Capes and cloaks are much easier to make than a coat. Also it depends a lot on the cut. I wouldn't wear one with lots of dags and tags and floaty bits that could catch on things. But I have a plain hip-length cape made of a heavy dull-green woollen felt that is one of my favourite winter garments. The collar is extended into two scarf-like ends which wrap around my neck and lower face and which serve to make it easier to breathe in freezing conditions (a bit like the collar on Lalli's coat but the scarf-like bits are about twice as long and not as rigid). It is made from a roughly rectangular piece of wool felt, and does up at the front with a few big buttons, then I can wrap the scarf bits around my throat and face if it is cold enough, or just leave them hanging down. They are not as long as the cape, and quite heavy, so don't get in the way - I can and do wear the garment in the bush in winter, but it is plain and tidy enough to wear in town. A friend gave it to me years ago, and I've worn it for more than twenty years without problems.
For more formal occasions (and for wearing to reenactment events) I have a couple of plain straight calf-length woollen cloaks of more conventional design, one made from finely woven dark brown wool and the other from a piece of Isles tweed fabric one of my aunts gave me. Both are very warm and comfortable, but I wouldn't wear them in rough bush, because a longer garment is more prone to catch on things.
