Woolrich 503 Field Jacket

[craig anthony]

Can anyone give me a little input on this jacket? I like the look of it and am interested in buying one but want to know if anyone has any negatives after owning one. They say they run big which is fine for me as I'm looking at the 2xl. I'm a little disappointed that, as an American older design, I see it's manufactured in Tiawan, but there really isn't much left that's made here lately. Want to use it as a winter coat for everyday use, maybe a little camping and hunting as well. Thanks

 

[Mannlicher]

I have a Woolrich jacket/coat that I purchased in 1964. Red/Black plaid, 100% wool. Other than some fraying of the collar, it's in as good shape now as it was 45+ years ago. Yeah, they will last a long time.

It goes hunting every year.

 

[jw2n]

I have Woolrich clothing I bought in the 70's and early 80's which is top of the line. Their quality declined and much went overseas. I switched to Filson and never looked back.

 

[22-rimfire]

I have purchased some of the traditional Woolrich wool pants on ebay to stash away for "emergencies" or if I want to, wear while deer hunting in cold weather. My orginal Woolrich coat from many years ago does not fit me anymore. It is quite heavy being wool and flannel lined, but such a nice coat. It still hangs in the closet with moth balls. It is a classic and I can't get rid of it. Loved that coat. I believe it cost $25 back then.

These days, if you are looking for quality and can afford it, I would choose Filson stuff.

 

[TUF]

I have Woolrich clothing I bought in the 70's and early 80's which is top of the line. Their quality declined and much went overseas. I switched to Filson and never looked back.

Filson still makes decent things. Woolrich is nowhere near as nice as it once was. IMO not worth my money anymore.

 

[kgd]

Filson still makes decent things. Woolrich is nowhere near as nice as it once was. IMO not worth my money anymore.

I sort of felt this way for awhile and it was based on my perusal of wool offerings at J-s sporting goods up in Gaylord, Mi who had a number of items of Filson and Woolrich in stock. When comparing the two, I really liked the Filson stuff and found the Woolrich too light weight plus I did like that the Filson was made in that great foreign country, the USA. Anyhow, this summer I stopped off at a Woolrich outlet over at BirchRun. Here, I was able to go through a much wider variety of Woolrich offerings and came to like what I see and like the price as well. I ended up buying a sweet pair of heavy duty wool pants (forget the name) but they are superior to the Codet ones I inspected and I would judge pretty close to the filsons. Also bought a really nice herring bone style wool jacket as a replacement to my Swanndri Ranger shirt. The jacket was $70 and the pants $95. Great deal and really good quality. BTW - the pants where made in Thailand. Also I really liked some the blankets they had in that shop. When I was at the general sporting goods store I formed a premature low opinion of Woolrich, but I have revised that now that I understand that the general store really just had a very limited offering of goods. There were several jackets at the Woolrich store and unfortunately I do not remember all the names of them including the model asked in the OP but I was impressed by many of them!

 

[TUF]

That's good to hear. I hope I see some of the better items as I used to like Woolrich and would love to have some things that only they made.

 

[ILiies]

I have one of their heavy wool coats, not sure if it's the one you mention, it weighs a ton and is definitely made to last.I can't imagine ever being cold in it.
As you mentioned they do run quite large though !

Highly recommended !!!