Bountyhunter,

Thanks for the thought, but almost all Filson stuff comes with the sentence "Clean by brushing or wiping only, gains character with use". They're sort of famous for it.

The shell fabrics on most of the garments are essentially oil/wax soaked cotten (sometimes very heavy), and there are dire warnings on the tag against washing it. Minimum results are loss of water resistance, but apparently drastic shrinkage is also possible.

For what it's worth, I've seen what they look like after years, and, to my eye at least, it's true.. they do look better with some miles on them. A friend used to say "quality is the distance between broken in, and broken down", and that does seem to apply to Filson stuff.