Personally, the ~$10/yard difference for a cloak isn't enough for me to use a blend over all wool. Hand-sewing the things takes *forever* anyhow, and with the amount of work I put in, the cost difference is neglible.
But everyone's got different priorities, and doing a batch of cloaks for a party outing on the machine is totally different from laboring over a single piece all winter long to be ready for the next fall trek...
ANYHOW -
Greg found a source in Europe with (I think?) recycled grey wool he used for his bocksten-based cloak and hood.
As I recall the cost for both was gonna be in the ~$125-150 with shipping. I've been meaning to try that for ages, just haven't.
For my part, a year or two back I was trying out lots of stuff trying to find "perfect."
For "period correct" you can't do better than this:
handwovenwool.com
They have herringbones and twills that come and go from their lineup, and the work is spectacular. Also, they're not nearly so as expensive as you'd think given the amount of work either.
The widths tend to be pretty narrow. This is great if you want authentic piece-work like on the original Bocksten BUT it's more handwork.
I've a dark brown blanket/square cloak from them.
It's a thin blanket/heavy cloak weight, and very comfortable. Not quite as soft as a modern processed wool blanket, but not waste-wool scratchy either. With your linens on, you'd not notice any problem at all.
That said, the weave is a bit loose to go scrambling through brambles in. For my use, it's purely an around-camp/around-home cloth unless/until I full it some more.
edit - I went up to take another look at these. While I've seen some flufflier/lighter weave stuff from them, the blanket I got is in fact quite tight enough for a cloak.
It was this one, but they appear out of stock at the moment:
https://handwovenwool.com/twill-weave-2 ... ur-25.html
It's a little scratchier than some woolens, but nowhere near "army blanket" scratchy, and I think would wear in just fine.
You'd probably want two for a proper cloak, but it's not *that* much more than buying modern wool yardage.
On a completely different track, I also once tried hunting down loden cloth due to its famed weather-resistance.
I finally found a German retailer who carried it via eBay:
https://www.ebay.de/usr/wollstoffe-mehl ... 7675.l2559
More details here:
http://middleearthrangers.org/forum/vie ... den#p44852
I've a bocksten cloak and hood cut but not sewn from some strichloden I got from him.
The weave is very tight, the surface smooth - I'm not worried at all about brambles for this stuff.
That said, it's truly not that different from a wool broadcloth from domestic sources. If the cost for the piece you're looking at is comparable with shipping it's a very nice option, but I'd not pay a huge premium for it.
Which leads me to -
https://www.wmboothdraper.com/Wools/woo ... dcloth.htm
I think my first wool cloak was from this stuff, and after everything else I've tried, it's still what I keep coming back to.
It's got a tight weave that doesn't get pulled part in brambles. It's heavy enough to have decent hand and good coverage, but most are light enough they're not terribly cumbersome.
They also tend to carry real nice drabby greens and green-greys.
The one failure point is some of their broadcloth is a bit light and sometimes a bit too felted - so double check the weight and perhaps ask for a swatch if you're concerned.
Finally, regarding cloaks and the outdoors - I've come to think of cloaks as the ancient equivalent of the "shell" layer.
I use a cloak more to keep wind and rain off, and less a keeper of warmth in itself. Thus I'm quite happy with a thinner cloak, and will add thicker woolens underneath if I need more warmth.
OH - PS.
That's all for cloaks.
A while back I got some Harris Tweed for a hood and OMG DIVINE.
Definitely for the cold season, but SO soft and thick and comfy. I don't think I'd want a full cloak of the stuff, but for hoods its just amazing.