rain jacket needed for UK
 

Can anyone recommend a company with a good rain jacket needed for a year's stay in the UK? I can't remember where I bought my jacket in 2004-5, but it just didn't hold up? I'm thinking REI or Lands End or Old Navy? Any other thought? I'm hoping to spend $100 or less. I've got the umbrella sorted out, thankfully!

Thanks.

You should get one in a fabric that breathes. I bought a cheap Land's End a few years ago and ended up donating it because it was kind of rubbery and got really hot. I would think Old Navy - having lower end products - would be the same or else not really waterproof. Land's End sells GoreTex pretty affordably which may be good. I have had a lot of luck with LL Bean products.

I live in London and just brought back a rain jacket from The North Face and I love it. It is not Gore Tex but it breathes well and is also windproof. You can zip in an inner shell. I have worn it a lot lately as we have had tons of spotty showers with sunny intervals and perhaps wind. I am small and got it in a child's size so it was cheap. I also have a mildly waterproof pullover windbreaker from LL Bean for warmer weather. It is good for the London rain which often lasts perhaps five minutes and then you see sun.

This past year was really dry and cold in England. I am outside walking every day and I rarely needed a rain jacket but I froze from November through April. Evidently the typical weather here in the winter would be maybe 40 - 50 F and rain much more often. So I bought an LL Bean parka and the rain jacket above and hopefully that will help me deal with the weather.

I don't know how much time you will spend outside but if you are able to use an umbrella you may not need a specific rain coat. I push my kids in a stroller so I can't use an umbrella. Plus in a year it may be hot and rainy and freezing and rainy so you would need more than one coat. My husband does not have a rain coat and he manages.

www.llbean.com

Get one made of GoreTex

A classic Barbour is the way to go when in the U.K. IMHO. Sturdy old fashioned but timeless quality products that develop some patina over time. Love their style.
Nothing light, though.

If you find anywhere that sells Barbours for $100 please let me know!

Keep an eye out for UniQlo - a japanese chain that does gap type clothes at un-gap like prices.

If you want something just for the trip that you can throw away after - look out for Primark - they are astonishingly cheap (obviously you get what you pay for)

Where2 - which North Face jacket did you get? I'm looking for something similar. I'm also a small person pushing a pushchair and am missing my umbrella lots!

NorthFace does have great stuff. Very well made. It's a very desirable brand among twenty-something outdoor types here in Colorado. It's expensive, though. Search eBay for sales. They have many, many styles. Maybe stores have last year's inventory on sale now.

REI probably has some good options, esp. if you are male, JoeTro.

I'd love a "dry as a bone" jacket but way too pricey for me.

A decent walking shop will sell you a good rain coat, Find a "Blacks" for mid range but decent stuff.

Thanks, all. I hadn't considered LL Bean. I am male, if that helps.

I'm not an outdoory person perse, but I will be doing lots of walking and traveling a bit too, so I need to be prepared for a good bit of rain. But I won't be standing outside in it or anything for loads of time.

For outdoor gear at (a little) less expensive prices, try Campmor.com or REI's Outlet. Both sell all the major name brands plus their own good quality brands. ...If you're in the NY Metro area, you can go to Campmor's only "brick and mortar" store on Route 17 in Paramus, NJ... Oh, and another good outdoor gear store is EMS (EMS.com). Good luck!

StarLily-

My North Face jacket is linked below. It does not come with the zip in fleece but there is a zipper for it. My MIL works for a higher end children's clothing shop and got it for me at cost - about $55. I am a size 4 petite and I got the boys' large. I also got a girls' fleece in size large. There was an XL that I am guessing would fit a woman size 6 or 8. My MIL says lots of the college girls come to her shop to buy The North Face at kids' prices.

http://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/pro...p;ad_id=nextag

I always wait until I get to Britain to buy rain gear. With the weather there, I figure they've acquired the knack of producing effective products -- or ordering workable stuff from a third world country.

Two trips ago we planned to buy new folding umbrellas the first time it rained. We were there for a month and wound up buying the umbrella in the duty free shop on the way home.

audere_est_facere,

(great name BTW), I casually omitted seeing the price limit.

Still, I would think Barbour's prices are money well spent - I have been owining my jackets for quite a while and I love that maintenance option you receive when owning one of their products. Baiscally I expect those to last for a lifetime!

I've seen Barbour's jackets for under $100 periodically at Overstock.com.

Thanks, where2. I'll check it out.

I suggest visiting cabelas.com.

I find some good buys at Sierra Trading Post...do a google and check out their stuff....really good buys and good quality most the time!

Tara

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/b/2...l-Jackets.html Just checked they do carry Barbour...good prices..
Tara

I will endorse the recommendation for Sierra Trading. Have bought dozens of things from them for years. Great brands, fantastic prices. Their customer service is very good as well.

used barbours are £40 at camden market

genuine north face gore-tex jackets are £10 in china.

just some money saving tips.

I have a feeling that you are asking this because you have a budget and don't think you can find what you need in the UK for tha price. Am I right? If not, I highly recommend purchasing your jacket there. Obviously, they have great rain gear and you can get locals to suggest things to you.

That said, my father loves London Fog and if you have a Marshall's near you, you might have some luck as they end up there a lot.

REI makes some really good rain jackets for much less than some of the big names. They frequently have sales. Their TAKU jacket won Outside magazine's 2005 "best-of" award ($199 men but you can find it for less with sales and coupons).

I do a lot of hiking and use their Ultralight jacket. I am very small so I can wear the children's sizes (about $60).
It won't completely keep out very heavy rain but is otherwise very good, breathable, and windproof. My English BF also likes REI's jackets (he wears the higher end ones).

I also like their guarantee. If their waterproofs are not waterproof, they will refund/exchange. I was refunded for a pair of boots that leaked after 6 months and only a few wears.

Have tried Marmot with Gortex (very expensive!) but found it did not do as well as the REI's Ultralight.

Thanks. I guess I could buy it in the UK, but I think it might cost more and I'd like to have it already so I don't spend days looking there.

The only people who wear Barbour are:

- genuine rurals who spend all day in the fields being taught by their Slobrador how to catch rabbits, or
- inhabitants of London's naffer semi-gentrified southern suburbs who want the rest of the world to think they've got a country pile - the last thing in the world any inhabitant of the naffer semi-gentrified northern suburbs would ever want.

Don't even think of wearing one in a civilised city: your peers will assume you're someone's thicko brother, visiting for the day from Cirencester Agricultural College.

I've never seen outerwear in a UK Uniqlo. I doubt they'd have any in their handful of US outlets.

The simplest thing is to buy pretty much the same, unbranded (you're moving to Oxford. Not some Nike-obsessed finishing school for the mentally deficient), £30-£40 anorak everyone else wears. There are at least half a dozen outdoor clothes specialists within 100 yards of Carfax - mostly called variants of Milletts or Blacks.

Thanks, Flanner. Now I remember some of the stores you are talking about. My concern with the anarax is that that's kind of what I had before which didn't work too well/last too long. I'm probably leaning now towards something at REI or LL Bean, although I recently found a good priced GORE-TEX jacket from BassPro.

Another vote for Campmor -- I've packed their lightweight "Red Lodge" jacket on many trips and it's always kept me dry. I think it cost about $60.

If you need something more businesslike, laclaire's London Fog suggestion is pretty good.

Buy it here. In the UK it will cost more. (Unless you buy a Barbour, which look great and smell bad but which, as flanneruk suggests, send a message. Mine is on its second life. I bought it in London 19 years ago when everyone wore one.) Barbour raincaps look snappy and presumably will not arouse the ire of the casual observer. Stick on in your pocket and you won't need an umbrella.

Barbour raincaps do NOT look "snappy" (if that's meant to be a nice thing to say)

They look...well, Gloucestershire's the least offensive way of putting it.

In any English university city, they make you look like the worst kind of public school oik. Apart from a 1960s college scarf, it's hard to think of anything more devoid of Quad Cred.

Even David Cameron doesn't wear one. And didn't even in his Bullingdon days.

barbour is much more popular with the french than the british. every frenchman living in or visiting britain has one.

"Barbour raincaps look snappy and presumably will not arouse the ire of the casual observer."

To which flanneruk replied:

"Barbour raincaps . . . make you look like the worst kind of public school oik."

My mistake.

I haven't had an opportunity since posting about this time last night when I recommended Cabelas while in a hurry. My wife has been wearing the same full length GoreTex raincoat for about 5 years now from Cabelas. It has gone with us to London, Paris, Amsterdam in October, November and March and has seen its share of rain. Nary a drop has penetrated it.

I have a three year old jacket, called a three in one, of which I can say the same.

I've had many raincoats (Aquascutum, London Fog, Burberry) over the years While stylish and expensive they really don't give protection in sustained rain.

Take a look at these two pages on the Cabela website:

http://tinyurl.com/hejzn

http://tinyurl.com/fnjv3

While you're on the website look at the Bargain Cave for closeout and sale items and for the location of their retail stores.

Gore-tex is terrific, but noisy.

Buying one "over there" will likely cost a lot more. I left my beloved sandals home one trip based on the forecast and ended up buying a pair of Clarks I discovered upon returning home I could have purchased for 1/2 the price online.

I ended up buying a Columbia brand jacket today at Sports Authority for $80. A North Face one could be had for $100, but I didn't like it as well. We'll see how things go; thanks for all the help.

Burberry will get you an interesting reaction.......Not perhaps the one you might expect.

Flanneur's right - get yerself down to Millets or Blacks (on most high Sts - they're actually the same comapny trading in two guises) and get a decent mac or anorak for around £40.

P.s My raincoat/overcoat is by Austin Reed. Good quality and not insanely pricey.

I brought a bright yellow plastic poncho on my first trip. Scared small children in Scotland and Northern Ireland. I wouldn;t suggest it.

The second year I had a non-breathable jacket... also can't recommend it.

You have good insights here however.

Have a grand time!