Classic Coat

Turns out there's a number of ways to hang up a coat. I discovered this while looking for the perfect spot to hang up a newly acquired family heirloom. It was given to me by "Almost Uncle Tom", who purchased it for his late father a number of years ago while on a Minnesota backcountry fishing excursion that turned unseasonably cold. If you're a coat buff, you're well aware you won't find a coat like this at Walton World, Dollar General, or even Target. Fine outerwear like this can only be newly purchased at high end outfitters like Orvis or White River. After-all, this is not your basic run-of-the-mill coat; it's a Filson! Better yet, it's made from 100% virgin wool (I'm guessing about the virgin part, but I think it's a safe bet that the fine folks at Filson wouldn't use anything less in their coat making division).
As you are likely already aware, fabric made from sheep's wool-especially wool that came from the Scottish Highland genre of sheep (ancestral home of The Robertson Clan), won't loose it's ability to hold heat just because it gets wet, unlike cotton and cotton blends. It also breathes nicely which allows you to wear it throughout the day, even when the temperature fluctuates substantially from sunup to sunset. As a bonus, this fine coat was made with the timeless red and black checked pattern, made famous back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by men with names like Charlie, Layfayette, and "Brush Creek" Fred. Now that I think about it, I could picture Uncle Marvin walking around the Moniteua County deer woods back in the 1940's and 50's wearing a coat just like this: maybe even in the 60's when he was teaching his son Wayne the finer points of deer hunting. I could also picture Uncle Jim walking the streets of Greybull, Wyoming in a coat just like this with his Smith .38 tucked neatly inside, in the event it became necessary to dispatch some unfortunate marauder, unlucky enough to have picked the wrong man to jack with.

Yes, this coat is destined to become a family classic and I'll be happy someday to pass it down to the next family member who'll have the honor of carrying on the tradition that began with Tom and his Dad, David Jones: a worthy effort.

I'll keep you posted.....

~goes well next to the Ruger Single 6 and fox hide

~hanging next to the cow hide given to me by my good friend Nick and under Dad's old .22

~hanging on Aunt Katherine's antique family rocking chair