Tag: made in the usa

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Filson Tin Cloth vs Rugged Twill

Filson luggage tag in Tin Cloth. The top one has at least a year of use while the bottom one is essentially brand new.

Introduction

In the past few years, Filson has expanded their use of their more than 100-year-old “Tin Cloth” to their bags (which originally used rugged twill). Tin cloth is a waxed canvas nicknamed “tin” by the forest workers. They they felt the garments were like armor protecting them from the harsh rain, wind, and brushes during the Klondike Gold Rush.

Filson Tri Fold Wallet. When the tin cloth is brand new (or freshly waxed), it is very dark and looks “wet”.

Filson’s original line of luggage used 22oz rugged twill as the primary exterior material. And while many bags from that line still utilize the twill, Filson has released newly designed bags that have integrated their renowned Tin Cloth into their construction. Some bags use a combination of both materials such as my Photographer’s Backpack, while other bags use solely Tin Cloth.

Filson Photographer’s Backpack (same outer design as the Journeyman Backpack) uses a combination of tin cloth and rugged twill.

I really like the designs of the newer bags such as the 24 hour briefcase and the 48 hour duffle bag. Another change I’ve noticed with these bags is that they use a Nylon Webbed Shoulder Strap instead of the Bridle Leather Shoulder Strap.  The nylon strap seems lighter in weight and appears to distribute the weight over a larger area. I haven’t tried out the nylon strap, but I prefer the look of the bridle leather strap!

If you are in the market for one of Filsons Tin Cloth bags, it would be beneficial for you to know some of the key differences between the Tin Cloth and Rugged Twill.

If you already have one of Filson’s rugged twill bags, the interior seams should be bound with Tin Cloth for durability. You will likely see that the tin cloth seams have darkened/patina faster than the twill around it.

Tin cloth bound seams for extra durability.

Rugged Twill

  • Comes with a water repellant finish that will wear off over time
  • Material is quite stiff and takes a long time to soften up
  • The first areas to fray are typically the edges of bags where they receive the most rubbing
  • Twill’s diagonal weave (the weave used on denim) makes it more resilient than canvas to clean tears

Tin Cloth

  • Lighter in weight (Filson typically uses about 15oz) than the rugged twill
  • Requires periodic rewaxing (Filson Original Oil Finish Wax recommended)
  • Provides less structure when the bag is empty
  • Repels water better than the rugged twill because of the coating and tightness of the weave
  • Consequently, this tight weave and wax makes the material not very breathable
  • Attracts dirt/debris more quickly than the twill
  • Has a cold, clammy feel especially when newly rewaxed
  • Seems prone to “tearing” especially at areas that are creased
  • Shrinks a bit more than the twill especially on outerwear that is repeatedly wet and then dry

Thoughts

Tin cloth seems to darken (or patina) easily. I speculate that the waxed finish helps attract dirt to its surface. The change in color on Tan tin cloth is more distinct than on the Otter Green tin cloth. In addition, rewaxing tin cloth with Filson’s Original’s Wax Finish darkens the material even more. The color will lighten up slightly again when the wax wears off. Tin Cloth is most well-known in the Filsons’s Tan color, while Otter Green comes as a second. Occasionally, black or navy tin cloth is used on bags/outerwear, and I suspect these colors won’t show dirt as easily.

Here’s are some older pics of my Levi’s x Filson Oil Finish Tin Cloth Trucker that was a limited release in 2011/2012.

The tin cloth fabric both darkens and smooths out on areas of high abrasion (elbows, cuffs)
The tin cloth fabric both darkens and smooths out on areas of high abrasion (elbows, cuffs)

Filson recommends a stiff bristled brush to clean the material and spot cleaning. Tin Cloth should not be put in the washer. Personally, I take a damp rag and wipe the areas down.

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The Tin Cloth that Filson uses is 15oz compared to Barbour’s waxed cotton jackets which is 6oz or less. Between the two, Barbour’s jackets are soft, while Filson’s Tin Cloth jackets remain quite stiff throughout its lifetime.

While Tin Cloth repels water better than the rugged twill, the fabric is very unbreathable because it is tightly woven. If you’re wearing an unlined jacket with this material, expect to be soaked with your own sweat! Barbour’s outerwear typically comes with a cotton lining to help with this.

Unlined tin cloth on the Filson x Levi's Trucker jacket. Notice the color difference between the waxed exterior and unwaxed interior!
Unlined tin cloth on the Filson x Levi’s Trucker jacket. Notice the color difference between the waxed exterior and unwaxed interior!

Conclusion

Tin cloth is an older formula than Filson’s rugged twill because it was used on their garments first. The extra water resilience that the fabric has requires periodic rewaxing to maintain it.

Most of the newer bags that have tin cloth come with a Nylon Webbing Shoulder Strap instead of a Bridle Leather Shoulder Strap (priced at $85 on their website!)

I suppose if you want the best of both worlds, you can take Filson’s Oil Finish Original Wax and apply it on a rugged twill bag. You’ll likely need more than one tin worth to cover the whole bag. In doing so, you get the water repellancy from the original wax and also the thickness of the twill. To prevent fraying or reduce additional fraying on my older Filson twill bags, I have taken a dab of the wax and apply it on the areas that receive the most wear (typically the bottom edges of the bag).

Pockets on a Filson Sportsman Bag likely made of unwaxed tin cloth.
Pockets on a Filson Sportsman Bag likely made of unwaxed tin cloth.
Keep a close eye and be sure to rewax highly creased areas like this one.
Keep a close eye and be sure to rewax highly creased areas like this one.
Tin cloth backpack shoulder straps darkening.
Tin cloth backpack shoulder straps darkening.
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Filson Otter Green vs Tan Aging and Patina

Should I get a Filson bag in Otter Green or Tan?

Both of these Filson bags are Otter Green. Yes, you read that correctly! The right one started the same color as the left.

Filson’s first original colors were Otter Green and Tan. If you search for pics of some of the oldest, most worn, tattered Filson bags on Google, they were likely originally Otter Green and not Tan. Take a look at the picture above.

The associates who work at a Filson retail store will typically estimate they sell twice as many Tan bags as they do Otter Green bags. And sure enough, there are quite a number of convincing reasons why they do!

Tan Filson 230 Small Field Bag
Tan Filson 230 Small Field Bag

Tan is the classic Filson color and is likely how people recognize a Filson bag. The contrasting brown bridle leather against the tan canvas really makes a bag “pop”. Also note that the bridle leather is always brown regardless of the canvas color bag you choose (black is an exception – it uses black bridle leather). The contrast of Tan and the rich brown bridle leather is what makes a Filson bag iconic!

As of now I’m at about a dozen plus Filson bags (I’m a bagoholic!). I guesstimate the distribution of colors is about 6 Otter Green, 5 Tan, 1 Black, and 1 Brown. I’m biased towards olive because it is also my favorite color for menswear. For further pics, check out my review on the Filson Zippered Tote.

The way that Tan patinas is that it picks up dirt, indigo dye, and easily darkens. Especially if the bag is carried by your side rubbing against a pair of raw denim. I think Tan is a solid color that won’t go wrong. In the long run, Tan gets darker in most areas of abrasion.

In contrast, the aging of Otter is an unusual phenomenon. Otter Green tends to hide stains very well such as dirt, spilled coffee, or indigo dye. I’ve noticed that the color lightens up over the years to a grayish color. The fading doesn’t happen uniformly on the bag – areas exposed to the sun tend to fade faster. Personally, I love how Otter Green fades over the years.

These are some of my Filson Otter Green bags over the years compared to a Filson Tan Zippered Tote Bag. The colors of the bags are quite accurate to how they are in person.

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Filson Otter Green Zippered Tote Bag 261 After Cleaning

Within the first year of use after I purchased my Filson Otter Green Zippered Tote in back 2013, I noticed a stain on the bottom exterior panels of the bag. The stain was brown/tan-like in color and had a distinct outline of its edges. I initially thought it was a coffee or beverage stain spilling on the inside, but then noticed it appeared only on the outside panels of the bag – no stains were present on the interior.

Here’s a gallery of the before images of the Otter Green Tote over several years (I tried to color balance the images to look somewhat consistent). The “stain” is towards at the bottom of the bag

I felt it was due time to really try and get the stain out or at least reduced. I used a mixture of water and a few drops of laundry detergent and then vigorously scrubbed whole bag in the bathtub using a soft plastic bristle brush. The brownish water that constantly came out after each wringing deceived me into thinking that the bag was still dirty. It was actually dye coming out from the bridle leather handle straps.

I let the bag dry inside out in my patio for a few days. The primary change I noticed after it dried was that the canvas portions of the bag lightened a few shades. The bridle leather also started to crack on one strap, but it was only on the surface. I applied a few coats of Obenauf’s Leather Oil to all leather areas which was much needed. The oil didn’t noticably darken the color as the straps were dark to begin with.

After all was said and done, I think the stain appears less noticable. Looking back, I would have somehow covered the leather straps or at least let the bag hang on on something while I scrubbed just the canvas. Getting the leather completely soaked with water was a bad idea.

Here are the after images of the Otter Green zippered tote by itself and also compared with a Tan zippered tote.

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Schott x 3sixteen Arabica Cowhide @ 19 Months

I haven’t worn this piece much since my last update 05/2018 Schott x 3sixteen Perfecto Arabica Cowhide Review, but leather still ages hanging on a clothing rack!

I was reminded of my leather jackets after talking with some old friends who have retired interest in clothing from the Styleforum days before Instagram. Back before I found a comfortable style, I did partake in the whole Temple of Jawnz (TOJ) leather jacket fiasco in 2012/2013. There’s a good summary on what happened over here.

People got too crazy obsessing over 1cm measurements with a MTM offering especially being behind a monitor on the internet. With MTM, the resale value really diminishes, and people don’t measure used garments to a consistent standard. I’m glad I fit in an “off-the-rack” size.

The Schott x 3sixteen Perfecto really encapsulates my more recent way of purchases. Nice stuff made from people I can hang with. It just so happened a few before this iteration jacket was released, both Schott NYC and 3sixteen opened stores in LA.

I took these handful of pics inside the bedroom messing around with my somewhat recently acquired Godox AD200 flash and Glow EZ Lock Deep Parabolic Softbox (28 in). Man.. this pairing of such a workhorse. The soft box is really easy to setup and really amazing for the price. From my past pics, I emphasized using natural light and “working with what ya got” but I figured I tried something different especially in a controlled environment.

Anyways, it’s getting too hot over here to wear nice clothes. Hope to be more active on my blog soon!

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Crescent Down Works Italian Vest Review

Crescent Down Works x Freeman Quilted Diagonal Italian Vest

A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I had planned a trip up to Yosemite in December for a few days. Both of us have great experiences with Uniqlo’s HEATTECH collection, and they recently even released an Extra Warm HEATTECH. Uniqlo is quite popular for their down jackets and vests among their other casual clothes. Their clothes are so universal that they even have clothing vending machines various locations!

The Uniqlo Ultra Light Down Vest was on sale and I eventually reasoned with myself to purchase one. The design is quite simple and practical – there are two hand warmer pockets in the front that can be zipped to prevent items from falling out. On the interior, there are additional vertical pockets behind the front pockets. A single zipper on the front. The vest doesn’t restrict my arms and it is very lightweight. I went with my standard size of a large at a 43 inch (109 cm) chest. I can roll it into a small cylinder shape the size of maybe two fists and place it into the pouch it additionally comes with. The vest worked great at Yosemite and was warm enough to even wear by itself only!

Design difference between the Crescent Down Works Quilted Italian Vest and Classic Italian Vest

I never was a down outerwear kind of guy, but after my great experience with the Uniqlo one at Yosemite, I decided to look further into another one. I first learned of Crescent Down Works in 2012 visiting Standard & Strange in Oakland, CA. CDW is a small company that produces down outerwear in Seattle, Washington. Not much further away is also Freeman Seattle which makes great raincoats! Seattle (which includes Filson) is definitely prepared for the elements! CDW does a lot of collaborations with other brands such as Freeman, Lost & Found, Brooklyn Clothing, and recently, 3sixteen.

My girlfriend and I mutually decided to buy each other CDW vests as Christmas presents, agreeing on the specs beforehand. AFAIK, CDW makes garments that are unisex so the measurements are what matters most. For mine, I wanted a somewhat neutral color vest with a ribbed collar instead of the standard collar. It’s a nice extra touch that I think makes it stand out from the other down jackets out there.

Ribbed collar and smooth two way zipper (other zip not shown)

Details

  • Water-resistant 60/40 cotton-nylon shell.
  • 100% nylon ribbed collar and streakfree liner.
  • 5.5 oz. premium, 700-fill European goose down.
  • Front placket with two-way zipper and leather-backed snaps.
  • Down-filled front pockets.
  • Elasticized waist.
  • Made in Seattle.
The Classic Italian Vest has an additional inner velcro’d pocket

I ended up purchasing an older stock, unused previous year’s collaboration CDW x Freeman Quilted Down Vest off of eBay. The quilted pattern was used to streamline the bulkier Italian Vest down into a sleeker look. The main difference between the Classic Italian Vest and this Quilted Diagonal Italian Vest is the pattern and how much down is within each stitched area. The quilted design purposely has less fill. The collars are different in that mine has a ribbed collar long enough that folds upon itself once (some versions ribbed but no fold). I haven’t felt any significant difference in warmth regarding the collar types. The ribbed collar does feel cozier on the neck, however. After looking over several online measurements, especially the chest width of 23 inches, I went with my typical size which was a large.

Standard collar on the Crescent Down Works Classic Italian Vest

My girlfriend had received her Italian Down Vest a few days earlier so I was able to compare the two vests. The amounccount for the size proportion difference (XS vs L), but the pockets on mine were very generous, measuring about 9 inches x 11 inches (23cm x 28cm). Both of our pockets were angled similarly, but another difference is that her pockets had more down on the exterior which I’d say would keep your hands warmer.

Ribbed collar on the Crescent Down Works Quilted Diagonal Italian Vest

The quality and specs are definite on point. The front buttons are backed with a circular leather piece to prevent ripping through the material while unsnapping. The bottom of the jacket has a bit of ribbing to accomodate some generosity and retain snugness. I like that the vest has a buttoned front placket over the zipper that prevents any breeze from coming through. I typically wear the vest unzipped or completely buttoned and zipped if it’s chilly. There’s a two way zipper also which might be useful for when sitting down but I haven’t used it yet.

Buttons backed by leather detail for durability

Fit

The length of the vest was longer than I expected. It’s my fault for overlooking the body length measurements for jackets, I typically look at just shoulders and chest (I think I have average proportions). I imagined a vest would be shorter to provide more mobility (such as a well-fitted waistcoat of a suit). The extra two to three inches on the body length exaggerates the classic straight fit. The outerwear, of course, is designed in mind for all weather use and not fashion.

CDW and other sites list the fit as “classic”, so I’d recommend sizing down one if you want a slimmer fit. Stay true to size if you’d like some flexibility to layer underneath.

Rear view of the jacket with elastic ribbing

Function

If you haven’t tried on or own a down jacket, the material really works. I can wear the vest over a henley or flannel comfortably down to mid 50 degrees Fahrenheit or so. If I need extra warmth, I’ll throw on a jacket over everything so the vest acts as a midlayer. The exterior material (60/40 cotton/nylon) is a blend popularized in Mountain Parkas in the 1970s and is tightly woven, so the material is wind and bristle-resistant.

I managed to put my arms through my my girlfriend’s XS Classic Italian Vest unzipped, and I definitely felt the down capturing the warmth faster. Due to more down filling per jacket area in the Classic Italian Vest, the Classic Italian Vest > Quilted Diagonal Italian Vest in terms of warmth.

I’m loving the size of the handwarmer pockets – they fit a bunch of goods comfortably like my phone, keys, wallet even on one side.

YKK two way zippers

Conclusion

Crescent Down Works’ outerwear is made by hand in Seattle factory, and the stitching, quality, and attention to detail was present. At about $295, the price isn’t chump change, but I think it’s justified. The Italian Down Vest is a staple piece on their website

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Vermilyea Pelle Day Bag Review

If you want a bag between a briefcase and a backpack in formality, a tote bag might just fit the bill for you. One of Vermilyea Pelle’s staple products in their catalog is the Day Bag. This will be my third review of a VP bag with previous two being the briefcase and the weekender bag. Their Day Bag is a bit of a hidden gem product in their catalog as most guys stumble upon VP because of their briefcases.

When I’m heading out to do some errands, a briefcase might be a bit much in formality especially if I’m not bringing my laptop. You might have seen women carrying their ubiquitous nylon tote bags in a multitude of colors. Likewise, I too want a casual bag that I can throw everything into.

The design of the day bag is quite simple – a one compartment tote shaped bag with a zippered opening. On the exterior is one small pocket. Even though the design is simple, the superb quality of materials and craftsmanship into the bag is what I’ll be focusing about.

Details

  • Price: $275 USD
  • Dimensions: 12″ x 14″ x 6″
  • Materials: Snuff Mohawk Leather from C.F. Stead
    • 37oz Heavy Waxed Olive Canvas
    • Glove Tanned Deerhide Inner Bottom lining
  • Leather backed brass rivets at stress points
  • Heavy duty brass YKK zipper with a leather

Ordering

I ordered this bag from Dustin in June 2016. At the time this specific makeup wasn’t listed on his site. He posted a picture of this bag on Instagram, and I asked him if he could also construct one with the same specs for me. It took around 2 months for the bag to be shipped which was a bit more than the typical few weeks lead time. 

The only other regularly stocked Day Bag makeups I had seen available were an unwaxed Duck Canvas/Chromexcel or Ranger Tan Waxed Canvas/Chromexcel.

Two months prior to ordering this bag, I purchased a Day Bag made for North and South Knives (the sold listing is surprisingly still up!). I contacted NSK and was told that the particular bag was a one-off made for them.

One connection I can make is that after I received my first VP bag, the briefcase, every next purchase from VP after had one material in common. In this example, the Day Bag from NSK also was made of Ranger Tan Waxed Canvas like my briefcase, but with a Mohawk Snuff Suede leather instead. 

I liked the style of the day bag, and when I found out an olive 37oz waxed canvas one was potentially available, I knew I had to get that one! (Olive is my favorite color). The Ranger Tan Day Bag eventually was given to my now ex-girlfriend.

  • The Ranger Tan Waxed Canvas/Snuff Mohawk Day Bag a few days after I received it.

For VP’s all leather bags, they offer rolled handles instead of the regular flat handles which is more comfortable (that’s why many women handbags have them!), but you lose the option of the added handgrip. The Day Bag is the only style that does not come with an attached handgrip even though it has flat handles, but I think it fits the design well. The handles are short and unlike female styled tote bags that can be carried over the shoulder, these ones are only long enough to be carried by hand.

The day bag is completely unstructured and tends to collapse if it is empty. The waxed 37oz canvas started off quite rigid but softened up quickly as the wax wore off. On VP’s brand new bags made in the 37oz Heavy Olive Waxed Canvas, you can see that the material is so thoroughly waxed that the canvas shows creasing. The wax on mine has definitely worn off to reveal a lighter olive color underneath!

The Snuff Mohawk leather is my first experience CF Stead’s Tannery which is based in England. CF Stead is known for their suede leather and is used today in well known shoe companies such as Clark’s Originals, Truman Boots, Allen Edmonds, and Wolverine. From other pics of their leather I’ve seen online, their suede isn’t a typical soft consistent suede. They embrace the hide’s marks, scratches, and scars, and they are definitely renowned for that. 

On my Day Bag, the Snuff Mohawk is used as the bottom exterior, the side pocket, the handles, and the strap. The Snuff Mohawk is definitely reminds me of roughout leather in terms of its durability and water resilience. It feels a bit waxy and thick. Unlike the VP briefcase whose zipper opening is supported by two parallel, robust leather strips, the day bag does not have that feature. Instead, the zipper is surrounded by just canvas. This tends to make the bag open flop it a bit.

The coolest and my favorite feature on the bag is at the ends of the zipper where there is a Snuff Mohawk leather pull tab reinforced by 4 brass rivets. You can grab onto this tab with your other hand to help stabilize the zipper movement with your other hand. I like this detail of the bag and wished the briefcase had longer pull tabs.

One one side of the bag, there is a midsized pocket leather pocket attached to the canvas. The corners are reinforced by brass rivets. I can’t seem to find much use for this pocket as it’s too small to put documents in and too unsecured to place my phone in. I either wish the pocket was both longer and deeper, had a zippered closure, and/or was on the interior instead.

The interior bottom is lined with soft deerhide leather. I’ve spilled so many forms of liquid in this bag such as water and coffee, and the only the deer lining is still going strong. You can see stains of the liquid but it is only cosmetic. I’ve once spilled nearly a whole liter of water, and none of it penetrated through to the exterior bottom Snuff Mohawk Leather. That shows how well the Snuff Mohawk leather handles water!

The strap attaches to the bag with a D ring on the opposite sides of the bag. What I noticed immediately is that the strap length is much longer than the briefcases’s even at its shortest hole length. I think the longer strap provides you the option of carrying it cross body.

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Filson Zippered Tote 261 Otter Green Review

In 2012, the Filson Zippered Tote was the first Filson bag I purchased. I knew about the brand because on Reddit shared that the bags are warrantied for life. Looking through the options online, the zippered tote stood out to me because I wanted an everyday bag and not a briefcase at the time. Between the two Filson colors, I went with the tote in Otter Green instead of Tan because the color is more masculine for a guy carrying a tote. The shape of the bag – like a box also helps with that.
I was living in Cupertino, CA at the time and the closest retailer was Doms Outdoor Goods, one of the largest Filson approved stockists in the US, and it was located in Livermore, CA. The other closest stockist was all the way in San Francisco, Unionmade Goods, but they only stocked the tan color according to their website and my experience visiting the store in the past.
I called Doms beforehand to ask if they had a Filson 261 in OT in stock. The associate went to go physically check and he responded there was 1 left on the shelf! I decided to take a trip spontaneously that day to buy it. So after a 1 hour drive to Livermore, I ended up purchasing it for about $130.
A bit of history about the change of ownership that happened recently. Filson started producing luggage only in the ~1980s to early 90s and before that only clothing. The first zippers they used on their luggage were “Talon zippers”. Most of the Filson affectionados today desire bags with Talon zippers because they were really smooth, and the zipper teeth were no joke, very little, if any, of zipper failure. If you have a bag with Talon zippers, it for sure was manufactured in the 90s. Later in the 2000s filson switched over to YKK branded zippers. YKK zippers were also solid, they’re a well known zipper company based in Japan. They continued with these zippers to about 2010. Around that time Filson the company was sold to Bedrock Manufacturing, a company that also owns Fossil and Shinola Detroit. Since the 2010s Filson started using their own branded “Filson” zippers which likely were just YKK zippers. In my experience, they worked just as well.
However, the major changes in quality over the years was most prominent in the bridle leather used and not so much the zippers and twill canvas. If you had a Talon era bag and Filson era bag (today’s) and compared the leather, the Talon bag’s leather was significantly better in quality. The Talon leather aged to a lightened chestnut color, was thicker, and also felt robust in weight. The recent Filson “bridle leather” doesn’t feel like leather, cracks more easily, and the backside is typically unfinished and fuzzy. The current leather feels more like “foam” and not leather. The leather also wrinkles very easily in an unattractive manner and does not lighten with color over time.
All of this information I learned much later after I had owned a few more Filson bags. Filson bags are still ‘buy it for life’ bags because they still have a lifetime guarantee regardless of when/who you purchased it from. When you send the bag in for repair, they will either repair it or replace it with a brand new same bag if they deem it not worth the repairs (time/cost of repairing that bag outceeds the time/cost of producing a new bag). The only situation of a Filson garment/bag that is not under lifetime warranty is items purchased from a Filson outlet. These bags are indicated with a “X” on top of the Filson logo, and Filson will literally not touch these garments/bags, and will send it right back to you.
So back to my Filson 261 Otter Green tote, I’ll now talk about the design. There are 4 large outer pockets with 2 of them on the functioning as water bottle pockets. Each of them are large enough to fit my 32oz Hydro Flask. Other uses include an umbrella, sunglasses case. The two longer pockets are great for papers/documents, quick access things. In one of these pockets there’s a small key clip on the inside. I don’t find it useful because it’s too short.
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One Star Leather Park Sloper Senior Notebook Wallet Review

One Star Leather Park Sloper Senior

I started journaling in 2011 in a Moleskine Cahier / Field Notes size notebook. My thoughts back then were that I wanted a canvas to jot my thoughts and ideas, and I felt using a phone to do that appeared too oblivious to others. When you see someone using their thumbs on their phone, you likely think they’re texting someone, but if you see someone writing in a notebook, you think elegance and sophistication.

A lot of my Moleskin Cahier sized notebooks were roughed up on the edges with the notebook spine almost fraying apart. My first notebook cover was purchased from Renaissance Art in ‘Flight Jacket’ Cover. Just a simple leather stitched notebook cover with a sleeve for the front and back of the notebook.

I used that for some time along with a Saddleback ID wallet for my everyday carry. I would jot down my workout numbers, notes from a sermon, and grocery lists. But the biggest issue that I had with the cover is that I’d often fumble finding my pen in the bag. I wanted a cover that integrated a pen slot with it. Lo and behold, the company that popped up after a Google Search of “moleskine cahier cover with pen slot” was One Star Leather Goods. I didn’t “need” the card slots as I had another wallet at the time, but it was attractive anyway. At the time in 2013, there was only one review online of it, mentioning that Keegan, the owner of One Star Leather, suggested a Natural Chromexcel exterior and a Hermann Oak leather interior for the card slots. This way, the Chromexcel will age and develop a patina beautifully with time and the Hermann Oak leather will minimize card stretch. I browsed through One Star Leather’s Etsy site and found the exact same makeup!

Park Sloper Senior without the notebook
Park Sloper Senior interior

Details

Cost: $141.00 including shipping

Ordered on 11/17/2013

Park Sloper Senior can fit a Moleskin Cahier or Field Notes or other similarly sized notebooks. The Parker Sloper Sr has a pen sleeve on the exterior that is designed to swallow the whole pen including the clip. In later versions, Keegan added the option to remove the pen slot.

Exterior:  Horween Natural Chromexcel Leather

Interior card slot leather: Hermann Oak Brown Leather

Interior slot for folded bills or receipts
Interior slot for folded bills or receipts

Initial Impressions

The Chromexcel leather had a overwhelming smell of quality leather and had great pullup leather quality. Natural Chromexcel started as a light brown color with much variation in color and darkened with use. The pen I was using at the time was a Zebra F-701 Stainless Steel Retractable Pen and the pen slot was large enough to swallow the whole pen. Two logos were present, one on the inside between the card slots, and the other stamped on the inside back. I liked that the logos were not gaudy or present on the outside, just subtle.

The Brown Hermann Oak leather I chose for the card slots was more rigid, lacking pullup quality, but stretched a lot less than Chromexcel. Even though I had a wallet at the time, I tested the card slots by stacking many cards, perhaps up to 4 cards each. Also, the stitching and thread were very well performed without any crookedness/misalignment.

To this day, I went through a lot of Moleskin Cahiers, perhaps up to 12, and the Park Sloper wallet held up very well. The natural Chromexcel darkened quite quickly and absorbed denim bleed. More than 4 years with it, I feel that the color has saturated and won’t get any darker. I never used the Park Sloper primarily as a wallet, but as a notebook cover instead. I would sometimes keep a few rarely used cards in the cover because I wanted to slim down my primary wallet. In the jeans I wore at the time, the Park Sloper with a pen fit comfortably in my back pocket.

There was later occasion where I switched over to a Parker Jotter pen which was significantly thinner. Because the pen sleeve had stretched out, if I turned the wallet upside down, the Parker Jotter would fall out. I remedied this issue by wetting the whole pen sleeve with water and taking a hairdryer on high to it. The chromexcel leather shrunk and then the sleeve only stretched out to the slimmer size.

Pull-up leather quality on the Horween Natural CXL
Pull-up leather quality on the Horween Natural CXL

The only other notebook cover I purchased after was a Loyal Stricklin Edison Wallet in Honey Harness leather. The total price for this wallet including shipping was $147.03. I initially purchased this wallet because I saw a pictures of a beautiful patinaed version by @har.bach on IG. A few differences I would note from this wallet: the pen sleeve instead is on the interior which creates additional thickness, and it has 3 vertical card slots instead of horizontal. When I used all the card slots, they would overlap and create too much thickness. In conclusion, the Edison Wallet ended up being too “thick” especially when it was in my back pocket, and I retired it after a few months.  The quality and stitching of the wallet was on point though!  I loved the patina created from the Wickett & Craig harness leather.

Conclusion

I love the One Star Leather Park Sloper wallet just as much as the same day I received it. The leather has darkened significantly, but has varying tones in direct sunlight. I like that the pen slot is on the exterior because it doesn’t add that much more thickness when it’s in your rear pant pocket. I now use a Tactile Turn  Glider Pen in Titanium which is a lot thicker than the Zebra, so I actually place the pen clip on the exterior (I really don’t want to risk tearing the pen slot) . I would absolutely recommend this notebook cover if you’re looking for a field notes sized wallet with a pen sleeve. I tried searching for alternatives, but none other have sufficed as well as this design!

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Vermilyea Pelle 20″ Weekender Duffle Bag Review

Vermilyea Pelle 20″ Weekender Duffle Bag

I’ve been very fond of Dustin’s work since I heard of his company in 2014 on Styleforum and Instagram. Back in 2015, my girlfriend at the time ordered a briefcase from Vermilyea Pelle for my birthday. I let her know beforehand that I wanted the typical Brown CXL and Ranger Tan Waxed Canvas makeup. She exchanged emails with him a few times, and on my birthday I became a new owner of a VP Briefcase!

Now, onto the product we’ll talk about. I will state that there are only so many designs of bags that are practical. The VP 20″ Weekender Duffle seems to encompass many elements of the retired Filson Traveler’s Bag. I, myself, currently own both the Medium and Large sized Filson Travel Bags, so my review on the VP Duffle bag will be based primarily upon my comparison with those.

I purchased the VP Weekender Duffle bag in person at Railcar Fine Goods on 11/26/2017 at a price of $282.31 after tax. Because I knew of the canvas and leather beforehand from my VP briefcase, I knew the quality of the bag was to match. It fact, back in 2015, Railcar was the only local stockist that carried VP! The reason I purchased the bag was that it was discounted – I can’t remember off the top of my head what the % discount was on the tag, but to my knowledge, it was the first time I’ve seen a VP included in a sale.

Details

  • Dimensions: 20″L x 10″ W x 12″
  • Tumbled Solid brass Hardware (patinas much nicer than Lacquer coated brass)
  • Hand hammered Solid Copper Rivets
  • Hand Antiqued USA Made Snaps
  • 18oz Heavy Wax Duck Canvas
  • 5/6oz leather on Bag, Double Thick 5/6oz Leather strap work from Horween Tannery in Chicago
  • #10 Solid Brass YKK zipper

Pros/Cons

(+) This is a simple, well-designed bag with quality materials. The copper rivets and stitching on the bag are very well done. I can’t imagine the bag failing at all anytime soon. VP utilizes the best Horween Chromexcel Leather, and Ican see that supported by the leather on the bag being very thick and displaying no signs of loose grain creasing (seen prominently in boots). Compared to Filson’s Bridle Leather, the CXL leather on the straps is nearly twice as thick (5.3mm vs 2.7mm). The main compartment is accessed by two YKK zippers with burnished, waxed leather pulls. The quality of these rawhide leather pulls feel a lot more substantial than Filson’s and I think they are very similar to the laces I use on some of my Vibergs.

The thickness of the waxed Ranger Tan canvas is essentially the same as Filson’s 22oz Rugged Twill, 3.35mm to 3.30mm. However, the canvas is very well waxed for additional abrasion resistance. Filson’s twill comes with an applied treatment (not “waxed”) and still holds up to rain well fresh out of the factory. In my experience of rainy days with both bags, the waxed canvas sheds water much better.

The interior is a large one compartment with a keychain clip on one side. The simplicity of this bag’s design allows you to throw whatever you want into it, or to use your own pouches to seperate goods. I like duffle bags for this reason as I tend to just throw everything in the same compartment and just shuffle through it when I need something!

What’s cool about VP’s bags is that they use copper rivets at all places of stress. I learned a couple years ago that rivets are able to handle stress from any direction where as bar tack stitching handles stresses from the directions perpendicular to them. Take a look at your pair of raw denim – Belt loops are typically attached to the pant with bar tack stitches while your front pockets and coin pocket will have rivets.

Another feature that VP added was a leather bottom exterior. The primary reason for this is to prevent the bottom of the bag getting wet when setting it down on a rainy day. Also the leather bottom will be more durable than cotton/canvas. I don’t baby where I place my bags, and as you can see, I can’t even find any scratches or nicks on the CXL leather bottom yet!

The inner seams are bounded by what feels like another lighter weight waxed canvas for added durability.

(-) The interior keychain clip is really tiny compared to the rest of the bag. I might have preferred it to be on the interior of one of the outside pockets like Filson has for their Tote bags.

The pull tabs at each end of the zipper are too short to be usable. When you open a zippered bag, one hand pulls the zipper while the other holds the tab to allow you to unzip. I get around this by just grabbing a lateral part of the bag with my other hand while zipping and unzipping. No biggie!

The shoulder strap is actually quite short compared to Filson’s. But it’s actually beneficial to carry the bag higher up on your back/side for ergonomic reasons. The minor issue I have with the single piece leather shoulder pad is that the pad’s leather ends tend to fold in. You can basically fix this by not looping the strap through the exterior slits on the pad so that the shoulder pad sits flush on your shoulder.

Conclusion

The VP 20″ Weekender Duffle basically is an upgraded version of Filson’s bags. Compared to the MSRP of Filson’s bags, the price of the VP bag is well worth the $385. The improvements include a leather bottom, copper rivets, “better” materials (both canvas and leather), added snap buttons on the two exterior pockets to prevent the pockets from flaring out. Oh yeah, I only thing that’s missing from this bag is the two “water bottle” pockets at each end. But with the bag loaded, the shoulder straps should essentially prevent any items from fitting at each end. I just toss my water bottle into the main compartment.

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Apolis Indigo Wool Chore Coat Review (3 years, 8 washes)

Apolis Chore Coat Brand New vs Worn

Evolution of the Apolis Chore Coat over 3 years with very very many washes.
Evolution of the Apolis Chore Coat over 3 years with very very many washes.

The Apolis Indigo Wool Chore Coat has been an iconic outerwear piece of this decade especially because of an awesome 3 year evolution pic. Although my own chore coat hasn’t come close to that level of fading, I still can provide insight for those considering to purchase one!

The chore coat is my favorite garment piece from Apolis, specifically the “OG” Indigo Wool version. More recently, Apolis has come out with a variety of colors for the chore coat including Olive, Charcoal, Black, Indigo Striped. Accessory-wise, I can’t help but say good things about their Market Bags (you can find my review on the bags here).

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