Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Anyone have any experience with Johnson Wool products?

I have become a believer in good wool clothes for hunting and wonder if anyone has any experience with products from Johnson Woolen Mills in Vermont? I have mainly Filson and a few Cabelas but just found Johnson's. Any input appreciated.
Thanks
Jed

Had a couple pairs of their pants..........held up OK.

Might look at Sleeping Indian & King of the Mountain.

Both are pricey but are top drawer.

MM

I have bought a few jackets with their label and have found them to be of good quality.

Have a pair of pants and an old coat. They aren't Filson, and the pants are not as heavy as Woolrich Malone fabric.

Other than that, they work fine for the intended purpose.

I have a Johnson coat (Malone plaid) that I bought in 1985. It is fairly light but got me through a few VT winters. I still wear it a lot and it is still in good shape. In general, I consider all of their products to be of high quality.

I've got a pair of their pants. They saw a lot of hunting seasons and Boy Scout winter campouts. I wish they still fit me around waist

Dale

Decent wool pants, sort of a midweight between Whipcords and the heavier malone fabric. In VT they are a staple of folks who do outdoor winter work like Logging etc. There a decent pant and fairly priced.

I had one of their wool jackets in the late 60's, wore it a lot, so much my first wife tried to throw it away a couple of times. Finally, mid 80's my second wife succeeded where the first had failed, but she also got me a new one that I still use when it's too warm to wear the Filson stuff. I believe my first one was all wool, the "new" one is 15% nylon as is most of their stuff.

When I was a kid growing up in NH, Johnson Woolen double-cape red plaid jac-shirts and spruce green pants were the most common clothing seen in the field. I have several pieces of Johnson Woolen clothing; daypack, hat, jac-shirts, pants, and vest. I think that it is good quality, but the wool gathers burrs like a magnet gathers iron filings, so it is not really practical anywhere that I hunt today.

Beagle makes a higher tech wool jacket that might be a better choice, but they are kinda pricey. I have 1, received as a gift, but haven't worn it enough to form an opinion.

Codet makes a wool blend jacket that is softer and cheaper than either Johnson or Beagle. Labonville Logging Supply in Gorham, NH, has "house-brand" wool blend clothing that is value priced. Their site says that it is made in the USA, but I thought that it looks exactly like some of the Codet stuff made in Canada.

www.beaglewear.com
www.codet.com
www.johnsonwoolenmills.com
www.labonville.com

Jeff

Good cheap wool...Codet is better and Woolrich Malones much better

That gray herring bone wool jacket laying under my .30-06 in the picture is a Johnson Woolen Mills product I bought over 30 years ago; it is holding up fine.

I very much like my Johnson wool coat. Having spent many hours playing and working in the nasty weather I am a huge wool fan. It is quit and COMPACT for its insulation value, as well as tough. It is also very good at being quiet. I will take wool over synthetic fleece every time.

I have a lined Woolrich red plaid wool jacket, but find it to be too bulky. Plus, it still has about 10 lbs. of burrs imbedded in it from the last time I wore it, several years ago.

Jeff

This is a good thread.
I'm a wool loony too. It has so much good going for it, I doubt that I could live without it.
Jed, thanks for the thread, and Jeff, thanks for links you posted; I'll save them.

Don

Odessa,

I love that pix. The Herring Bone Coat and the rifle sure look good...

I have a pair of their heavy wool pants, very good stuff. I also have a double cap jacket and a red plaid hunting coat, both are very good too. The red plaid hunting coat saved my day hunting one year. When I went out early in the morning it was in the high 30's so I did'nt layer too well. As the day progressed it got colder and snowed. My johnson hunting coat has a built in hood in the collar. I would'nt have been able to stay out all day if I had'nt had that hood.

I have a Johnson day pack. I almost always carry it when hunting. It was relatively inexpensive, but more importantly, it's quiet, just the right size and has a nice traditional look. I usually wear wool hunting clothes, partly because of the noise factor, but also I find wool to be more comfortable over a wider range of conditions--and it doesn't retain odors the way synthetics seem to. Also, you can get wonderfully high quality wool pants and other gear from a good army surplus store for next to nothing. My favorite hunting coat is a forest service issued Filson jacket that I've had for about 15 years. I actually had two of them, gave one to my father and then the other got stolen off the coat rack at a fancy sushi bar in NYC. Sorry, Dad.

In the high fifties this morning, too warm for the Filson stuff, so I wore my Johnson caped wool jacket over just a light merino wool long sleeve undershirt. Half an hour after I got in the woods it started to sprinkle. By the time I came out at 11:30 I was soaked, the temperature had dropped into the low forties, but I was comfortable.

Johnson still makes some items in tall sizes, which are hard to find elsewhere. My sweatheart kept threatening she was gonna throw my 15 yr old wool LL Bean Guide shirt in the trash, well it disappeared so I think I'm going with the Johnson Jac-Shirt.

I use the heavy wool pants, the bibs and the green heavy hooded coat--have to have a hood. There is no excuse for shooting a green guy.

Works great. Pard uses same--good stuff, quiet and you get a lot of years out of them.

Wife has kin in Vermont and we stopped at Johnson's on the way out, a long time back. Am glad--been using it since