We won’t pretend we did a lab test. We pretend nothing. What we did was take four prototypes — the Quiet Hours Hoodie, the Camp Tee, the Bigfoot Trucker, and the Northwoods Jacket — to a small cabin in northern Wisconsin and wear them, on rotation, every day for four months.
Here’s what we found.
The Quiet Hours Hoodie
The hoodie was the most-worn piece by a wide margin. 12oz USA-milled cotton fleece is heavy enough to take the place of a midlayer when it’s 28° and dry. With the canvas jacket over it, we wore the same combination at 12° splitting wood and at 38° walking the dog at dusk. The kangaroo pocket got abused (knives, gloves, granola bars, one frozen apple). The cuffs still snap back. The chest embroidery is unchanged. We’d call this one done.
The Bigfoot Trucker
Trucker caps in winter are an under-appreciated category. The structured front blocks the wind off your forehead, the mesh back keeps your head from sweating into a wool layer underneath. We wore this one most days under a hood and a couple times by itself when the sun finally came out in March. The patch is sewn flat and woven, not heat-pressed; it doesn’t bend or warp on the brim. Ours has one campfire spark scar on the bill that we’re pretending is a feature.
The Northwoods Jacket
We were honest in the product page that we’re still finalizing this one’s sourcing. The prototypes we wore this winter were 14oz waxed canvas with brass snaps and a drop-tail hem. They held up to: ice fishing, two snow shovel sessions on the cabin path, a controlled burn for a brush pile, and one night of accidentally falling asleep on the porch. Re-waxed once in February. Looks better than when it arrived.
The Camp Tee
This was the surprise. A 6.1oz heavyweight cotton tee in northern Wisconsin in February isn’t a winter piece. Or so we thought. Worn as a baselayer under the hoodie, on a 35° morning splitting wood and sweating, it dried twice as fast as a synthetic baselayer would have. Cotton stays soft. Cotton breathes. We’re still pro-merino for the cold side of cold, but for the season-shoulders, this tee earned a spot.
What we’re changing
- The hoodie kangaroo pocket needs slightly deeper bartacks. Adjusting in production.
- The trucker cap snapback can be tighter on day one. Spec’ing a stiffer plastic snap closure for the next batch.
- Camp Tee — nothing.
- Northwoods Jacket — we’re still working through final sourcing. Will publish the chain before pre-orders open.
What we learned about the brand
Mostly: that we don’t want to make anything we wouldn’t want to wear at the cabin. There are a hundred other apparel brands. We don’t need to make a graphic tee, a jogger, a tech jacket. We need to make the four pieces our small workshop can actually stand behind, and let the rest come slowly.
So that’s the plan. Quiet hours. Honest pieces. The long way home.
— Filed by Squatch & Co.
Heads up: Lifestyle imagery on Squatch & Co. is currently a rendered preview while our spring photo shoot wraps. The garment specs and origin claims you read here are accurate to what ships.