 Poster: A snowHead
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I have a dare2be jacket it keeps mt warm anf doesn't look like a fat man one his post christmass pud walk. They're cheap, get one
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sar_m, Was in TK Max Glasgow a couple of weeks ago and they had loads of ski wear.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Looks OK to me. I wear a Keeler outer jacket - also low cost - and very good. Unclear on the benefits of spending more.
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I think I would be embarrassed to be seen in last seasons or Hong Kong knock off Spyder Jacket that are so common. I looked in TK max for a jacket as my Gortex shell has a fair bit of duct tape lining. I didn't see anything special in a top brand, and came away empty handed but I must say I was impressed by the effort Trepass had made to be stylish and quality looked good if you don't mind the badge.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Lechbob, Nothing wrong with Trespass gear either had it and used it skiing too - two weeks and no probs in wet slushy conditions. Top of the range Tresspass Radium gear sallies and jacket, full outfit in TKMAXX for under £50 - makes sense to me.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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sar_m, My dare2b will be on it's third year at the end of this month (it's done 10 weeks skiing all told,so far ), absolutely fine, never been cold, never got wet - even in heavy rain.
Allan
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Not sure I like the company name some of the Stella stuff's available through..
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I love my Dare2Be. The weight and warmth are perfect and waterproof qualities are excellent. plenty of pockets and vents.
I love clothes and am a real label whore. But on the mountain the only thing people see is you skiing or boarding ability.
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sar_m, Dare2b is part of the The Regatta Group (“Regatta”) that has three clothing brands:- Hawkshead, Craghoppers and Dare2b. All established companies producing clothing for outdoor activities, who were around long before some of the more fashionable alternatives. Our whole family has skied in Trespass, Regatta, Dare2b, and many years ago, C & A, and never once been cold or wet. If you look for taped seams, windproof, breathable and waterproof, and good padding if you aren’t using the layer system, you won't go far wrong, unless you are skiing in North Canada in January, then I guess you might need to look at stuff designed for expeditions to the north pole! (IMHO) 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It's a Ford/BMW sort of arguement. Both are very good products. Badge/branding is important to some and not others. It's interesting how keen the Ford/D2be folk are to defend their purchasing decisions. 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Mollerski, also interesting that their arguments make some logical sense and are backed by experience of the product, rather than just consisting of 'har har we're going to laugh at you if you wear that because it has the wrong label on'.
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My comment was borne out of an investigation I followed into motorcycle clothing. There are lots of different branded products with wildly differing price tags, some of the more expensive brands (Alpinestars, Dainese, Spidi) are perceived to be of better quality leather/manufacturing process and to offer better protection than some of the cheaper brands (RST, IXS, Frank Thomas, Akito). However an independent study conducted by a panel of motorcycle industry professionals and journalists found that most of the off-the-peg mainstream brands were made in the same factory in Pakistan to the same manufacturing specifications and with the same materials. The only differences to us, the consumers, were the badge and the price...
It occurred to me that skiwear may very well be the same, in which case I shall stick to cheaper brands and save my pennies. I don't care about fashion, but I do care about being warm, dry and comfortable. I would say the main points to assess when buying gear are, does it fit, can you afford it, do you like it and does it have the main warmth and waterproofing features you'd expect? If you can answer yes to all of these, then you have little to lose. By all means spend wads of cash on the most expensive designer brands if you like them and can afford to, but if you're like me and on a limited budget, shop about and don't be swayed unduly by big name brands. Ultimately you're probably getting something very similar in quality for a whole lot less outlay...
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You know it makes sense.
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This thread prompted me to have look at jackets - well the D2B is getting on a bit. I can see now where I'm going wrong with my skiing - I don't have a 'Performance Jacket'. Perhaps if I ditch the Dare2be in favour of something more upmarket, I won't need any more lessons  Mmm.. Got me thinking about the cheap 'White Rock' salopettes I got for 60 squids on Ebay (same age now), perhaps if I bought some 'Performance salopettes' ......
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| alex_heney wrote: |
| red 27 wrote: |
sar_m, Do you remember C&A?  You get the idea? |
What "idea" might you think that would be then?
Even the very best stuff around at the time of the heyday of C&A wasn't any better than Dare2B is now.
So long as he makes sure to go for stuff that is both breathable and waterproof, the Dare2B stuff will be fine for any normal recreational skier.
you and Mollerski are just being stupidly snobbish. |
Do you have to be gratuitously offensive? You could have made the same substantive point without being rude.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Butterfly, I note with interest that the sweaty betty website also sells fartbags - so someone is still making them along with stella mcartney
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| Mollerski, also interesting that their arguments make some logical sense and are backed by experience of the product, rather than just consisting of 'har har we're going to laugh at you if you wear that because it has the wrong label on'. |
Who's laughing? Chill out Liz man, you're in danger of coming across as an angry, fully 'chipped-up', sad git.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Mollerski, as long as no-one can accuse me of having been suckered by the branding weasels.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| Mollerski, as long as no-one can accuse me of having been suckered by the branding weasels. |
Sure they have. They've given you a focal point for your inverted snobery. Chill man!! There's lots of snow FFS!!!! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Megamum wrote: |
| Butterfly, I note with interest that the sweaty betty website also sells fartbags - so someone is still making them along with stella mcartney |
One of the two ski suits shown is, in fact, by Stella McCartney. I think they're both rather smart, don't you? Can't think who would want 'clay' coloured ski wear, though, surely that's for boarders only.
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Mollerski, you thoroughly misunderstand my attitude. And I know all about the snow, as I am in the middle of it.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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red 27, so you're poncing around in £500 jeans and stilettos? Pictures please! 
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[quote="sar_m"]Mollerski, I've had a look on ebay but couldn't find a decent second hand jacket in my size. The only ones they had in my size and price range were either pretty old (so I'm guessing quality wouldn't be great) or new and from "non cool" brands. Also quite a few of the dare2b jackets had breathability of 5000-10000mm, snow skirts, plenty of inner and outer pockets, "ptzips" and taped seams and I'm no technical expert but unless you're planning on doing serious mountaineering I kind of thought that would be ok. Although part of the reason I was asking here was to check that kind of stuff out.[/quote]
Dare2b is a top end brand from Regatta and, I agree, with the parent brand, there is a chance you might be mistaken for your dad out for a stroll from the caravan to the dog show (apologies to all you cool and trandy dog show & caravan types), but he's been warm & dry in that Regatta "raincoat" for YEARS
However, as I read the thread, you're going out for the season & not working on the mountain all day every day (or they'd be giving you something to wear). That means you need something to ski in on your days off and going out at night to keep warm. IMHO you really don't need Goretex, or "top brands" for that sort of use. Your top end dare2b will be more than adequate for anything you'll need. As you've noted above, they have a lot of good, functional features, and a range of reasonable designs. Just beware of this season's TKM range of unfeasibly bright neon gear - don't be fooled into a
Ok, so you won't be in the latest Schoffel or whatever - but if it's raining, and you're out for the season - there'll be other days to ski.
Have a great season, and dare2b seen in functional affordable gear that will do what you need and you won't have to be wondering "who's nicked my £600 jacket" every night you take iof off in a bar in resort.
CW
PS If even a small is a generous fit you might be lucky enough to sneak into the older teen sizes - VAT free. Why save only 2.5% when you could save the whole lot!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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You know it makes sense.
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alex_heney,
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Even the very best stuff around at the time of the heyday of C&A wasn't any better than Dare2B is now.
So long as he makes sure to go for stuff that is both breathable and waterproof, the Dare2B stuff will be fine for any normal recreational skier.
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Those two sentences would have been just fine on their own. I now accept that any rudeness on your point is intentional. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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red 27, er, I believe that was a champagne cocktail, not mere kir royale. I have witnesses.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| queen bodecia wrote: |
| I have a similar budget brand ski jacket and pants and I say go for it. All this label lust stuff is just that. You pay more for a badge, but they're probably still all made in sweat shops in the far east. Stick to cheaper brands and save money for your ski trips I reckon... |
Not true with technical mountain gear. Labels like Goretex etc are not the same as fashion labels. That's not to say you need the highest spec gear to go recreational skiing, but it does help to keep you warmer, drier and generally more comfortable. Where they are made is completely irrelevant. Factories in the Far East turn out everything from complete tat to the very highest quality and everything in-between.
I work in professional motorsport and have to wear branded Team clothing with sponsors logos etc. The quality of the jackets, fleeces etc is usually very poor and there's no way I'd consider wearing similar quality gear for skiing. It would do the job, but the higher quality gear is hugely more comfortable to wear on the mountain and lasts far longer.
It's all relative to your overall budget really, I'm lucky enough not to have to compromise on ski clothing. I know from experience that I'm not simply paying for a badge.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Mollerski, 
I'm certainly not a fashion guru, but I do like quality gear. I've had to suffer loads of low quality "ski" jackets at work, so I am aware of the potential differences. There are obviously diminishing returns the more you spend, but no point in pretending that a typical £50 jacket is going to be as good as a typical £400 one. The more expensive jacket will be lighter, warmer, more waterproof, more breathable, harder wearing and almost certainly look better. Whether these differences are worth it depend entirely on your overall budget, not how good you are at skiing.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As with perfume, a very small percentage of the retail cost is the raw material and manufacturing - marketing and profit is what makes up most of the cost, and having manufactured for the equestrian market, (where certain brand "names" are also important to some), once we had reached the point at which the fabric and make-up served the purpose for which it was intended (at whatever technical level that was) and couldn't be improved upon, the cost to the end user was then determined by how much the retailer could actually get away with charging! Clothing has a 100% mark-up to the public, for specialist clothing, the % goes up. Once you create the demand via clever advertising, sponsoring etc, the price is whatever someone will pay!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
But on the mountain the only thing people see is you skiing or boarding ability.
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How true. I have often sat on a chairlift and admired the way some people get down the slope - or sometimes thought "What a wally; he thinks he looks great, but he's a wally wafting his poles around like that" etc. However I have never (honestly) thought "gosh, what an incredibly cool and gorgeous outfit; he must be a stud" or "what a poor dolt, he's wearing Decathlon's best". People who are the right shape and who move well look good in whatever they wear. And vice versa. I have sometimes sat on a chairlift beside a guy in a multi-colour fartbag, rear entry skis and 25 year old skis, then watched him disappear in a flash as I get myself sorted....
and yes, I have some Marks and Spencers jeans. Just to be extra uncool, I bought them for £4.50 in the Sue Ryder shop...
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FAQ
The 'in-coming' will be unbearable. 
Apology accepted none the less. 
