The Best Denim Jacket for Winter: A Freenote Cloth RJ2 Review

I’ve been wearing Freenote Cloth’s RJ2 jacket for the last three winters, and it’s the best denim jacket for winter — because it’s the only denim jacket for winter.

Because Freenote Cloth doesn’t pay commissions to blogs that generate them sales, you don’t see a ton of people talking about them online. But even though I happen to run a blog and would really like to get commissions from generating them sales, Freenote has become so unique and enthralling that it would be malpractice to not cover them here.

So here’s a little review of the pros and cons of the Freenote RJ2. I also made this video below that compares this jacket to my favorite deck jacket, and the section from 1:40 to 8:05 is basically a self contained review of the RJ2.

Freenote Cloth’s RJ2: The Pros and Cons

I don’t have a ton of time to write today, so I’m going to give you the most important information right here.

Pros

• The RJ2 is the only denim jacket you can wear when it’s very cold
• Denim is very thick and high quality: 21oz Japanese selvedge
• No synthetics: jacket’s lined with shearling and viscose
• Made in USA by a small brand
• Shearling lining isn’t itchy for me, and I have a slight wool sensitivity
• Handwarmer pockets are also shearling lined
• Also available in black

Downsides But Not Dealbreakers

• There’s no shearling or wool lining the sleeves
• Unlined sleeves and no knitted wrist cuffs limits wind resistance when it’s super cold
• If you need a waterproof winter jacket, this won’t work (though you could wax it if you want)
• Pricy, but it’s pretty fair for this kind of complexity, material quality, and country of origin
• Not as breathable as 100% wool: if you misjudge the temperature, you’ll be sweaty all day

Why Aren’t There Any Denim Jackets for Winter?

Denim jackets are cool and they make for a great lightweight jacket, but when it gets cold enough that you need a lined denim jacket, there’s not much to choose from.

When denim jackets are lined, 99 percent of the time it’s lined with acrylic and/or polyester. Brands will call this “sherpa lining” or “sherpa pile” or something, but it’s plastic.

The debate about microplastics aside, sherpa-lined denim jackets are pretty good for colder fall days, but they won’t do the job when it drops below freezing. That’s when you’d want a wool-lined denim jacket, but nobody makes them! There was a time when Heat Straps and Dehen 1920 both made denim deck jackets lined with shearling, but they didn’t bring them back after their first run.

If I had to guess why, I’d assume that guys tend to want waterproof jackets for their Serious Winter Jacket, and no, denim isn’t waterproof. I’d counter that it’s not like you need a blizzard-proof jacket every single day, but it’s true that the average guy probably won’t spend money on more than one Serious Winter Jacket, and he probably wants it to be waterproof.

Still, the RJ2 is lined with shearling, which combines the noteworthy water resistance of wool and leather. Put 21-ounce denim on top of that (nearly twice the thickness of most jeans) and you’ve got a jacket that’s pretty water resistant: melted snow has never soaked through to my undershirt in this thing.

Is Freenote’s Shearling-Lined Denim Jacket Warm?

• I’ve worn it at sub-zero temperatures
• But there’s no wool in the sleeves; wear a wool sweater if it’s close to zero

Freenote could have cornered the market just by lining a denim jacket with wool, which would be cheaper. But they went the whole hog and lined the RJ2 with shearling.

When wool isn’t warm enough, you can just shear a little harder and take the sheep’s skin off as well! That’s shearling: it’s wool with the skin still on it. In other words: it’s wool and leather combined.

Shearling is best known for comprising the B-3 jacket that was worn by World War 2 fighter pilots (below).

When the RJ2 Is Too Warm

The downside of shearling is that it’s so warm that if you misjudge the temperature, you’ll be very uncomfortable. I’ve run for a few trains in my RJ2 and when I heat up from the exertion, I start sweating in this jacket in a way that I wouldn’t in an unlined, 100-percent wool jacket from Filson or Weatherwool.

When the RJ2 Isn’t Warm Enough

The other thing to note is the RJ2’s sleeves aren’t lined with shearling or wool. They’re lined with a mixture of cotton and viscose, a semisynthetic material made from wood pulp.

Some guys take issue with its carbon footprint, but Freenote deserve props for not lining the jacket with any plastic petroleum byproducts like polyester or acrylic.

Anyway, there’s a reason that vests are a thing: if your torso is warm, you’ll usually be warm. But a couple of times each winter, I’ll be walking Manhattan on a particularly windy day, and I’ll wish I’d remembered to wear a wool sweater under the RJ2: the arms can get cold.

But the vast majority of the time, the RJ2 works great in cold weather and I don’t even need a sweater underneath.

Side note: Freenote’s Mariner jacket does have wool lined sleeves. It’s not shearling, and the shell isn’t denim, but it is a very dense twill weave made from 100 percent cotton. The Mariner is Freenote’s take on the deck jacket; read my guide to deck jackets for a more thorough breakdown.

Price: Is Freenote’s RJ2 Worth It?

The RJ-2 currently costs $1,250.

Here are the things that make it expensive:

• Made in USA by a small brand
• Denim is twice as thick as normal
• Denim is woven on antique shuttle looms in Japan
• Shearling is much more expensive than wool
• No synthetic materials
• The construction is complex than an average denim jacket

I won’t pretend the RJ2 is cheap, but given all those reasons for the cost, it’s not too bad.

Besides, who are you going to complain to? Where else are you going to get a winter denim jacket? No one else sells one, you’re completely at Freenote’s mercy! If you like denim and want to wear it when it’s super cold, it’s this jacket or nothing!

Unless you manage to find an RJ2 second hand, because this is the thing: like most things I cover on Stridewise, this is the kind of jacket that gets more comfortable and better looking with age, so there’s no shame in buying it second hand — that’s what I did!

I’d prefer lined sleeves, but the fact is that I treasure this jacket and when it was time to decide which of my two blue winter jackets to keep — Freenote’s RJ2 or Freenote’s Mariner — I landed on the RJ2.

It’s so distinctive, so warm, it’s totally unique, and it’ll last the rest of my life.