‘In Your Words’ explores the incredible stories we’ve received from Filson fans across the globe. Send us your own experiences with our clothing or product here for a chance to be featured on the Filson Life blog. David C., an over-road trucker with 22 years of experience, wrote us regarding his Filson jacket which has faithfully served him for over 2 million miles of travel.
I hope you can repair this old friend of mine. I’m a trucker working with Werner out of Omaha, Nebraska. I’m at 2.9 million accident free miles, and 2 million of these miles have been with this jacket. It’s been in blizzards, chaining up trucks, working in -10 degrees or below. Been in winds in Arizona, rains throughout South Florida and Louisiana, dust storms — you name it. It’s been through every state in the lower 48 and in Canada.
This coat has never seen a hanger. It’s just been wadded up and thrown on the floor, on seats, or on bunks. I even washed it a few times before I found out you weren’t supposed to.
The jacket’s been through hell and back. Thrown off flat beds, hit with hail, flood waters, snow, ice, winds, for over 2 million miles. I would like to get it repaired, so it’ll be with me when — Good Lord protect me — I make 3 million accident free miles.
I bought this jacket at a store in South Dakota which was going out of business in the 1990’s, I’d never heard of Filson. I saw the jacket, and being his last day in business, the owner gave a me a good discount so I said ‘why not?’ It didn’t impress me initially, out on the road you go through coats like crazy, and I was hoping it’d last a season. Man was I wrong! It’s lasted me almost 20 years of everyday use.
This jacket is an old friend, hope you can patch it up. If you knew all the miles, and things this jacket has been through, you would understand how it became an old friend. Don’t care about looks, as long as you can fix the jacket with patches, sewing, whatever you need to do.
Rest assured, David’s jacket is being returned to him after a thorough inspection. While unfit for repairs, Filson is replacing the jacket free of charge.
