Note: this jacket was provided for review.

The Long Haul Jacket is a classic, most commonly called a ‘jean jacket’, but for this incarnation Taylor Stitch used a Wool Beach Cloth to put a very unique spin on the jacket. I’ve been wearing and testing it and I’ve found it to be far more versatile than initially expected.

Material

If you are not familiar with ‘Beach Cloth’ you can line up with me. Here’s the description of it from Taylor Stitch:

Famously impenetrable, the original Beach Cloth was a closet staple in the early 20th century, especially among laborers whose work subjected them to chilly, damp conditions—seafarers, loggers, etc. For this run, we’ve updated the age-old formula but maintained the instantly recognizable texture and impressive heft. Trust us, this so-called Beach Cloth’s applications extend well beyond the seaside.

That’s interesting and in a lot of ways reminds me of some of the reasons for the heavy wool jackets Filson sells. And I assume the updates Taylor Stitch is referring to is the nylon content as the make up is a 14-oz, 50% wool, 40% cotton, 10% nylon garment. I would not have guessed there was nylon in it, and I assume that was done for some added durability. The outside of the material has a heavy weave and has a bit of that ‘rough wool’ feeling.

Inside is brushed and fuzzy, with the sleeves having an acetate lining in them so you can easily slide long sleeves in. This is a heavy jacket, but not a super warm jacket. Plenty warm for Houston, but not nearly warm enough for winters in Seattle — not without more layering.

The last note on this material is that it is noted as ‘dry clean only’ which is a shame, as you’ll likely find yourself mostly spot cleaning then.

Fit & Style

This is meant to fit tailored, and stop at the pant line. And it does just that, it’s a classic looking jacket, but with a very unique pattern. In these fit pictures I am wearing a light gray shirt and flat black pants — I chose the black pants to show off the fact that this jacket isn’t quite black, but not quite blue.

Overall the pattern and coloring is a bit of a chameleon. And depending on what you pair it with, it will either look, well not good, or it will look pretty neat. But the generally style of this pattern is heavy handed and something you can’t just toss on with everything in my testing. So while I do like it, it is not a versatile as the more plain patterns.

For the fit, there’s only two things I’ll note. The first is that, as with most Taylor Stitch garments I find the cuffs slightly too small, as they have trouble falling nicely over a watch (if at all). Second, I do wish the inside of the cuffs was also lined, as the material can be scratchy against your wrists.

Performance

The performance here is really all about how well the nylon and wool out weigh the cotton content in the jacket. And I think it tamps down the cotton really well. It’s not going to be my pick for any scenario where I need to rely on staying warm when wet. But for those times when you want a good jacket that can perform well, this could fit the bill.

The weight of it is a mid-weight, and that works well here in Houston for the winter, and most other cooler areas for the spring/fall seasons. If you size up, you could easily layer under it, or stay true to size and you could wear an overcoat.

The one aspect of this jacket I can’t escape is that I think it will be substantially better once more broken in. Because it does wear stiff, like a true work jacket does when new, and generally this means the fabric will break in and relax with more wear. As it does that, I can see this only getting more comfortable to wear.

There’s enough wool in that you don’t need to worry about poor performance. Enough nylon that you don’t need to fully baby it. But there does remain enough cotton to keep this from being a true performance jacket.

Overall

I look at this more as a really heavy over shirt, or shirt jacket. I don’t think it works as well with a button down as it does with a t-shirt. What that does mean is that you can easily wear this on cool summer evenings too.

I look forward to this breaking in more.

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