you love to share a morning with your husband, wife or friend on a slope or by the river or in a fresh snowfall you will love Filson.

There is something instinctive to the soul of an outdoors enthusiast that likes the qualities that are natural. When I discovered a Filson Tin Cloth hunting coat, in a sporting goods store, it was an instant match. Twenty-some years later and I can’t part with that coat. This purchase led me to your catalog and I knew I needed the Filson Mackinaw Cruiser. I had a young family and money was tight so I could only dream. I saved until I could justify the purchase. For many years this coat has been a comfort on walks and camping trips. It has kept me warm on many all-day sits in the woods, waiting for the right deer. It carries the smell of wood smoke from evenings around the campfire and it looks good on trips to town. It’s really pretty simple if you like natural fibers, if you want quality, if you find comfort in the tradition of wool and cherish memories form the past then you will love Filson. I will hang on to my Mackinaw Cruiser as long as I can spend a day in the woods or drink a cup of coffee by a stream.

Share your own memories about your Filson Mackinaw Cruiser. We want to hear who wore it, where it’s been and how it performed for you. You can include photos or not. If you just want to send a photo, that’s OK, too. We will go through all the stories and select the best. The winner will receive a free new Mackinaw Cruiser. Click here to enter.

I am not going to tell you a story. I am going to tell you the truth, I love that Mackinaw Cruiser. I grew up in the 60s and it seemed that everybody owned one of those plaid beauties. I think I just had a Norman Rockwell moment. When you see that coat you can’t help but to think of opening day deer season in the Pennsylvania woods. Thanks for the memories.

Share your own memories about your Filson Mackinaw Cruiser. We want to hear who wore it, where it’s been and how it performed for you. You can include photos or not. If you just want to send a photo, that’s OK, too. We will go through all the stories and select the best. The winner will receive a free new Mackinaw Cruiser. Click here to enter.

A couple of years ago my uncle and I went camping in Upstate New York. It was mid-January and the temperature was in the teens. On the first night I was drinking hot chocolate and spilled it all over my jacket. Within a moment’s notice, my uncle came back from his car with his old Mackinaw Cruiser. He said he kept it for times like this, as he clenched his newer one he had on. After putting it on I felt a relief from the cold winter breeze. That night I even slept in it. I was able to enjoy the rest of my weekend comfortably because my uncle always kept his stable Filson jacket in his car. The only negative I had about the Mackinaw Cruiser was that my feet were cold the whole weekend.

Share your own memories about your Filson Mackinaw Cruiser. We want to hear who wore it, where it’s been and how it performed for you. You can include photos or not. If you just want to send a photo, that’s OK, too. We will go through all the stories and select the best. The winner will receive a free new Mackinaw Cruiser. Click here to enter.

John E. Riutta was formerly head of binocular and spotting scope development for Leupold & Stevens, Inc. He now publishes The Well-read Naturalist, writes extensively for bird watching and other outdoor publications, and of course, travels in search of birds yet unseen.

Back in the days when a traveler might recount tales not only of adventures had at the journey’s destination but of the pleasures and enjoyments experienced during the voyage to and from there as well, upon meeting an experienced voyageur, one might notice their valise emblazoned with emblems from far-away cities, exotic hotels, and grand railroad or steamship lines. Both badges of experience as well as mementos of the traveler’s adventures, these decals became so popular and well recognized in their time that scarcely any Hollywood movie or magazine advertisement would dare to depict a travel scene without such a colorfully decorated case featured prominently in the picture.

While the days of such travel have long since passed, some practitioners, among whom I count myself, of another past-time with its roots in those same by-gone days still engage in a similar practice of bedecking a key piece of their essential gear with visual reminders of their adventures. I mean of course bird watchers and their iconic field vests. 

Adopted from field journalists – who it is said adopted them from the U.S. Army Rangers for whom they were originally designed during World War II – the backs of the multi-pocketed vests sported by bird watchers can often be read as a narrative history of their quests to see birds often rare and far afield.

For as long as I have counted myself among the binocular-toting tribe, I have hung about my increasingly stout frame one of these very vests. Originally a Filson photo-journalist’s vest (which I still proudly own) and later – as the need for additional pockets arose due to my travels taking me farther and farther afield, requiring the safe toting of airline tickets, language phrase books and a passport in addition to my usual field guides, notebooks, camera gear, and other equipment – Filson’s Travel Vest, the khaki-colored back of this ever-present and invaluable piece of my travel and field kit has over the years become a kaleidoscope of colors from all the badges affixed to it.

From the annual attendance patches of the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival where I yearly worked to fill out my south Texas life list to an antique crest of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds given to me during my visit to the largest bird watching event in the world, the British Birdfair in Rutland Water, England, each of these emblems not only proclaims to others where I’ve been, they remind me of people, places, and of course, birds that have been a part of my life – or in some cases, that were not. For while I failed to get a glimpse of the Three-wattled Bellbird depicted on the Neotropical Bird Club crest proudly centered on the vest’s back, my trips to Canopy Tower in Panama have brought me sightings of other such remarkable birds as the Purple-throated Fruit Crow and the Bicolored Antbird.

So when you notice someone in an airport, train station, or hotel lobby sporting a well-worn vest with bulging pockets and a rainbow of emblems the predominant images upon which are birds, take a moment to stop and ponder all the places that person has been and all the remarkable things they’ve seen. As bird watchers tend to be a unusually friendly lot, feel free to give a gentle shoulder tap and inquire about one that particularly catches your eye; especially if the vest’s wearer is a portly bloke with reading glasses at the end of his nose and sporting a beard that is a bit more grey and longer than it probably should be. I’m always keen to recount my adventures with those I meet on my travels.

At Filson, “Might as Well Have the Best” doesn’t stop at the product– we’ve got the most talented team of employees around that live and breathe  Filson in and out of the offices. First up, our VP of Marketing, Harold Egler. If there’s a department you’d like to see interviewed, leave us a comment below!

Harold Egler, Filson VP of Marketing

How long have you been with Filson?

I have been an employee for 4 years, but I have been a Filson customer since the 80’s when I moved to Seattle from the mid-West.   When I first visited a Filson store, I thought I died and went to heaven.  Finally, I found a company that produced products for my lifestyle and they were totally unique.   The more I researched the company, the more I learned about its rich past and heritage.  As I discovered more products and began using them, I realized what true quality was.  I will always be a Filson customer.

What do you do on a typical work day?

I work with all things marketing – the look and feel of the brand, the cadence of our customer communication, and with our Customer Care team.  I love what I do because every day is different around here.

What makes working at Filson different than other places?

Filson is a company that suits my lifestyle and my belief system – I like and use what we produce. I think I understand our customers and what makes them excited, and I take great pride in our product quality and our heritage.  Filson is also the smallest company I have worked for and I love the diversity it requires in what I do each and every day.

What is one of your most memorable stories in your Filson gear?

I have a 120 foot long Laurel hedge that is almost 20 feet high.  In the summer it grows a foot a day (OK, so I might be exaggerating a bit, but it is a chore to keep under control.) My favorite memory in Filson gear is the year I tackled the hedge in my Filson  single tin pants.  I felt like superman – no fear from my industrial hedge trimmer, no nasty scraps or gouges from the unruly branches.  I singlehandedly cut the entire hedge in one day.  I almost died, but I did it thanks to my ‘coat of armor’ !  I still use the tin pants for this semi-annual chore, but I pace myself secure in the knowledge that these pants are tougher than that hedge.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest region?

I am an avid steelhead fisherman – I do a lot more fishing than catching, but the scenery, the sounds, and smells are amazing.  It is my Zen pursuit.

What’s coming up at Filson that you’re most excited about?

We are re-doing our fishing line in Spring 2013 – I cannot wait!

Now the hard stuff. What is your favorite product?

Tough question!  I would have to say that I love our Mackinaw Cruiser.  It is a real workhorse and still unique after being patented almost 100 years ago.  I am a big fan of our #257 briefcase (I’ve owned one for 20 years and it looks better today than it did when I bought it).  I love our tin packer hat, but don’t wear them that often

Anything additional you want to add before we sign off?

Wanna make someone happy?  Give them a Filson gift.  You’ll see firsthand why our customers love us.

Thanks, Harry!

A number of years ago I bought a Mackinaw Cruiser in Duluth, Minnesota on the way to a vacation on the North Shore. It turned out to be my “go to” jacket for most activities in late fall and winter. I had it broken in and feeling just right. Fast forward a few years and one of my sons was in college and taking odd jobs to get through school. After an icy winter storm he was hired by a tree service to help with some clean up from downed trees and branches. My son borrowed my Cruiser for the job. While he was working, he got a little over heated, took off the cruiser, laid it on top of the wood chipper…sure enough it got snagged by a branch and ended up going through the wood chipper! The cruiser was tough, but not tough enough for a trip through a wood chipper. I have other winter coats with modern fabrics and technology, but I still prefer the feel and heft of a good wool coat. If you don’t send a Filson Cruiser through a wood chipper, the coat will last a lifetime. Outstanding quality!

Share your own memories about your Filson Mackinaw Cruiser. We want to hear who wore it, where it’s been and how it performed for you. You can include photos or not. If you just want to send a photo, that’s OK, too. We will go through all the stories and select the best. The winner will receive a free new Mackinaw Cruiser. Click here to enter.

My valet and I were hunting wild horned rabbits in the Klondike back during the blizzard of’ ’86. Man it was cold. Did you ask how cold it was? It was so cold that my scotch whiskey was frozen like ice cubes and I kept them in my pockets. I was wearing a Sears hooded jersey sweatshirt with attached mittens and my valet was wearing a Mackinaw Cruiser he had gotten from a secondhand store down in Miami.

Man it was cold. Did you ask me how cold it was? It was so cold that when I fired my gun, the lead bullets refused to leave the gun barrel. They would go to the end of the barrel and just stop there. I would point the end of the gun barrel down and they would just roll out into the snow. The snow was so deep. How deep you ask? It was so deep that I could barely see my valet’s raised arm and the end of the sleeve of the red wool Mackinaw Cruiser coat he was wearing. My valet was a little fellow. He was a midget and once worked for one of those circuses that winter over down around Tampa. That Mackinaw Cruiser was an XL and it did not fit him too well. One day I looked back and saw his little arm sticking up through the snow. It was frozen stiff. I dug him out of the snow and took the Mackinaw Cruiser off his frozen stiff body, wrapped him in my Sears jacket and propped him against a tree and give him my frozen gun in case he thawed out in spring.

Well, I put on that warm Mackinaw Cruiser,  put those scotch ice cubes in a container inside that warm coat and I drank my way out of the Klondike never to go wild horned rabbit hunting again. And that is how that Mackinaw Cruiser saved my life. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Michael C. Boggs Consulting Forester p.s. Years later I think I saw the litter fellow jumping through a fire hoop at a circus down in Dallas.

Share your own memories about your Filson Mackinaw Cruiser. We want to hear who wore it, where it’s been and how it performed for you. You can include photos or not. If you just want to send a photo, that’s OK, too. We will go through all the stories and select the best. The winner will receive a free new Mackinaw Cruiser. Click here to enter.

My son is the proud owner of a Filson Mackinaw but lives in sunny California where Mackinaw wearing is a bit of an overkill. A couple of Christmases ago he came to visit me in Vermont. With delight he donned his Mackinaw to guard against the frosty Vermont cold (where we have 10 months of winter and a couple of months of rough sledding). I got a license to hunt a national forest evergreen and we braved the snowy Vermont wilderness with hatchet in hand. I took this photo of him looking majestic in his Mackinaw. Although it was snowing mightily and we had to ford an icy river (actually a stream, to be more truthful), we found a tree, cut it down, and stuffed into the vehicle for manly decorating over hot cocoa while his Mackinaw dried by the fire. Fortunately for me, my son saw that I was bereft of such warmth and gifted to me my own Mackinaw the following Christmas. Huzzah! What a gift! This coat was made for this country.

Share your own memories about your Filson Mackinaw Cruiser. We want to hear who wore it, where it’s been and how it performed for you. You can include photos or not. If you just want to send a photo, that’s OK, too. We will go through all the stories and select the best. The winner will receive a free new Mackinaw Cruiser. Click here to enter.