Lumbershirt

Name: Lumbershirt. Black edition
Brand: Vollebak
SKU: TPS062BLKXSM
Price: 118.00 USD
Availability: InStock

We’ve taken the Lumberjack’s uniform and built our own high strength version.

$395.00 $118.00

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Model is 6ft 4 / 193cm with a 40 inch / 100cm chest, and wears size XL.

Built with high strength, long staple cotton
Triple stitched seams for durability
Two zipped hidden chest pockets

Lumberjacks built modern America. Four hundred years ago, when the first settlers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia – a land of “goodly tall trees” – it was man vs nature on an epic scale. Back then there was no radio-controlled machinery, computer-optimised log cutters or health and safety. It was 200 years before somebody invented the chainsaw. Instead, lumberjacks built the New World’s first settlements by hand. Houses, forts, bridges and churches. And they did it all with some axes, saws and really tough shirts.

170 years since it first appeared we’ve taken the lumberjack’s default uniform and rebuilt our own high-strength version. To make the toughest shirt we’ve ever built, we’ve taken the same super-tough breed of cotton the Wright brothers used to build the wings on their planes, and then re-engineered and reinforced it in Japan to make it even softer and stronger. The Lumbershirt is a hardwearing outer layer built for any adventure in the forest, country or city.

Technical Details

Material made in Japan: 100% organic cotton

2 zipped hidden chest pockets

2 chest pockets with storm flaps and button closure

Triple stitched seams for durability

High collar with reinforced zig zag stitching

All buttons made from recycled polyester

Shirt weighs 625 grams

Machine wash 30°C

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Woodsmen needed new clothes for dangerous work

Original woodsmen faced the kind of dangers you’d normally only find in nightmares. Falling from 300ft, burning to death, or being crushed by runaway logs. So they needed clothes that were hard-wearing enough to take on life in the forest, but also soft enough to wear sleeping in damp wooden huts for months at a time. Living in isolated camps with little or no access to water, warm meals or fresh clothes, the hours were long, the work itinerant and the accommodation rough. They travelled from camp to camp, working from “can see to can’t see,” risking injury and death on the way.

We’ve built our toughest shirt yet

We already make shirts to cope with the most demanding conditions on Earth. Our Equator Shirt is made with a rare silk-like cotton from the Nile Delta and is designed to keep you cool in the hottest and most humid places on the planet. And our Planet Earth Shirt is built with an engineered cotton blend that’s designed to work everywhere from the jungles to the city – with hidden vents, an anti-mosquito collar, and built-in air-con. But the Lumbershirt is our toughest shirt yet. 170 years since it first appeared we’ve taken the lumberjack’s default uniform and rebuilt our own high-strength version.

We’ve built 2 different types of Lumbershirt

To make the toughest shirt we’ve ever built, we’ve designed two different types of Lumbershirt with two different methods. One is made from a super-tough breed of cotton that was used to make the wings on the Wright Brothers’ planes. The other is built from chambray – the material that gave us the phrase “blue collar worker,” after it was adopted by labourers across the US in the early 20th century. And we’ve blended that with ultra-tough Cordura. Both methods make the Lumbershirt a phenomenally hardwearing outer layer.

Made from the same cotton the Wright brothers used

Cotton has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years, but not all cottons are the same. The fine strands that make up a raw piece of cotton are called staples, and the longer these strands are, the stronger and silkier the cotton will be. The type we use for this shirt is called ‘long staple’ cotton. It’s so durable it used to be used in car tyres. It was also used by the early aviation pioneers like the Wright brothers and Otto Lilienthal to build the wings of their planes, before the development of more powerful engines forced the move to aluminium.

Every shirt balances strength and comfort

High strength cotton comes into its own when it’s too hot outside for a jacket, but you still want something really hardwearing. The organic long staple cotton we use is what makes the shirt comfortable and strong at the same time. Each shirt is also put through a pre-washing process to make it feel lived-in from day one. And the more you wear it, the more the material will mould to the shape of your body. It makes the shirt tough enough for any environment, from exploring the four billion hectares of forest on the planet, navigating new cities, or working overtime in the office.
Engineered in Japan to make it even stronger

Lumberjacks needed their uniforms to be hard-wearing enough to take on life in the forest, but also soft enough to wear sleeping in damp wooden huts for months at a time. So we turn raw cotton into fabric with the help of an advanced Japanese mill. After spinning the cotton they weave it into a dense twill to make it even stronger. The cotton’s long staples mean there are fewer edges when the fibres are woven into fabric, because there are fewer strands. And the result is a material that’s really soft but really strong.

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We triple-stitch it

Every Lumbershirt uses over 25 metres of super-thick thread. It’s constructed with triple chain stitched seams in the critical areas of wear and stress like the side and shoulder seams, as well as the arm and yoke seams. Instead of one line of thread you have three lines stitched right next to each other so it won’t snap like a conventional straight stitch can. It’s a technique usually found in heavy vintage denim and chore jacket manufacturing to create stronger clothes. We also use heavy-duty zig zag stitching to strengthen the collar, so it will hold its shape even if it’s drenched.

Four chest pockets

You’ll find four chest pockets to carry essentials like your phone, wallet, passport or keys. There are two concealed pockets that open up at the side. They’re protected by storm flaps and fitted with lockable zippers. And there are two more button up pockets that we’ve built over them.