 Poster: A snowHead
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Hellooo. My name is Tom.
Recently I've embarked in the troublesome adventure of acquiring a new jacket, however there is one small issue: I'm not from around where most of you are located =P. I ski (mostly) in Argentina, and that's where I'm currently doing my jacket-hunt. Although I'm saddened by the fact that the items I can acquire at stores down here are not as evolved or as advanced (at least they don't seem like it) as the ones in the US, I was wondering if anybody had any feedback to give me on the following jacket: (If this is considered advertisement I apologize in advanced) -> http://www2.thenorthface.com/opencms/opencms/tnf/gear.jsp?site=AP&model=AGFQ&language=en
At first, that jacket was NOT what I was looking for, I was looking for a hard-shell like style jacket, simply because I feel much more comfortable with a thick top layer (which makes me not have to worry so much about my first and second layers). However, when I got to the store and tried it on I was amazed by the comfortableness of it, so much so that I almost disregarded all advice before buying it. The store guy gave me this speech about how the jacket is really nice and whatnot.
I looked up some online reviews, and what I basically got the feel for was that it's a winter jacket that CAN be used to ski, however does not necessarily fulfill those functions. I'm not at all convinced by it, especially after I read most of the reviews.
Do any of you have any suggestions?
Unfortunately, what I can get is narrowed down a very select group of items that most of you will look at and say: wteff? they still sell this junk? But yes, they still do.
Here are two more websites of other places I can go to, if anybody suggests any jackets. Unfortunately some might be in spanish, if you do not understand spanish it might not even be worth looking at:
http://columbiasportswear.com.ar/menu_hombre_parkas.html < - might be in spanish
http://www.montagneoutdoors.com.ar/ingles/lanzamiento_invierno_ropa_2010.php < - Spanish but it has english translations in the descriptions
If I had more time at my disposal, I would probably wait till I traveled to the states and got myself something more worth the money, however that's not really the case. I just need the best from what I have available.
For any of those who are asking themselves my skiing style or level: I love to ski, however I can't consider myself to be that good of a skier. I've skied for 5 years or 6 years.
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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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I was most worried about it because it didn't seem as complete as the rest of the jackets that I saw, and it carried a rather absurd price. I don't necessarily ski in bad weather, but sometimes the day is a downer and it doesn't stop me at all, just ski through it. Also, when you reach the peak of the mountain that I do go to, there's usually a strong Wind + Snow flalling combination that requires a pretty strong jacket to not freeze your bones.
I went back to The North Face today, and I found that there was a second version to the jacket that appeared on the link, since I think I might have been looking at the wrong one. The one I saw now was even MORE expensive, but it had a much warmer interior, making me think that keeping me warm wouldn't be that much of a problem.
Having said that, I also went to another place called Alpine Skate (might be a national brand) that had a really good jacket (at least it seemed like it was) which had all the basics + a couple of nice features that were well worth the price (which by the way was half of the tnf softshell jacket price). I'm almost sure I'm going to get this jacket from alpine skate, but before that I'll be sure to visit Columbia to get a look at your suggestion, the Columbia Bugapoo Parka. I'm not necessarily a fan of buying all-in-one jackets with fleece+hard shell 'zip on' combos because it just feels really heavy on you, but I'm open to new ideas, so I'll give it a look.
All in all, thank you Skinanny. I appreciate your help and hope that it brings me one step closer to getting the right jacket.
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I'd go with the cheaper one, then, if it has all the features you want!
I generally buy a jacket that I like the look of, and then figure out the layers later! And most of the time I have to wear uniform so I have no choice! We got new uniforms this year (after 25 years of the old style) and figuring out what to wear was very interesting - luckily they are warmer than the old ones, although the soft shells we have don't breathe at all.
Will you post pictures of your final decision?
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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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Hi Tom
soft shells can be great for Spring skiing and milder temperatures. With the current trend for soft shells, what everyone is forgetting are the benefits of an insulated jacket. Yes you can layer and layer up and if you ski at -10 or below take even more layers in your back pack if you are determined to go for a shell. But nothing beats insulation in the jacket in those really cold temperatures. Skiing -18 in a down insulated jacket was a lot more comfortable that a shell with layers.
So that's your first question, how cold will it be?
Do you really want a shell or is some insulation in the jacket going to help. Helly Hansen do a great range of technical shells and insulated jackets for skiing. But there are lots of makes that do great technical ski wear. Also insulation in a jacket ranges from light insulation to thicker - so look out for that as well. The jacket you've linked to doesn't show how waterproof or breathable it is. You need to look for the waterproof and breathability ratings to see if its worth the money. 15,000mm / grs up is good and will be more expensive. 10,000 is not bad, 5,000 is ok for skiing but more entry level and the price will reflect this.
Lots of international stores will send to Argentina mail order. I'm not sure but take a look at these UK ones I've used:
http://www.snowandrock.co.uk
http://www.ellis-brigham.com
http://www.alpineroomshop.co.uk
You may get charged import duty though, so it might be worth trying USA mail order.
I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you more??
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The info was great, actually. Right now I consider myself a touristy skier, I love to ski but unfortunately I don't live near a region that I can just drive to. I need to take a plane ride, etc.
Luckily, the temperatures over here aren't that cold. Where I ski, it could get to like, -5 to -8 in really cold days (at the very top), normally you'll have fairly nice temperatures, but you still feel the cold.
RJane, I bought the jacket, but those links that you put there will still be put to good use. In the future I'm planning on starting to get more serious with my skiing (once I'm done with school and move closer to the ski places), so I'll certainly be on the look out for importing jackets. As for the jacket that I got, it *should* be 10k mm, which is ok. But like I said, I don't have to worry that much about such dreadful temperatures since, unlike in the northern parts of europe and the north america, the temperatures don't drop as much (where I go, at least).
skinanny, I'll be sure to get the pictures up as soon as I find my camera. It's nothing out of the ordinary. It's a black jacket with yellowy/green pocket lines and some lines around the jacket. I could of picked either this color, all white, or an inverted color sequence with all yellow/green and black pocket lines. The green/yellow stood out too much for my liking, and white jackets go brown the first day you wear them, so I just chose the most obvious one. I'll look rather freaky with all black pants, all black jacket, and black boots, but whatever.
I'm pretty satisfied with my final choice. Overall, I'm not 100% sure if it will meet expectations, but it certainly has the basic features I was looking for, and for the right price.
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I took a couple of pictures. Like I said, it's a pretty simple jacket. I'm not very picky. I started off trying to get a cool design/color, I looked for a 'wood'like brown color cause I saw one like that and I liked it. When I didn't find any, I stuck with this which was the one I liked the most (based on my own necessities).
The internet I'm with atm is rather bad, so I had to re-size all the pictures and I sort of exaggerated. You can't really zoom in on them.
http://img716.imageshack.us/i/dsc00251vq.jpg/
That's the outside, has 3 or 4 pretty wide pockets along with some ventilation zippers.
http://img826.imageshack.us/i/dsc00253.jpg/
That's the inside. Has mp3 pocket, wallet, cellphone/radio, and on the far right side it has like this little metallic thing that you can hang your gloves on (so you don't have to carry them) *sorta useless but meh*. You can also see a bit of the hood, which you can make smaller/bigger depending on whether you use a helmet, and it has these plastic seethrough things on the side that are there so that you can still have a peripheral vision (not that necessary, but it's useful if you have the hood + a helmet on, since turning your head fully can be uncomfortable). The hood is also removable.
http://img33.imageshack.us/i/dsc00255hq.jpg/
That's the sleeve. That white thing you see is made so you can keep a watch in there (so you don't have to pull the sleeve back) but I'm just going to use it to stick the ski-pass.
I'm going to test it in a couple of days.
Cheers.
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FAQ
Now you just need some lime green pants to go with it! Have fun! 