32 Oz Melton Pea Coat

Before I get into my review of this pea coat I feel a little background is useful and I found just that on the Schott web page:

“The US Navy Pea Coat was adopted during the early 20th Century, from Britain’s Royal Navy Reefer Jacket. The Royal Navies first regulations for uniforms for other ranks were issued in 1857, a century after the regulations for officers and this garment was originally used by Midshipmen ( Reefers ). These crewmen had to climb the rigging and furl and unfurl, or ‘reef’, the sails of the sailing ships of the era. The jacket was short, to allow ease of movement through the rigging. It had a double-breasted front, which displaced the buttons to each side. This helped reduce the chance of them getting caught on ropes, as the wearer maneuvered the sails. The pockets were often close to vertical, and over the flanks, rather than horizontal and at wrist level. It was made of a very heavy wool, in dark Navy blue, with a nap on the face side.
The success of the style is proved by its singularly universal appearance throughout the Navies of Europe. This may account for the US Navies nomenclature as an Anglicization of the Dutch ‘Pijekkat, being a jacket made of ‘Pij’ (a coarse wool) cloth. Conversely, it may be from the shortening of the Belgium Navies term ‘Pilot’s Jacket’ to P. Jacket, then being misspelled / adapted to Pea Coat. The term ‘Pea Jacket’ is reputed to first appear in the Oxford English Dictionary between 1717 and 1723. ‘Pea Coat’ does not appear for another century.”

Schott is a manufacturer of outerwear that has been around since 1913. One item that they make in different styles in the pea coat. The style I’ve been trying out is the Classic 32 oz. Melton Wool Naval Pea Coat (740). This pea coat has all the great features of the traditional issued pea coat and is excellent in both quality and function.

Obviously you’re probably not going mountain climbing with this coat with today’s technology out there, but, I’ve been wearing this coat on a regular basis in NY throughout this winter and it’s performed well. When I was young I remember my mother looking high and low for a Naval Pea Coat. I never knew why she wanted one so bad and it seemed as though it wouldn’t be too warm in the NY winters. This year I’ve found out why she loved that coat. The temperature here this winter has gotten quite cold (well below freezing) and this coat kept me warm. It blocks out the wind and has the great insulation properties of wool without the itch wool can tend to give. One great thing about wool is that it’s got natural water resistance (not water-proof, but it’ll shed a light rain), but even when wet wool will maintain it’s insulating properties. By flipping the collar up I was able to keep the cold away from my neck and lower face area.

This coat is very comfortable. You order this coat by chest size, which allows the proper fit as opposed to small, medium, large, etc, etc. Not only does this give you a more custom fit, but it also keeps with the military way of sizing dress items. This coat is roomy but not baggy. This also sticks with it’s background of use by the Reefers. One thing that I found nice was that even though the sleeves were a little short I was able to roll the sleeves up toward the inside and they stayed that way. I folded them up about one inch and since I folded them to the inside you couldn’t even tell they’re folded (as you can see in the pictures). This coat also uses a quilted 100% nylon liner to get the wool away from the skin and provide additional comfort, though the wool was not irritating to me. If the thick wool isn’t enough there’s a layer of 100% polyester fiberfill insulation as well.

This coat is great because it has the insulating properties and can be worn in a casual environment but it just as easily worn in a formal environment, where a ski jacket might be out of place.

This pea coat features hand warmer pockets which are perfect in size and placement and keeps with the naval tradition by keeping the Naval style anchor buttons. The length on me comes to about mid thigh and is enough to prevent drafts coming up from the bottom.

Overall I’ve been very impressed by this coat. Traditional and simple in design, yet a design that’s been proven throughout the years.

Colors Available: Navy, Charcoal, Light Navy, Black
Materials:

Shell
75% reprocessed wool
20% nylon
5% wool/nylon blend

Lining:
100% nylon

Fiberfill Insulation:
100% polyester

Distributor: AFMO - $199.90 with free shipping