# Filson Mackinaw vs USN Peacoat



## Youngster (Jun 5, 2008)

Can anyone who has experience with the Filson (single) Mackinaw and the standard Navy Pea-coat (or any military specification pea coats such as those made by sterlingwear or Schott) give me some help? I live in Northern California, and I find a fair amount of opportunity to wear my Peacoat, but I was thinking about getting a Filson Cruiser. My reasoning was that the lack of lining (surplus pea-coats have poly-quilt liners that are not removable) would make it breath better and let me wear it in a wider range of temperatures. The liner also makes it pretty bulky. I would also think that the 24 oz weight of the charcoal mackinaw would be somewhat lighter than the pea-coat, which I believe to be 32 oz. However, I have heard that these Filson coats are very warm, so perhaps the better quality wool means that despite all this, they are still warmer.
So please any advice is great. I like my Pea-coat, but if my reasoning is Correct about the Filson, it would be a much better choice. I would just go buy it, but It would be a damn shame to wear it for a week only to find that it was too warm. If only they would let you do a test drive.


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## Corcovado (Nov 24, 2007)

I own a pea coat and a Mackinaw cruiser, and they are both among my favorite articles of clothing. The Mackinaw cruiser is quite warm. It's not as heavy as a pea coat. I guess it isn't quite as warm as a pea coat. I don't know if it will prove too warm for you in your climate though.

I think the primary difference in the experience of wearing one or the other is due to the cut and the weight. The pea coat being double breasted, and having large lapels, is not really something that allows for a whole lot of freedom of movement. I mean, I just couldn't imagine chopping wood in it, or hunting in it. Standing watch on a cold night, or going to an outdoors sporting event in the winter, yes. The Mackinaw cruiser is more like a jacket, and I would choose it over the pea coat if I was going to be doing anything particularly active. Also, if I had to take a coat off and carry it on my arm while indoors, I'd much rather have the Filson as the pea coat is bulkier. The Filson is more comfortable to drive in.

Some of the other Mackinaw wool items might suit you even better than the MC, such as the vest, the bomber jacket, or the "Mackinaw Wool Zip-in Jacket/Liner." I own the vest as well, and it is ideal as a layering item. I like the zip liner's looks -- it's reminiscent of a West Point cadet's jacket -- but at this point I think I should sit on my hands and let someone else buy some Filson products for a change.


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## vwguy (Jul 23, 2004)

I have a Mac and love it, keeps you warm, but not too bulky.

Brian


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## Youngster (Jun 5, 2008)

Whereabouts do you live Corcovado? Brazil judging from your handle. :icon_smile:
I only ask to gauge the climate you find such garments comfortable, as it seems we are both Californians, and I live not to far from Big Sur.


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## unmodern (Aug 10, 2009)

I have a peacoat but I lust after a Mackinaw ever since jfkemd put up those lovely pics of a very cheap red one. (I don't have the flair to rock a red one, though.)

I think it may be a while before I save up for the cruiser. The two coats would occupy similar slots in the wardrobe. I agree with Corcovado's pros and cons of each. I sometimes wish my peacoat was more limber and lighter. But in the dead of winter in CT there's nothing like it. And somehow I think a coat with four flap pockets and shell-holders would be harder to wear day after day after day in January.


--unmodern


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## Youngster (Jun 5, 2008)

Whereabouts do you live Corcovado? Brazil judging from your handle. :icon_smile:
I only ask to gauge the climate you find such garments comfortable, as it seems we are both Californians, and I live not to far from Big Sur.


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## Corcovado (Nov 24, 2007)

*Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars*



Youngster said:


> Whereabouts do you live Corcovado? Brazil judging from your handle. :icon_smile:
> I only ask to gauge the climate you find such garments comfortable, as it seems we are both Californians, and I live not to far from Big Sur.


I was listening to one of my favorite songs, by the well-dressed Stan Getz, when I was creating an account here at AAAC, and that handle popped into my head.

I live in the midwest, which is much too far away from Big Sur. It gets pretty cold here most winters. Not Minnesota or Maine cold, but at times cold enough that your nose freezes and the wind goes right through your blue jeans as if you had gone outside in your pajamas. The weather is capricious in the winter really. For a few weeks it may be brutally cold, then we may get warm weather in February, and then another cold snap in March.


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