Why We Chose The Filson Ultra-Light: Super tough, great PrimaLoft fill, a brand with heritage.

There have been a lot of brands jumping on the heritage-look bandwagon in the last couple of years with canvas collections and faux retro logos popping up everywhere.

Try as they might though, not many out there can boast the genuine heritage that Filson have. Look at it this way: while others are chasing trendiness Filson have kicked back and let trendiness come to them.

Filson’s origins in fact go all the way back to the Gold Rush of 1897 when a clever local man called Clinton Filson saw a golden opportunity to make a buck out of the thousands arriving in Seattle’s port by selling kit that could see them through the harsh Yukon weather they had ahead of them.

Ever since those days, the brand have been making kit that’s designed to be right at home out in the backcountry with rugged and long-lasting materials, earth tones, and traditional designs.

‘PrimaLoft Gold insulation is a specially developed synthetic fibre that is so, so similar to down, feeling light, lofty and snug.”

We’re big fans of Filson here at OutdoorsMagic. Last year, two of their products made it into our annual Outdoor 100 product guide, this year we’ve gone for a trio.

The key ingredient here is the PrimaLoft Gold insulation which is a specially developed synthetic fibre that is so, so similar to down, feeling light, lofty and snug, and providing efficient warmth at a low weight. Granted it’s not quite as warm as down, but on the plus side, it’s longer lasting and it will only lose a tiny percentage of insulating capacity if it gets wet. That’s a very useful asset to have during long days out in the elements.

These PrimaLoft fibres are all housed within stitched-through latitudinal baffles, which brings us onto the shell fabric which is a Cordura ripstop nylon Cordura. Most people know Cordura as a super tough, tightly woven material used for things like motorcycle clothing. Here, however, it’s actually a super lightweight variation of it, so don’t go thinking it’s hard as nails, but still, we’d say it’s tougher than the typical shell fabrics you see on down or synthetic jackets.