In praise of Patagonia

[Dougb]

This week I am at Mammoth and I didn’t bring my parka because I was expecting bluebird Spring skiing.

Instead, we’ve had temperatures in the 20s and 30s. Yesterday we had winds so bad they eventually shut down most of the mountain. Today we had swirling snow and winds.

All I brought with me is my Nano Puff jacket and my R1 Techface jacket (not the hoody). I am already a huge fan of both of those jackets (and Patagonia in general) but I’ve never used them for skiing. I was worried about them providing enough protection in this weird weather. I wore the Nano Puff on the inside and the R1 on the outside and couldn’t be happier. I was warm and dry the whole time — even when the wind was blowing the chair sideways and through 6 hours of skiing in snow today.

I have to be careful with parkas because I run hot in general and don’t like to overheat. My buddies tease me that you can always spot Doug because my parka is unzipped and flapping in the wind as I come down the hill. This combo was light, comfortable, and breathable. And both of these jackets have a million applications off the shelf.

So let’s hear some praise for Patagonia for those of you that like it!

 

[François Pugh]

This would make sense if you told us what the wind chill was, instead of just that the chairs were blowing sideways. They probably keep track of it somewhere on the interwebs.

 

[KevinF]

I have a Patagonia Nano Puff as well; that with a light wool sweater is generally what I use under my shell until it's below zero Fahrenheit.

I agree that that system works great.

 

[DanoT]

I have a Patagonia Gortex shell jacket with a waterproof zipper. I have replaced the zipper slider 3 times and I will never buy another jacket with a waterproof zipper.

 

[AngryAnalyst]

Agreed Patagonia is great, I’m mostly 3 layer shell + r1 (the unsealed version) and then if it’s super cold I breakout a micro puff.

The nice thing about the R1 compared to most fleeces is how well it breathes for me.

 

[dusty]

 

[Wendy]

I love Patagonia mostly because they work hard to be sustainable. The nano puff and nano air jackets are great layering pieces or on their own jackets.

I recently purchased a few items on their Worn Wear site, after sending in some Patagonia clothing I wasn’t wearing anymore and receiving credit. The items I got from the Worn Wear site were all in excellent condition and several of them looked brand new.

 

[BTaylor]

In my own experience, Patagonia also provides amazing after-purchase repair services for their products. For example, I sent a ten-year old pair of snowsports bibs to them last spring with blown out cuff zippers. They expertly repaired them for free, no questions asked. Those bibs are still now part of my ski gear rotation.

Patagonia's repair services sometimes take awhile, especially so during the current Covid pandemic. But their commitment to a long life for their products is solid.

 

[Tony Storaro]

R1 is nice but too thin for me.
R2 on the other hand... The fleece one not the Techface. What an amazing piece of kit that is.

 

[migdriver]

 

[trieu]

Last month in SLC, I stopped by the outlet to drop off a better sweater to get the zipper fix. Usually, you would have to fill out the repair form, and drop it off at the store. Then about 4 weeks later - you will get your clothing back via mail. In any case - with Covvid, they were limiting the number of people in the store, and were taking people's name & phone number for a waiting list. When it got to my turn to provide the information - I was hoping that all I can do is just fill out the form and drop it off. I didn't need shop for anymore Patagonia clothes(famous last words). Anyway - they took my jacket and said it will be about 20 minutes - so I'm thinking that the normal wait time that I'm hearing for folks who are looking to shop.

20 minutes goes by - and I get a text - and lo and behold - the zipper was fixed. That's service!