Flying Canoe Traders
www.flyingcanoetraders.com/

Reviewed product: Cotton Waistcoat

To date, I've had the great pleasure of reviewing several Flying Canoe products - a shirt, some slops, buckle shoes, and even sailor's bags. If I were to select one over-riding feature that they all share it would without question be durability. To a product, each has been made from heavy duty materials, and the stitching is amongst the strongest I've ever seen - wear points are even pre-patched and multi-seamed, just to make sure. I've reviewed many fine articles of pirate clothing from several manufacturers, and Flying Canoe remains the hands down winner when it comes to rugged tailoring.

The Flying Canoe sleeveless cotton waistcoat carries on in this fine tradition. Being made from a heavy canvas material, it does bear some notable stiffness when fresh off the rack - a few washings and wearings softened it up a bit. It then remains on the stiff end of the spectrum, but not overly so.

This waistcoat has two fully functioning pockets, each with a large scalloped flap and four buttons. These are actual, functioning buttons, so you can secure your valuables within (but it does take a minute or two to get it back out.) Truth be told, I'm a fan of Flying Canoe's buttons - many plain face buttons on the market at lead free pewter, which tends to be rather shiny and boring. But these buttons have a nice aged feel about them - they look like they've experienced some weather, which is quite a plus in my book.

The back of the waistcoat is split, and has lace holes. The split is a long one, going from the bottom and up a full three quarters of the back. A lace was not provided, but any strip of leather will do fine. Personally I like the look this adds, but they do offer a non-split back on request. The inside of this waistcoat is virtually identical to the outside - same color and material, and all seams are finished. I actually put it on inside out once and couldn't tell the difference until I tried to button the thing.

The Flying Canoe Waistcoat is everything I would expect from a company that has shown a trackrecord of making "battle ready" clothing. This is not a fancy king's garment - lacy and flowing. Rather, this is for those who need to count on their clothes for many, many seasons of hard use. And I expect this waistcoat will live up to such demands admirably.