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Other half has mentioned them a few times and have noticed they are very popular on the yummy mummy brigade when on the school run are they worth the dollar? Not planning on buying her one for coloured fashinable purposes so it will be a waxed one but they seem to be in the £200+ bracket!!!!!!
Living in a wet part of the country so it will get some use are there any other waxed jackets I should be looking @ to throw a curve ball into the mix?
Rich
Yes well worth it, I bought the wife one about 5 years ago now and it still looks like the day I bought it. Stylish and very practical too.
She's dropping hints at a new one in a different design now.
I bought one (of the more traditional variety) for wearing to work etc, I got it for half price from the Barbour Factory Shop in Jarrow (IIRC). Not much use unless you're over that way but they had loads of full price kit and a loads at heavily discounted prices.
Barbour are indeed very, very good.
Two tips, though;
Never wear a new one. Rough it up a little first.
Take the badge off the lapel.
These hints will help her avoid looking like an Italian tourist. 😉
Barbour are superb. There customer service is excellent.
Last for ever, you can send them back to Barbour for a rewax and an overhaul. Well worth doing every few years.
They are not lightweight but they are breathable, waterproof and windproof.
your thoughts please on women
Like I'm going to fall for this moderator trap again!
From what i see on the school run almost every school mum and teen in Barnsley wears a Barbour jacket (they are almost regarded as a chav brand which is unfair). I think a lot of them are fake because they look crap. If you can afford it buy her a Belstaff jacket.
As the OP asked women are lovely. It's late.
Don't care much for the traditional style but tge wife has a barbour international cosg which is great.
Buy one. It'll be great for years to come. Agree they are being worn by Chavs, but they'll move on.
I wear my waxed one all of the time.
the must have jacket for the well to-do bampot and schoolies around here, superdry are so last year. nice jackets though.
amazed they have made the transition to social climbers must have accessory. the main reason behind a waxed jacket is it's thornproof which for beating/rough shooting is essential as anything else gets ripped to shreds. they may be waterproof but any exertion leaves them dripping inside (and cold/clammy)and now with modern breathable fabrics waxed cotton is pointless for a waterproof.
function has never really got in the way of fashion though 🙄
i think they look fine with a lurcher/land rover but a bit of a joke with a soft-roader and 'off-road buggy' but then i'm from the countryside.
i think they look fine with a lurcher/land rover but a bit of a joke with a soft-roader and 'off-road buggy' but then i'm from the countryside.
It's a jacket!
Barbour or Belstaff. But be warned re: Belstaff, there are a lot of sites selling fakes; the shonky English gives the game away. A ladies Tourist Trophy or Trialmaster looks terrific, and Barbour do a very similar one. Rewaxing is easy if you get hold of a pot of Renapur wax. You just soften it in the microwave and apply it with the little sponge supplied. I've used it on some dry areas on my Stockman and a pair of leather walking boots, and it's brilliant stuff.
www.renapur.com
There's also Dryzabone as well:
http://www.drizaboneclothing.co.uk/store/DrizaBone_Ladies_Lightweight_Jacket.html
I had to get rid of mine as Mrs Removed couldn't stand the smell 🙁 I bought a wee tub of Barbour reproofing wax and as above ^^^ applied with a sponge once a year - makes all the difference. There's plenty 2nd hand jackets on ebay - I got mine for about £40 in excellent nick.
Got a lurcher, but no landrover, sorry!
they may be waterproof but any exertion leaves them dripping inside (and cold/clammy)and now with modern breathable fabrics waxed cotton is pointless for a waterproof.
And I've had precisely that happen with Goretex, and the problems you have with trying to keep the stuff waterproof is a royal pita. I'd rather have a heavier jacket that just keeps on going if you use it as a groundsheet, or catch it on a thorny hedge, and those exist in urban environments too, In case you hadn't noticed, like the Pyrocanthus hedge right next to where I park my car at home, about a foot from the door. Damned glad I mostly wear my Trialmaster in the car at the moment, although I attacked the hedge with secateurs earlier today. I doubt if there will be too many thirty year old technical Goretex jackets around, but there are plenty of Barbour and Belstaff ones around.
It's a jacket!
it's a style statement!*
* well my 20 year old solway isn't but then i use the game pocket for what it was intended for. evidently sales staff are telling people it's for an ipad!
I don't do 'style statements'. I have a Barbour Stockman, because it keeps me dry when there's heavy precipitation*
(*©Met Office), and a Belstaff Trialmaster 'cos my dad had one when I was a nipper and rode on the back of his little Francis-Barnett motorbike, and if it was good enough for my dad fifty years ago, then I'll be damned if it isn't good enough for me.
The 'style' mavens can go screw themselves. I want practicality and a dry bod with minimal maintenance.
They've always been both a working jacket and a style statement and there's always been those that say "Oh I use mine for what it's meant for, look I have a dead pheasent in my pocket!"
bought my 14yr old daughter one yesterday for her xmas pressie.
£150 quilted type with a waist belt.
got it from a local tack shop we use for her horsey stuff.
looked nice on the mrs when she tried it on.
Battered-but-well-loved and tied in the middle with baler twine FTW.
I've had a Barbour Bedale jacket for about 20 years now and it is still going strong. Re-wax it occasionally, either using a hairdryer or tumble dryer to ensure the wax has soaked in, although given its age I should really send it back to them for a 'proper service'. I used to do a lot of game shooting, so the pockets have been filled with all sorts of stuff, given that up now and the only things in the pocket are 'poo-bags'for when I'm on dog walking duties. If you get one, do not let her wear it in the car, the wax can bo'lux the seats.
Bedale is what I got one Xmas of my parents when I was about 10, it was excellent wore it for school and everywhere else.
I'd love one of their motorcycle jackets they do, might pop to Jarrow tomorrow.
the true style/social climbing statement would be to wear tweed, this suggests that all you have to do is walk from range-rover to peg (stick in the ground where you shoot from) and shoot, the downtime is spent sitting on one of those fold out walkingstick/seat's.
tweed isn't thornproof but that's not an issue for the gentry.
you have to hand it to whoever sorted Barbour out though, they must be doing quite well on the back of the hipster/yummy mummy resurgence.
you have to hand it to whoever sorted Barbour out though, they must be doing quite well on the back of the hipster/yummy mummy resurgence.
Agreed the image has been pushed through and whoever did it has hit something big.
splash out and get her a Belstaff.
Donkeys years ago I bought a Barbour for (gun) dog walking duties. What I didn't realise was the amount of maintenance involved. 😯
Several times a year it needed re-waxing which I did myself - tin of wax on plate of coffee maker machine to stay warm together with a hairdryer to dry off. Kitchen table is best surface.
It has holes in it, wouldn't keep me dry and I look like a tramp wearing it. 😀
Frankly I would spend my money on Goretex.
C_g, how many donkey's years have you been wearing that jacket? And how much regular maintenance does Goretex require? Regular washing in expensive re-proofers like Nikwax, ironing or tumble drying regularly to maintain the external water repellance, otherwise the material can't breath.
Agreed, Goretex is essential for outdoor sporting activities like cycling, but for just ambling about walking, especially where thorny hedges abound, give me waxed cotton every time.
Using something like Renapur doesn't require any fancy prep, I sat with my stockman over my knees watching telly while I redid a couple of dry patches around the pockets. Zero hastle, really.
Surely the paramo nature type range is the best modern alternative to wax jkts for actual activties? Granted it's not as fashionable looking though...
If going to Barbour factory shop bring body armour - was there this week and wife had to remove before I went postal on all the chavvy, rude people having bun fight in the reduced section. Some of the rudest people I've met in long time. On the plus side saved £80 on her christmas present.
If my husband bought me one for Christmas I'd be very happy.
I love my barbour, however it's not a waxed one. It's an older version of this
http://www.barbourbymail.co.uk/Barbour-Berwick-Endurance.html
which has served me extremelly well through the past 6 winters in all kinds of foul British weather. It gets worn twice a day, every day between September and April. The day it dies, it will be immediately replaced with another.
Expensive, but worth every single penny.
Count - I no longer have a (gun) dog so it doesn't get worn. Oh, that's not true, I wore it briefly for deer-watching with Zulu-Eleven.
After only having the jacket for a few months it was sent back to Barbour as holes developed in the sleeves.
Nowadays I just hang onto it on the remote offchance that Cap'n Flashheart invites me to a shoot. 🙄
I have a very old Goretex walking jacket that has been seriously tested for waterproofness over the years. It takes considerably less tlc than the Barbour.
Never had to reproof the wife's coat but I did my old ones I wore when out shooting but I was doing this from about 10 years old so dead easy to sort. The newer ones don't seem to be as 'waxy' if you know what I mean. Old ones would leave wax on your hands if your rubbed it, newer ones don't.
Are they worth it?
Well mine is well over 20 years old and still going strong. So I say yes, yes they are.
It's the oldest item in my wardrobe! Probably around 20 years old so perhaps the newer ones are 'fashion' wear?
Agree with you about the wax Drac!
I'm glad someones mentioned the smell, I've got Barbours and Drizabones and they smell awful (to my other half). She can't stand the smell of them so they live in the shed, there again she can't stand the smell of my gun dog and swore at me when she borrowed my car to drive to school last week and found a brace of duck hanging in the back!
I am Drac's Mrs!!!!! I have a Barbour which I got before they became a Yummy Mummy item. Defo a must for us yummy mummies!!!!!
I bought my Wife one last year. A proper waxed one rather than one of the padded ones.
SInce then it seems that everyone is wearing them.
Go for waxed in a long lasting colour. i.e. not red.
I bought one of these:
[img] 
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Mine's about a decade old now, gets worn daily, and has been reproofed just once. Thornproof, dogproof, waterproof. Love it.
Bought one for Mrs NickF this Christmas (the excitingly-named Utility Jacket) which she was very keen on. Looks good in black.
barbour jackets are practical. Although they don't get on with other clothes in the wardrobe, leaving waxy stains hither & thither. They also smell.
Plus, am I right in thinking they all still have poacher pockets?
Very useful for if the wife comes lamping with you.
Someone mentioned paramo. The best waterproof outdoor jacket I have ever used. I would recommend them without hesitation.
I may well post a pic of mine some time. Fortunately you will be unable to appreciate its odour and the mouldy dog biscuits. 🙂
are they thornproof?
Fortunately you will be unable to appreciate its odour and the mouldy dog biscuits
WIN!
I inherited a Burghley (Full length, lightweight) some twenty plus years ago. It had dog biccies in the pocket. They're still there, and I still wear the coat regularly. 🙂
in that there vampire trilogy movie thing...in the most recent of the films that is currently showing at the cinema (can't remember the name, touching cloth or something ) the fair maiden i am told by her indoors was wearing a beautiful belstaff waxed hoodie fitted thing that is to die for.
🙄
might be worth a look but it might also be a million pounds.
[i]can't remember the name, touching cloth or something[/i]
For some bizarre reason (childishness or similar), I have been in tears laughing at this. Thanks.
Happy with my Drizabone waxed coat. Not the full length stockmans jobbie but a 3/4 jacket...
here all week samuri 😀