Tuesday 22 May 2012

Bushcrafting: Bush Jacket Project

I really like the look of the Fjallraven Greenland jacket but I just can't afford one, champagne taste on a beer budget.  I prefer natural to synthetic fabrics when I'm out and there is a possibility of having a fire ember landing on me.  I also prefer earth tones when it comes to a bush jacket and I wanted something large enough to layer over my wool Swanndri shirt.  Another requirement that I wanted was a reasonable amount of weatherproofing.  It doesn't have to be completely water proof (my eVent rain shell wont be replaced)  but I'd like a fair amount of water and wind resistance.

So with a small amount of money, I started my search for the right jacket.  It had to be similar to the Fjallraven or an old military M65.  I found just what I was looking for in Old Navy, a $50 lined cotton military styled jacket with a hood.  It needed a lot of work to bring it up to the standards I was looking for.

First thing I did was replace all the cheap plastic buttons with antiqued brass ones.  Then I added a bunch  of cordlocks to the jacket's drawstrings.


To weatherproof it, I waxed it using Fjallraven's Greenland wax.  This is done by just rubbing it on the fabric and then ironing it to melt the wax in.  This was a tedious job and I did two separate layers.

Lastly, I sewed on a few patches.  I am thoroughly happy with the results and I feel that all the work invested in this jacket has made it worth more to me than any jacket I might have wanted to buy in the first place.



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