Are wool coats warm? Mackage says down to minus 5°C

Schott says its 740 peacoat will keep you warm "in some of the harshest conditions around". But Schott prints no number, and the maker that does print one says minus 5°C.

Quick facts

• Mackage's wool coats: 50 on its own site, counting each colour or trim, CAD 850 to CAD 1,790.
• What those 50 print: 29 say minus 5°C, 1 says 0°C, 2 say minus 10°C, 1 says minus 15°C, 17 say nothing.
• January lows: New York minus 2.3°C, Toronto minus 6.7°C, Montreal minus 13.5°C, from 1991 to 2020 normals on Wikipedia.
• Mackage's Graydon down parka: rated to minus 25°C, CAD 1,450 (US$1,027).
• Schott's peacoats: 10 read on its own site, and none prints a temperature.
• On within: 75 wool coats and jackets, some of them parkas and down coats, and 112 men's winter jackets and coats. All prices and counts read 8 November 2026.

For the city, a wool overcoat

Herno started in 1948 making raincoats from cotton "treated with castor oil from decommissioned aircraft". By the mid 1950s it was making "cashmere coats made from double face fabric and finished by hand". Mackage uses the same two words now: its MALIK at CAD 1,090 and DANIELLE at CAD 1,190 are double face wool, both rated to minus 5°C.

In New York, January averages a high of 4.2°C and a low of minus 2.3°C, so a wool coat is plenty. Toronto's low is minus 6.7°C, so wool is about right until the coldest nights, and Montreal's is minus 13.5°C, which is not enough.

The Les Deux Herringbone coat at CAD 699 is 50% wool and 50% recycled polyester. Read the fabric line before you read the price, because a coat called wool can be half polyester.

COOR, a South Korean brand whose name is short for "Common Origins", makes the Crease Washed coat in 100% wool at CAD 895. COOR's Hairy Peaked Lapel coat is CAD 825 and 74% wool, so I would pay the extra for the first one. (To compare more labels, the wool coats edit is the one to open first.)

If you shop women's and can spend more, look at RUOHAN's Cooperi coat, double faced in 70% wool and 30% yak for CAD 2,200 (US$1,589). In men's, the Herno check wool coat is CAD 2,080 and 70% wool, in a Cheviot fabric.

For the peacoat, heavy cloth and no number

Schott started with a small factory in a New York tenement basement in 1913. In the Second World War it made "melton wool naval peacoats for servicemen stationed at sea", and cloth weight is still how it sells warmth.

Schott's own site lists the 740 at US$450, in 32 oz melton, an 80/20 wool and nylon blend with a quilted lining. The 764 costs more, US$645, for 28 oz of 100% wool. So the cheaper coat has the heavier cloth, and that is where I would start.

Ounces are the only warmth number you get, because none of the 10 peacoats on its site prints a temperature. Mackage's COLE, "a classic double breasted wool peacoat" at CAD 1,490, says minus 5°C.

One cheaper warning: the Les Deux Nash jacket on sale went from CAD 339 to CAD 179, and it is 40% wool and 60% recycled polyester. Fine as a jacket, but not a wool coat.

For real cold, wool with down in it or a parka

Mackage was "Founded in Montreal in 1999", so that minus 13.5°C low is its home weather. Three of the wool coats on its site go colder than minus 5°C, and every one has down in it, so the down does the extra work.

The NIKO, wool and quilted stretch nylon with "A down filled body", is rated to minus 15°C at CAD 1,490. The SINGA and the BETHANY are reversible wool and down, rated to minus 10°C at CAD 1,390, and the BETHANY is cut like a bathrobe.

Mackage's parka rated to minus 25°C costs CAD 40 less than its wool coat rated to minus 15°C.

That is the Mackage Graydon parka at Due West, CAD 1,450 (US$1,027), with 800 traceable duck down. Someone on Reddit wants a jacket for a place that gets to minus 25 Celsius, and that parka is the answer.

Mackage's wool coats are on Mackage's own site and not on within, which has Mackage's down jackets and parkas from CAD 250.

The Graydon comes in 38, 40 and 42, Italian sizing, so check yours first. Due West ships to Canada for CAD 29, and its US page says "Ships to the United States." To try a Mackage coat on, start with Mackage in Montreal or Mackage in New York.

Common questions

Are wool coats good for Canadian winters?

A wool coat rated to minus 5°C suits Toronto until the coldest nights, and it is not enough for Montreal. Toronto's December low is minus 2.7°C and its February low is minus 6.0°C, so January is the test. For colder places, read best winter jackets in Canada.

Is a wool coat warmer than down?

No, going by the one maker that prints both numbers: Mackage puts most of its wool coats at minus 5°C and its Graydon down parka at minus 25°C. It is one maker's rating, so I would not stretch it to every coat.

How warm is a wool coat?

About minus 5°C, which is what 29 of Mackage's 50 wool coats print. Of the makers read for this note, only Mackage prints a number, and I wish the rest would.

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