Caban Pea Coat

Caban Peacoat Indigo x Black Twill

With foggy origins dating back to the 15th century, the caban is to the contemporary French Marine Nationale seaman what the peacoat (pilot cloth jacket, P-jacket, pea jacket…) is to his USN seafaring counterpart, a solid foul weather double breasted wool coat typified by an iconic double row of anchor buttons. It is said that the versatile left or right buttoning let the wearer adapt to the wind direction, whether standing starboard or port side.

In the days of early navigators, sailors could pretty much wear what they pleased, and often whipped up their own functional outfits, sewing experts as they were due to the constant sail repair routine. Garments changed hands, were re-cut, adapted, recycled, customized, mended. Work clothes of deck hands were at times waterproofed with a mixture of tar, tallow and turpentine, a technique used on linen canvas spare sails in order to collect precious fresh rain water while at sea.

It can be irrelevantly observed here that, during the Age of Discovery, entering a crowded mess deck filled with sailors clad in their gunk-waxed finest, and more preoccupied by scurvy than ablutions (for centuries a bimonthly soap-less and salt water treat), must have guaranteed quite the exquisite olfactive experience.

Historically, if both French and American navies share common memories of navigating the muddy waters of Vietnam’s Mekong River or Red River (1940’s to 1970’s), it is unlikely that the local climate tempted many Dinassaut crews or their PBR Brown Water Navy successors to sport government-issued wool pea-coats while in country… Period photography testifies that searing heat and humidity called for shirtless outfits more often than full regulation attire, and I have yet to see a photo of a USN peacoat being worn in Vietnam. I might, as often, be wrong.

So, we couldn’t find any excuse for releasing this indigo twill peacoat as part of the Saigon Cowboy Fall 2015 story other than the vain desire to add another P-Jacket under our belt, and share a few historical markers. This jacket won’t work for 1940’s Indochina riverine flotillas reenacting indeed. Nostalgics of the GCMA‘s pirating days on Cù Lao Ré won’t be too impressed either. But, the Mister Freedom ® caban peacoat should do for other activities, such as looking ridiculously handsome at the grocery store.

The lining of our jacket features the fabric we previously introduced and discussed at length with the garrison trousers, the ‘controversial’ bariolage lézard aka French lizard camo. As often the case with linings, it is fully concealed on the inside of the jacket, and left to the discretion of the wearer to be subtly displayed on the removable/flippable chin-strap or not.

The mix of dark indigo blue and jungle green foliage tones of the MF® caban conveys, admittedly with zero historical accuracy, the “Forces Amphibies de la Marine en Indochine (FAIS or FAIN)” twist we wanted to give to this peacoat. This combo also reflects the whole vibe of our Fall 2016 Saigon Cowboy collection.

The MF® Caban Peacoat is ‘designed’ in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co.