...... it's an 80 polyester - 20 cotton shell with down and feather inside ... it really does get warm inside of it , sometimes too warm . It's not extremely thick either , and it's shell is tough as nails , been using it for like 20 years or more , still almost as good as when new .
I don't think it's anything special name brand wise , it says PROFILE on the name tag in the collar , and the big O has some sort of logo that looks like maybe a mountain range in blue and green colors . Guess I lucked into it back then cause it was on a rack for 15 bucks , amazes me how well it's held up .
She has an L.L.Bean down vest (green) and she likes it (has a lot of yrs. on it too) ... it's not as thick as mine but still nice and warm .
I've thought about the big puffy ball type down jackets also ... seems to me you could roast away on the coldest of days in one of those .
lands end cheeeep and warm not the coolest looking or the best brand wont pack the smallest but your camping on a cold river and only ones that are gonna see you in your cool mountain hardwear coat wont care … i think i paid around 55 bucks and its a nice coat for the money …
lots of knockoffs Since this style (the closely quilted, thin and formfitting down jackets with a fine gauge silky taffeta shell) seem to have become a fashionista rage this season with the non-outdoor crowd, cheap knockoffs abound in every store I have been in lately(Old Navy is currently flogging their version for $50).
Normally I will invest a little more in a quality brand of outdoor gear for the sake of durability, but since I would not expect any of these jackets, whether Patagonia or Brand X, to be especially long-lived nor critical to my survival, I expect my cheapie to be just as useful. The main advantage of one of these down “sweaters” is extreme lightness and compressibility and this one I got for $39 (brand name ZeroXposur and found on a TJ Maxx rack) accomplishes that perfectly. It has a high neck, clean-finished bound inner seams, a good nylon toothed zipper and stretch binding at the cuffs and pockets. I’m sure it is just average grade 500-600 fill Chinese down rather than the 800 touted by the premium brands, but for a 4 or 5 ounce jacket that makes little difference. I can’t imagine anything a top shelf brand jacket could offer in addition that would persuade me to part with another $150 to $250.
Just check any off-brand you find to make sure down is not leaking through the stitching and fabric. Some cheapies may use non-calendared nylon (calendaring is a process that flattens the threads in the weave to render it downproof). You can spot it right away since tiny plumules of down will be evident in and around seams. If you shake it hard and rub your hands over a sleeve and no white fibers appear, it’s likely OK.
Unless you really believe old Yvon needs another platinum surfboard, seems frivolous to me to buy a Patagucci for list price in this case.
Very helpful info, so far And, Willowleaf, wow, quite an exposition.
I’m Scottish, too, and wouldn’t pay list prices for anything. For the puffers, I’m looking in the $80-$170 range, heavily discounted on the brand names.
I’m returning the Marmot Stockholm (list $240, actual $120) because of certain factors. First, it is obviously made for figures more common in my former life.
Second, the hood is too big. They claim these jackets/sweaters/short parkas are NOT for skiing, but then they have these big floppy hoods made for “helmets”. Who wears a helmet for anything? Not me. And it doesn’t even have a back-of-the-head adjustment strap to cinch down this silly giant-headedness. I find hoods warmer than watch caps (toques?), but only if they fit properly.
Third, the front zipper is not double sliding. I am so used to this feature that I consider is mandatory for ventilation and for various torso torturing postures such as sitting, driving, kneeling, praying, and omphaloskepsis.
Fourth, it has no Napoleon pocket on the outside. Again, I am hopelessly addicted to this pocket for crucial personal items.
Fifth, it has no self-stuffing pocket. Who want to tote around a separate stuff sack?
Sixth, the garish glossiness of the thin outside layer looks like something a south Miami hooker would wear.
I am returning the Stockholm to REI tomorrow and will look at the synthetic jackets, but I never liked those materials for sleeping bags at all compared to down. Maybe they’ve improved them.
I have a Marmot Ama Dablam (list $225) on order from a highly suspect source for $130, which may solve issues 2, 3, 4 and 5 – but I’m almost sure I won’t like the fit and finish.
Obviously what I’m doing is the usual self-delusion of trying to buy a general use product under the guise that I “need” it for canoeing purposes. Hey, that’s how I buy vehicles, Navy Seal weaponry and electronic gimmicks, too.
But the darn thing has to serve the general purpose requirements well. It will have to last me forever.
Anyone mentioned Eddie Bauer? They’re famous for down. Have had their stuff hold up well. We have an outlet nearby and you can always get a good deal there.
Love that! (yes, I did know what you meant without looking it up -- a year of Greek was mandatory for the college prep track at my high school.)
You bring up several of my pet peeves about *modern* gear. I think much of it is designed anymore by young nerd hipsters who never go beyond their laptops into the real world, let alone the wilderness. Dual slide zippers used to be a given on outdoor jackets, now they are the exception to the rule. How the hell is one supposed to tie into a climbing harness, let alone comfortably drive a car, with the zipper locked in around crotch level? Fortunately I can sew in a dual zip (on a good old 1920's Singer treadle that would stitch through a pine 2 x 4 if I asked it to) though it pisses me off no end to have to do that on a new jacket. And truly functional pockets seem to be going the way of the dodo as well -- I suppose all we are intended to carry is a platinum visa card and an Iphone. Handwarmer pockets that are actually deep enough for more than the first two joints of your fingers are also becoming scarce.
As for the giant integral hoods; people who wear helmets usually wear insulation UNDER them, not over them, so the untility of that particular appurtenance escapes me. The old time down jackets had removable hoods for good reason (and always had dual zips, big flapped stuff pockets, at least one inner pocket and real handwarmers.) I'll bet I sold thousands of those classic down jackets (North Face, Camp 7, Trailwise, Sierra Designs, Snow Lion) when I worked for outfitters in the 70's. Form followed function back in the day.
Now form seems to trump everything -- all the jacket is intended to do is make the skinny well-groomed model look good in the glossy spread in Outside mag.
Camp 7! Wow willow, there’s a blast from the past. I still have one of their bags & a down jacket that are 20+ years old and going strong. The good old days when gear was designed and made by people that use it…
Remember when the only colors for outdoor gear were navy blue and forest green? Though early Gerry had cherry red and an odd leaf green for a while, Kelty and Camp 7 had royal blue and Snow Lion came out with rust around 1976 (how daring, everybody wanted it!)
Now stuff comes in all sorts of combos of fruity and fluorescent flavors. (Unless you buy it from Campmor in which case your choices are black, black or black.)
HIking boots were brown leather with red laces; socks, hats and mittens were itchy grey ragg wool and long johns were those soggy red Woolrich union suits with the drop seat. Throw on a camel tan chamois shirt (and matching wide-wale corduroy knickers) and a crusher hat, then sling your orange Camp Trails frame pack on your back and you were the epitome of 70's outdoors chic.
Geez, am I dating myself......
Gotta admit I don't miss all that heavy cotton and the itchy ragg.
Tried and true I still use the Eddie Bauer goose down parka I bought on sale in the early 80’s. I only wear it now when the temps are in the single digits or below zero. I remember they trucked a bunch of stuff in to an old Sam’s Club warehouse store for a sale that lasted almost a week. I bought that parka at about half price. Still warm and toasty, but too warm if the temps get above plus 10 degrees and it’s not windy.
Speaking of 70’s stuff, I still have the Kelty backpack and frame I bought around 1974. Used it all around the Tetons, Yellowstone, Big Horns, Black Hills, and Glacier for years until about 10 years ago. However, my backpacking days are behind me now.
My wife still uses the minus 10 degree rated goose down mummy bag she bought from REI in 1965 when it was still a mostly unheard of mail order catalog serving its mountaineering co-op members. Still very warm and comfy.
Good to hear that someone else thinks Velcro is over-utilized on modern jackets. My first Gore-Tex jacket from "Banana Equipment" had Velcro cuff adjustments, but the flap pockets and zipper flap were fastened with snaps, as was the rain hood. I loved that jacket. Both similar jackets I've had since then have a couple of acres of Velcro on them, and simply pulling spare gloves out of a pocket is a sure way of ending up with a glove or two hanging from peculiar places (sometimes seemingly lost, only to be discovered later), and reaching into a pocket with anything except bare hands can't even be done. The coat even sticks to itself in peculiar ways that make it harder to handle. Also, half the time after walking in the woods the Velcro closures won't work anyway because they're covered with burrs. I agree with lots of the other comments about the flaws in modern jacket design too, but way too much Velcro is a pet peeve of mine.
Amen on the curse of Velcro Good point on that. I’ve lost painful hanks of my thick curly hair to velcro entanglement over the years (I know guys with beards hate the stuff up around their faces for the same reason) as well as damaging lightweight knit stuff like woolen tights and lycra items due to the hook part bonding to them.
Velcro is great for a lot of things, like attaching the deck to our Pakboat kayak, mounting black-out window covers inside the travel trailer and lashing odd shaped things to other odd shaped things. But on garments it can be a huge pain. I was “trapped” in a shell jacket in a White Mountains ice storm one climbing trip when water penetrated the velcro windflaps sealing the zipper and froze solid. Had to wrestle it off over my head.
OT, but the funniest use I ever ran across for Velcro was by a woman climber I used to know who put herself through grad school working as a stripper, the kind who puts on a real choreographed stage show at fancier nightclubs. She made her own very imaginative costumes (flamenco dancer, nurse, female cop) and made all the sleeves and parts of the outfits tear away with velcro so she could “rip” off her clothes on stage.
Another funny aspect of that same story: her live-in boyfriend was a rugby player who complained that, due to her sewing her costumes all over their apartment, he would sometimes turn up for games with loose sequins, rhinestones and glitter clinging to his clothes, gear and hair. A big hit in the locker room.
I’ve been trying to come up with a side career I could putter with so I can justify retiring in the next couple of years – maybe there’s a living to be made retrofitting outdoor clothing so it actually works! Velcro elimination overhauls!
informative posts! It great to read such great posts instead of the more common argumentative posts and uninformed comments.
An issue I have with modern outdoor clothing is that at my height (6’1") I need XL size. All the cheaper brands have adapted to overweight Americans and make “XL” clothing XXL around the middle, with sleeve length and trunk length more like a L size.Even LL Bean is going down this path. I have to go to the expensive, trendy brands to get something that fits.
A second gripe is the short fly zipper length in most new pants-scratches the equipment.
Wind block clothing is a mixed blessing. Standing around or starting out on cold mornings its great. Start exercising or if the sun comes on strong and it turns into a sauna. The same attribute that blocks the wind keeps the heat in when you exercise hard. Be sure there is a full length front zipper-it will be used.
windblock I’ve got a pair of Mountain Hardwear pants, at least 8 or 9 years old, that use the windbloc fleece in a clever way – just the leg fronts and a large patch over the seat. The rest of the fabric is stretch regular fleece so it breathes. Love these pants for any outdoor activity, especially canoeing and XC skiing – wish they still made the style. I think combining windblock with other more breathable fabrics can help mitigate the sauna problem.
Go with Down Go with a down jacket over a synthetic as just like a down sleeping bag it will last you longer. My wife an I have the Patagonia donw sweaters and love them. They pack small and are very warm for their weight, plus they make a great pillow.
Well, I returned the 600 down Marmot Stockholm jacket and took delivery a couple of weeks ago of the 800 down Ama Dablam jacket. It cures every fault I listed in my third post above.
It has an integrated hood but it is of normal head size with a back adjustment along with side adjustments. It has a Napoleon exterior pocket, an integral stuff pocket, a two-way front zipper, and fleece-lined hand pockets and chin guard.
It's much lighter than my full service down parka. I've had it out in a couple of light rains and it sheds water well. The so-called angel wing shoulder technology makes paddle movements very easy -- no binding or tightness.
I wouldn't hesitate to use the jacket in my canoe in an appropriate climate condition even though I excluded that as a buying purpose. Of course, I would also carry fleece in my dry bag.
I bought a good Polartec Wind Pro jacket a month earlier, and I find that I am always using my new down jacket instead or my new fleece jacket for running around town and the woods. More comfy and silkily seductive. Sort of like Jean Harlow vs. Bette Davis. I haven't experienced any really cold weather yet here in CT, but I expect the puffy down will be cozier than the Wind Pro in low temps.