So my old boarding jacket has seen better days (8year old trespass nothing amazing) but coming to replace it is it worth spending lots ~£150 on a replacement for 1 week a year?
Or would I be better off with another £40 job?

I’ve been skiing for 20 years now and started off with expensive jackets no less than £250, top brands, top materials all the latest marketing schpeel. In recent and more frugal years i’ve been forced to go to cheap – £60 to 100. I really really can’t tell the difference in performance. OK i’m not trekking to the South Pole in -40 degree temps, but i’ve seen -30 wind chill on more than one occasion and survived perfectly well to tell the tale. More expensive jackets might last a few years longer, but in this day and age of fashions changing so often who wants a jacket you have to get 10 years out of to justify it’s initial expense? So just get a cheaper jacket and have a bit more beer money to fill the pockets.

eBay!
I got a nice Bonfire one on there for £25. As new.

Get yerself down to the TKMaxx on the precinct – you might find something nice.

TKMaxx FTW.

What v666 said.

The trespass tp75 stuff is really good quality and usually discounted well. I am abit of a snob about my tech clothing as well and like the trespass stuff.

I have a fairly expensive ski jacket, but it also serves as a winter coat as well. So, the cost is spread overy more than the occasional week here and there.

For week a year, perhaps not.

But if you can spare the cash a ‘proper’ (think GTX) jacket can save a holiday.

After getting rained on whilst boarding one year, then having a 2hr trek to get back to the chalet I vowed to never go discount on outerwear again!

You’ll always be able to grab a deal on a nice jacket that’s last seasons colours/model. Buy an old model in a safe colour (black/red/blue etc) rather than the latest fluro lour and it’ll last you years.

I’d never go back to cheaper jackets, but I get a lot of use out of mine out in the middle of nowhere, so it’s more of a need than a want.

Also, i’d advise getting a hardshell only, then you can wear it all year in the lovely British summer, and layer up with a fleece etc for winter use.

Tk maxxx; if you are lucky you’ll pick up a bargain.

Thanks all – i was looking at the quicksilver ambition which is coming in around £125

But i think ill take a walk down to TKmax as suggested…it’s only ever Morzine so it’ll never be backcountry esque! Shell jacket + fleece sounds like a good option as im a wuss with the cold.

Like all sports gear – it’s all about wearing the right label innit.
I think my £70 Burton has lasted about 6 snowboard trips more than the Sessions one I had before which cost over twice as much.
Stuff skiers pay for brands like Spider, well, they’re the perfect market for such things. That much is obvious.

eBay is stuffed with ‘worn once’ gear for winter sports.

matt_outandabout – Member

eBay is stuffed with ‘worn once’ gear for winter sports.

Also stuffed with a lot of fakes unfortunately, North Face being one of the main victims

I run quite hot so bought a Columbia hard shell in the Ellis Brigham sale for £80 (rrp circa £200-250) about 13 years ago. Classic mountain jacket styling, still looks ‘current’ in the no nonsense technical climbing way, not the down with it flouro snowboarding fashion victim kind away. Usually just wear with a base layer, or a gilet or thin fleece on the cold days. Also gets use as my winter mountain jacket and Scotland summer jacket 🙂

Having been caught out in some really shitty mountain weather I’m glad I didn’t go for a cheap fashion snow jacket.

There’s lots of 2015 sale stuff on at the moment both Blue tomato have a big sale on and Glisshop have an addition 15% off.

SWMBO just got a jacket for <£50 from two seasons online sale and burton boots for £56 from Snow and Rock.

I would concentrate on tech spec rather than brand and would always recommend min 10k (10,000mm) water proof for boarding.

a cheap fashion snow jacket.

What’s one of those??

Deffo check TKMaxx I’ve had some great stuff from there over the years. I got a Nike 6.0 Down Jacket for £36!! It’s too hot for normal weather but I’ve also got a westbeach softshell for sunny days that only cost £50 or something.

Theres loads of bargains out there but the Trespass stuff is pretty decent as well, esp if it’s only a week a year or something.

+1 for TKMaxx.
I picked up a 15k/10k Bonfire Jacket for £60. Really well made and even after a lot of use is still looking like new.
Previous to that I had a Quiksilver Mission for £60 (also TKMaxx). Great jacket, but a seam went shortly after we returned from our week away.
Longest lasting so far is a Burton Hellbrook, bought in the EB sale.

Westbeach stuff (either Westbeach website, SportPursuit or TKMaxx) looks to be well regarded and is usually on sale somewhere.

eBay is stuffed with ‘worn once’ gear for winter sports.

Yep, I’ve sold quite a few worn once or never even worn jackets on there!

I have a slight addiction to outdoor gear…

As for cheap vs expensive, the main difference is decent waterproofing, a cheap jacket will be absolutely fine on cold dry days, but probably get a bit cold / damp if you’re out all day and it’s snowing.

I got a “premium” Burton [ak] jacket a couple of seasons back.

Looked nice, great fit, felt really well made. Very breathable.
The ads showed guys wearing it in heavy snowfall and crap weather.

But in reality the DWR on it was crap. It didn’t bead water properly and soon got sodden through. I sent it back.

Currently I’m wearing the Westbeach Backcountry which is a nice black hardshell that I picked up in their sales. Way cheaper than the Burton, not quite as well made, definitely less features, but it actually works much better!

Definitely get a shell and layer. – more use out of mare things, and you can always stuff the shell in a bag for warm spring skiing – nothing nicer than skiing not wearing much. no gloves is particularly special!

as per wobbliscott, I’ve had expensive jackets and cheap jackets. most expensive one lasted least amount of time (Burton AK – I got it cheap, but it was something like 360 RRP, about 10 years ago)

Mountain equipment shells have been great.

But if it’s not raining, you don’t need anything particularly special. I’ve been riding in a rab vapour rise and a cheapy softshell, windshell with a body warmer The wind can bite a little more, but you can wear one more layer and get past that. Being a bit warmer won’t be an issue, as what you’re wearing will be much more breathable.

Having said all that, if it’s really foul, you’ll be glad of a decent hardshell, and you’ll get plenty of use out of it in the UK, too.

a cheap fashion snow jacket.

What’s one of those??[/quote]

🙂

More seriously I’m thinking of the Trespass boarding jacket and trousers I had. They were warm and had the snowboarding look for that season, but by god did they soak up water, rarely dried overnight. Decent hardshell all the way for me now. Maybe I wouldn’t get so wet if I didn’t fall over as much 😉

I use a Karrimor Event outdoor jacket, with a couple of merino layers underneath.
Loadsa pockets and tough as nails. £70 I payed a couple of years ago.

Yeah, I had an early Trespass jacket when I first went boarding – might as well have worn a bin bag. Spent most of that hol in a t-shirt anyway.
I think Trespass have come on since then though (price certainly has)

Another vote for TKMaxx. I picked up a Bonfire 2.5 layer shell for around £70 looked up the full price when I got home, can’t remember the figure now but made me do this 😯

The build quality and feel of the jacket is top notch but there was no way I’m buying that jacket at full RRP.

So….
Id kinda decided to not to change my coat but had put a low bid in on a Burton jacket and trousers pack and won!Ill see whats its like when it turns up as to whether i keep it but £70 for both could be ok

Yeah, that’s a proper ebay bargin! Burton Analog stuff is good. Should be pretty hard wearing.

[why do I start my posts with ‘Yeah’? Dunno]