Patagonia Jacket Decision

[David G]

So, its baffling I'm even thinking about jackets when its already 90 degrees before 10 in the morning but I am. Anyway I'm a college student and I attend school in Nebraska. So its cold and windy. I have a Tommy Hilfiger Pea Coat but I'd like a jacket that I could wear over a button up or a button up with a sweater over it when its not too blistering cold out. While The Northface is the most popular brand on campus I am drawn to the Patagonia brand though I've never owned anything before from there, they do have quite the following.


Here are my potential candidates

http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/...?p=40126-0-015

http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/...?p=25136-0-175

http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/...?p=83746-0-889

[greg_s]

Patagonia makes a fantastic product and has a great reputation as a corporation (a rarity these days). North face has crazy inflated prices for no reason other than it has become en vogue to wear. That being said, I'm not huge on any of those, but I like the full zip the best of the three.

[nicholascrawford]

You want to have a hard shell layer on the outside, like the Simple Guide jacket, but if it's a regular fit, you may need to size down. Depends on your shape. I have one in red from Katmandhu. Very useful.

[Lib]

If you're layering, why not find a nice tweed jacket? Cord? I own a number of technical garments (thank you MEC) but I really would not describe any of them as stylish.


The trouble I find with technical garments is that they often are designed for high-output activity and thus are not as warm as they could be for say, waiting for the train. Furthermore, they are often sacrificing weight to adhere to the above.


Fleece alone is usually far too airy as an exterior garment unless it has a wind blocking fabric laminated to it.


This said, I think everyone needs a good fleece+shell combo. Softshells (like the simple guide jacket you linked) are a good solution if you only want to bring one garment, but they tend to breathe more poorly than a fleece and repel wind/precipitation less than a true waterproof breathable shell (they also breathe better than waterproof breathable shells and repel wind/precipitation better than a fleece!)


Perhaps, having grown up in these clothes, I tend to think of technical garments as purely functional and the antithesis of style, but I understand that this may vary from place to place.