Who's making the best quality outerwear?
- Thread starter TimersMix
- Start date
Colingarnes
Member
Burton makes solid goretex options at good prices. Same with volcom.
Works fine for me and lasts multiple seasons so I see no need to drop 2-3x as much on Arc'teryx or shit like that...
Works fine for me and lasts multiple seasons so I see no need to drop 2-3x as much on Arc'teryx or shit like that...
xxACIDTRIPxx
Active member
Dakine easy.
Arcetryx if you're a baller
Arcetryx if you're a baller
patagonialuke
Active member
Of the brands I've used, I think Norrona, Arc'teryx, and Patagonia are all currently making the best quality outerwear overall. Their patterning, fabric choices, fits, and tiny construction details all just seem so dialed.
Flylow, Trew, Strafe, Open Wear, Mammut, Rab, Outdoor Research, and The North Face are all really close, too. I'm sure I'm forgetting some others, but those are the brands that have impressed me the most.
Flylow, Trew, Strafe, Open Wear, Mammut, Rab, Outdoor Research, and The North Face are all really close, too. I'm sure I'm forgetting some others, but those are the brands that have impressed me the most.
Arcteryx if you're into lightweight technical shells, no question. I had a 3-ply Arcteryx jacket that I wore for almost 15 years before I ruined it when I took a spill in the trees. The only thing about them is I wouldn't buy anything that's new in their lineup because the new stuff is experimental (like questions on a standardized test that don't actually count towards your score), and if it doesn't stick around it's probably because they felt there was a problem with it or it ultimately didn't fill in a gap in the line that they thought they had (a recent example would be the Sphene line). Stick to Alpha/Beta/Sidewinder.
If you're into really burly, reinforced outerwear, FlyLow is making some really bombproof stuff these days but it ain't cheap (I checked out a $400 bib the other day). Black Crows' new outerwear line seems promising-- some people have said the material is *too burly*-- but they're iterating through the designs really quickly. On one hand that means you can find discontinued stuff in their lineup for cheap (https://www.evo.com/outlet/shell-jackets/black-crows-corpus-gore-tex-jacket), but the reason it's cheap is that they thought the design wasn't good enough.
If you're into really burly, reinforced outerwear, FlyLow is making some really bombproof stuff these days but it ain't cheap (I checked out a $400 bib the other day). Black Crows' new outerwear line seems promising-- some people have said the material is *too burly*-- but they're iterating through the designs really quickly. On one hand that means you can find discontinued stuff in their lineup for cheap (https://www.evo.com/outlet/shell-jackets/black-crows-corpus-gore-tex-jacket), but the reason it's cheap is that they thought the design wasn't good enough.
