Anyone else excited about the cold weather soon?

S

spoolup

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Apr 27, 2007
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I have been working about 30 hours a week overtime for the last few months and received a nice little bonus. I put a large chunk into my new car fund, but wanted to get some new cold weather gear. I already have a few nice jackets, but wanted something more... So after lusting over it for a year, and actually finding one, I purchased an Arcteryx LEAF multicam Alpha jacket and pants, and the little known Arcteryx Multicam atom SV jacket. I love the SV jacket when if gets below 20f, which is about the point the atom LT can not keep up. Being the SV is the limited edition multicam printed one, I figured I did good with the price at TD since it is about the same price as a standard SV. The alphas were back ordered, but will get them in about 3-4 weeks which is still plenty of time before the cold weather shows up. Figured I would share the new jacket since none of my friends were aware the SV was available in multicam. On the left sleeve velcro swatch (which are multicam too!) I placed one of my Star Wars mandalorian bantha skull patch to covertly express my Star Wars fascination. My daughter usually wears my multicam woobie around the house in the mornings, but this morning wanted my "army jacket" as she calls it, figure is was good as any time to take some photos.

Im really looking forward to getting out and doing some snow shoeing/ winter hunts in a few months.

The jacket with my daughter tromping around in it. She is not feeling well this morning or last night hence me staying home... its nice to sleep in, more so when up half the night.
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The bantha patch
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Showing American pride and Osama KIA tribute
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What makes Arc'teryx worth so much money? My Mountain Hardware gear looks similar and is a lot less money? Your gear sure looks nice so, you got my curiosity up. ;)

With a 105F and humidity, cooler months would be welcome right now.
 
The coldest we can hope for here ranges between 30-50 degrees evening and days respectively. I don't have much use for jackets sadly. I have some nice pea coats and winter gear, but it's pretty much new.
 
Quality. Simply put. There are many different reason, but next time you are at REI or your favorite outdoor shop, take one of each jacket and inspect it. Just check out the stitching on parallel stitches. Its odd to say, but they are even, no mistakes, Then look at the next jacket of your choice. You will see the detailed difference. Another reason is wear. I have many jackets. MANY. A couple acteryx, a few TNF (my girl and daughters jackets are TNF tri-climates, which for the money are AWESOME, more so the season end closeouts), some tad gear, a carhart, some Patagonia, and a few others. The Patagonia are nice a few years back, they started getting cheaper but more expensive about ~3 years ago. Same with TAD, they got too big on themselves IMHO, and down right call you names if you do not drink their koolaid. But again, a few years back, they were hot shiz. Now..... elitist. TNF is good priced, many models available, many colors on those models, and they make little improvements each year without jacking the cost. This is why I bought the others in the household them. But they are bulky. They do not pack with the crap. The SV which I now own 2 of, one MC, the other about 4-5 years old in "amazon" which is a green about the color of that in the old woodland camo pattern. I have used this SV mainly during the elk hunts or winter camping. It gets cold at 6000 ft in Utah in Oct-Apr. I have used the SV by its self in windy cold temps (no moisture) down around -15F standing still waiting for Bambi dad without issue. However when I starting hiking back, I often find me shedding the SV in favor of an atom LT. and if weather permits, losing the shell. The SV can be packed into a small cantaloupe/ almost softball sized package. Its amazing watching it shrink to nothing.

The shells are another story. There again are a million options/ colors/ styles for anything, but they all share the same attribute. Packable, weight, and wear. Take you average gortex jacket. Say something around $100-150. Wear it, then a larger 50-80 liter pack and do a few 10-15 mile hikes in it. Then test how well it keeps out moisture, mainly around the seams in the shoulders and around the waistband area. You may not get water thru but I will be money it will wick up the moisture, which means in a prolonged down fall you will get wet. Arcteryx will not fail this test. But then you are spending between 3-6 times the cost.

My friend wife is a teacher, In the winter he always packs her atom lt and alpha lt shell into her maxpedition jumbo with the usual carry EDC items. Many times she has donned her gear and done crossing guard duty during some NASTY weather. But yes this combo cost them about $600 each to outfit them selves in it. My TNF triclimate will not fit most 1000cuin bags by itself and the interior pocket on a jumbo is less than half that.


FYI my girls father lives in Sun city/ Peoria (north west of phoenix) and an SV would be WAY overkill for anything he has ever seen. I like Halloween down there, kids can wear the costume and you can see it. Here, you see ski jackets 1 out of every 3 years. I met a bunch of guys from the XDtalk forums down at Ben Avery gun range when I visited during halloween in 2010, nice area and weather. Here are some photos of mine from 2011 during the hunt. Check out others if you like. Looking at my flickr account, I need to add some photos.. been a while.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69085209@N03/6281538261/in/set-72157631548969159 you will have to just randomly scroll thru them looking for elk hunt in the title... sorry, but organization is lacking.

Basically it comes down to use, finance, and or need. Nothing wrong with your MHW.
 
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kamagong said:
That's a Mando patch. It's a stylized mythosaur skull, the symbol of the Mand'alor. Also known as the kyr'bes.
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The fact that I not only pronounce that sentence perfectly out loud and understand what all the words mean is sad. Simply sad.
 
I'm envious...not of the jacket, But being it Texas we have at least 2 more months of hot weather. It could be in the 90's Halloween here.
 
I live in Houston Texas, the most I own is a sweatshirt I believe it started getting cold here last year near the end of January, never seen a legit snowfall in my life
 
I am ready for the cooler weather, not the cold. Her in North Dakota we actually get COLD. December and January avg is below zero. Looking forward to the 60s for highs though :)
 
I love winter and would rather have an endless cold snap over the endless cold wet summer conditions we endured this season. Shoveling some snow, and feeding the wood furnace is a pleasure when compared to fighting off the unrelenting biting insects that go on for months without end.
 
The best part about colder weather coming is when you put on your winter coat for the first time after summer and you find all the cool stuff you couldn't find over the last few months.

I usually find knives, multi tools, flashlights and Chapstick.
 
We had snow on the ground here for almost 8 months last winter so a little more summer would be appreciated.
 
Excited, but not exactly expectant. It rarely gets below 40 here in western washington... Much as I would love a nice cold winter, it's usually more of a nice wet winter with brief cold spells every now and then.
 
Can't wait to get some heavier gear on. Not really fan of the sub zero weather and the darkness, but I'm planning on getting good new shoes and jacket. I want to get something high quality.
 
ron finkbeiner jr said:
Anybody know offhand where I could get a ecwcs style fleece in a 3xl tall? Thanks
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Rothco versions can be had on amazon or uscav. Never looked for sizes n the 3XL or anything, but just did a search on amazon and got a bunch of hits. But none mention the length. Oddly, after looking thru uscav, ebay and the like, neither did theirs.
 
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