Affordable ski jacket?!

[TheBestSkier]

Hi @joanna

Freeride Systems makes ski jackets in Colorado. We use high performing fabrics from Polartec. Please check out our website to see what all is available. The link is in my signature.

I have 1 pink (magenta) insulted softshell jacket left. It would fit like a small to medium. If it fits I could give it away to you for $199.99 plus shipping.

Shoot me a PM if you want to discuss sizing.

 

[Cheizz]

I am here and reading, but we need some answers first. Lots of brands, lots of shops, lots of jackets...

Oh, @Philpug, what do you mean by 'Neitherland'? Neither land nor Sea?

 

[Primoz]

@Primoz too, right?

Yeah I'm in Europe, but I rather stay out of these sort of discussions Reason #1... I'm seriously too cheap to even think about jackets and pants most of you guys are discussing about Based on my experiences, sort of cheap stuff (not talking about some 50eur worth stuff from grocery stores) works as good for me as super expensive stuff, so when you guys discuss jackets like Kjus, Colmar, Arcteryx and similar, I rather just disappear And reason #2... I'm lucky enough that I get most of my skiing equipment from either friends in this business, or few companies I'm dealing with, so I don't really have much info about stores and whole bunch of products. Not to mention that with clothing alpine racing is minor market so there's a whole lot more stuff out of alpine racing market, so my input would be basically useless
As for OP, maybe one suggestion from my side. Icepeak is one of brands that I currently have. It's relatively cheap and relatively good. It absolutely can't match some expensive stuff, but you can't really compare 200eur jacket with 1000eur jacket. For me personally 1000eur jacket doesn't last much longer then 200eur, as in 1000eur jacket it last in best case 3 years, while "cheap" Icepeak is gone after 2 seasons. But I'm most likely not really average user when it comes to abuse of things

 

[Brian Finch]

I've got 2 jackets from my wife that need a new home: both medium. Uber cheap.

 

[Brian Finch]

I've got 2 jackets from my wife that need a new home: both medium. Uber cheap.

Pics here:

https://forum.pugski.com/threads/womens-medium-jackets.3331/

 

[skibob]

Trew and Craghoppers are two Euro brands (available at least in UK) that seem like good values.

 

[Ron]

FWIW Trew gear is out of Portland good stuff for sure. not cheap

 

[Alexzn]

Trew is good stuff, but as far as I am concerned the waterproofing material they use is not the best, it's a standard polyurethane membrane which is very durable and reliable, just not very breathable. Bombproof but sweaty ski-bum wear.

My take on the jackets at this point is that there are major brands, like Patagonia, Arcteryx, Marmor, Mountain Hardware, etc, that all make their stuff in China and all with slightly varying degrees of quality and materials. The difference is mainly in the type of fabrics and details of the fit. A few smaller brands, such as FlyLow and/or Trew who got on the NeoShell bandwagon are approaching the same level as the big companies. Their early efforts were substandard (the original LabCoat by FlyLow had a fugly and primitive boxy fit, coupled with a well-known fabric delamination problem at the pockets. But thanks to it being one of the first NeoShell jackets with a powder skirt and a well-thought design tweaks where it counts (inner pockets, and chin area) it sold like hotcakes. I have that jacket (and still love it), FlyLow glued back the delay fabric, so now it looks fashionably "ski-bum". As an aside, Patagonia or Arcteryx would never have allowed that to happen, and would not sent that "fixed" jacket back to a customer. I looked at Strafe jackets, they look like also-runs to me. The quality is not better than FlyLow and the design is slicker, but decidedly less functional.

The small company that does stand out for me is Westcomb, but that is because they own a very high-end factory in Vancouver, BC with a long history of manufacturing high-end technical garments for others that allows them to make pieces with quantifiably better quality than even Arcteryx or Patagonia (with a high price to match, and with a noticeable concentration on the weight-weenie backcountry market).

The jury is out for me on a newer players like FreerideSystems. I have not seen their jackets in person, only in pictures (and none of them shows the seams, of the fit of the seam sealing tape) so I cannot vouch either way, but I don't necessarily yet see the reason why they should be better than the big league guys (with all due apologies to theBestSkier, who has been a great presence on this board). All jackets don't fail by developing holes, or ripping stitches. It's always either DWR wearing off in an abrasion area, the seam sealing tape starting to peel off, fabric glued on next to a zipper starting to delaminate, the velcro cuff starting to get undone, liner fabric developing pills, etc. Getting those things right takes either the right manufacturing partner or time to iron out the kinks. The jury is still out for me.

 

[Ron]

Ill get some close-ups for you next week. Freeride is made in the USA, Colorado to be even more specific.

 

[Alexzn]

Ill get some close-ups for you next week. Freeride is made in the USA, Colorado to be even more specific.

Its great (actually awesome) to have good stuff made in the US, but it does not necessarily mean that it is superior to China-made products if those were made at a high-end factory. I am curious who OEMs the jackets for Freeride in Colorado (or did they build their own factory from scratch?).

 

[skibob]

FWIW Trew gear is out of Portland good stuff for sure. not cheap

Hmmm, not what I was thinking of. Its on the tip of my tongue . . .

 

[fatbob]

If NL = Cloggieland then I'd point no further than Decathlon for great technical wear for buttons. Micro puffies under 30 Euro ish. Can easily get ful!y outfitted in good kit for 200 bucks.

Like this

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/x-light-womens-down-jacket-pink-id_8344288.html

 

[fatbob]

I've also had some good kit from Dare2be if you go for the higher end of their range - it's essentially the ski/cycling brand of Craghoppers.

Not Norrona or Peak Performance but neither dies it have the price tag.

 

[fatbob]

Hmmm, not what I was thinking of. Its on the tip of my tongue . . .

Trespass?

Or TOG24?

Similarish stuff - tend to have their own outlet stores plus sell thru TJX etc

 

[cantunamunch]

Karrimor?

 

[TheBestSkier]

The jury is out for me on a newer players like FreerideSystems. I have not seen their jackets in person, only in pictures (and none of them shows the seams, of the fit of the seam sealing tape) so I cannot vouch either way, but I don't necessarily yet see the reason why they should be better than the big league guys (with all due apologies to theBestSkier, who has been a great presence on this board). All jackets don't fail by developing holes, or ripping stitches. It's always either DWR wearing off in an abrasion area, the seam sealing tape starting to peel off, fabric glued on next to a zipper starting to delaminate, the velcro cuff starting to get undone, liner fabric developing pills, etc. Getting those things right takes either the right manufacturing partner or time to iron out the kinks. The jury is still out for me.

Our claim is not because it is made in the USA it is better. Our quality is in line with Vancouver era made Arcteryx. In my opinion, made in the USA means that it has a better economic impact than a US Brand that makes overseas. One might argue that just because the labor to assemble take place overseas, the bulk of the money remains domestically shored but this would not be a good comparison. Overseas production means money lost to labor, machines used to manufacture, taxes, logistics as well as to foreign fabric and notion distributors or manufacturers. We make jackets in our own production facilities with machines and equipment we have purchased domestically. Our materials come from domestic sources in 99% of the time.


If you want to see a good representation of our sewing and seam taping simply visit our website and watch the slideshow on our landing page. After a few mandatory ski and mountain shots you will see several pictures that will answer those questions. The areas besides fit that you forgot to mention in relation to design are the little attributes that come from the design team living in the mountains full time testing and getting revisions made in days and back out testing again. These little features found in our jackets make them great. For instance, our jackets have a grab tab on the velcro cuffs which makes for easy gloved operation in cold temps. Our zippers can be operated with smooth ease while gloved and in most cases with one hand instead of one to hold the fabric and one to tug on the zipper. Our collar design blocks and or deflects wind that on most other garments ends up taking a toll on ones face in harsh weather. A collar system cinches so that you may draw it tight accommodating both small, medium, and large heads and necks. A neckline that allows a hoodie hood to egress without cutting of circulation to the jugular. A hood that actually covers a helmet and may be deployed with ease on a chair or while skinning around a windy rock outcropping. Cuffs that do not contain elastic so that it is a power venting system as well as allowing for the use of both under and over style gloves or mittens. These are some of the little features that set our design apart. They don't really seem like much when typed out here on the interwebz, but when you are in the field they make a world of difference. Many times this is the difference between a successful enjoyable outing and an uncomfortable unenjoyable trek. We have noticed other brands have copied some of our features (we have watched and read many of their product descriptions closely over time) and we are proud to be an influence.

Our price is reflective of the premium fabrics, zippers, other components, design and sewing that we use. We do not use slave labor and there are no children's tears for insulation in our jackets.

And, finally if something does fail we are going to back up our products with a warranty that is hard to beat in the industry. We stand behind our products and of course it helps to have our production close by where we can fix things quickly and get them right back to our valued customers. 7 years in business with less than a 0.01% failure rate.

 

[Monique]

So in any case, we should focus on affordable ski gear. @TheBestSkier 's offer of $199 is pretty baller for a good jacket, but @JoannaSQ hasn't been back to give a price range.

And no, despite comments here, I wouldn't recommend a high-end jacket to a new skier who's just getting into the game and has expressly stated she's on a budget. There's just *so much* to buy for skiing, and you don't know what aspects of a ski jacket are going to be important to you - like, are you someone who requires pit zips? Do you prefer insulated or shell? How cold do you get? How wet are you actually going to get? Which brands protect your face best without making you feel claustrophobic? Do you like hoods, or do you hate them? Are you going to need a head-sized hood or a helmet-sized hood? How much pocket space do you require, distributed across how many pockets? Do you prefer a long, butt-covering cut or a shorter, trimmer cut? Do you care more about looks or about comfort? Do you mind it when you stuff your pockets with food and you look like a hamster with 8 brussel sprouts shoved in its cheeks?

And of course, critically, does it match the rest of your outfit? Because honestly most of us do care about this to some extent, even if our definitions of "match" don't, er, match. We do want to look good, or at least not look bad.

These are all important considerations! Why go out and buy a fancy, expensive jacket just to find out that you wanted something that covered your butt, or had a powder skirt, or has a terrible hood design (this was true of my Arc'teryx Scarabee - the hood zipped into the collar, creating this terrible, bulky, firm neck guard that interfered with my helmet), or whatever?

 

[Philpug]

The jury is out for me on a newer players like FreerideSystems. I have not seen their jackets in person, only in pictures (and none of them shows the seams, of the fit of the seam sealing tape) so I cannot vouch either way, but I don't necessarily yet see the reason why they should be better than the big league guys (with all due apologies to theBestSkier, who has been a great presence on this board). All jackets don't fail by developing holes, or ripping stitches. It's always either DWR wearing off in an abrasion area, the seam sealing tape starting to peel off, fabric glued on next to a zipper starting to delaminate, the velcro cuff starting to get undone, liner fabric developing pills, etc. Getting those things right takes either the right manufacturing partner or time to iron out the kinks. The jury is still out for me.

I have had a Westcomb jacket and I would say that the Antero II that I currently have is at least on par with it if not better. Like I said in the other thread, I would gladly let you take my test jacket for a weekend to try out.

 

[pete]

Our claim is not because it is made in the USA it is better. Our quality is in line with Vancouver era made Arcteryx. In my opinion, made in the USA means that it has a better economic impact than a US Brand that makes overseas. One might argue .........ose by where we can fix things quickly and get them right back to our valued customers. 7 years in business with less than a 0.01% failure rate.

geez, is that all! you sound a proud parent! Of course, I don't blame ya. Didn't catch all the little touches you folks do.

I do too appreciate stateside and a no - tears build, my mom years back used to seam Police Jackets/Clothing ... hard work but they prided on their quality.


pete

 

[Cheizz]

Deacthlon certainly is a place to check out. Great prices, OK stuff. If you want something a bit more quality, check out the brand Protest. Good stuff, good value.