UKC

Are Barbour jackets the go-to brand for such garments or are there alternative brands just as good?

In reply to The Lemming:

Save yourself the embarrassment of the fashion equivalent of a woolys cagoule. Cockwear fo shizzle.

D

In reply to The Lemming:


Driza Bone is a wax jacket I have seen a bit of.

In reply to The Lemming:

you can buy lots of wax jackets - they go from around £30 to £300+

the difference between them is the quality of the materials - a £30 jacket will feel heavier and stuffier, a £200 barbour will feel lighter and much more breathable.

the legend of the ancient barbour is true - my dad still wears his from the 1960's, mine is 20 years old and still in decent nick (hillfarming family on the Shropshire/Powys border) - they are endlessly repairable and reproofable...

Edinburgh Woollen Mill do a brand called 'P G Field' at around £100 - personally i'm not impressed, i'd take the veiw that they are far for more £30 than they are £200. if you aren't sure, pick up a £30 unlined jacket and see if ou like it.

do not buy a lined/padded jacket...

if you want to jump straight in go for either the lighter, Barbour Beaufort or Bedale jackets, or the heavier weight Northumberland.

In reply to ballsac:


Thanks for that informative reply. I have been reading about the bedale and that sounds like a good starting point.

May I ask why you suggest not to buy a lined or padded coat,

In reply to The Lemming:

Because the wax/oil will make a mess of whatever you wear underneath your coat. Fine if that doesn't matter, because the coat is lighter and packs smaller. I had a couple of unlined lightweight Durhams that served me very well. One of them went to the top of Mt Kenya with me in the days went I used to go to bed with a gun

In reply to The Lemming:

Padded jackets are bulky, too warm, to work in. You can always add a fleece on a cold day to an u padded jacket but what are you going to do on a hotter day in a padded jacket?

In reply to The Lemming:

I have the Hardwick wax jacket. As someone who spends all day, most days of the year wearing (inevitably smelly) waterproofs and sallopettes for work and mountaineering, I love my heavy barbour as a change for dog walking/pub etc.

Agree with don't get padded. It is warm enough and there is plenty of room for thick wool underneath (again, get sick of fleece all day).

Worth spending the cash. Cheap ones are rubbish and it will last you years.

AK

In reply to The Lemming:

My brain hurts, there are just too many variations to consider.

In reply to The Lemming:

If you want something a bit less "farmer" then their Dept B range is a bit more stylish. Think Daniel Craig in Skyfall...

http://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/product/barbour-x-ki-beacon-heritage-spor...

In reply to The Lemming:

Just to confuse your further, I have one of the breathable Barbours. Not sure which one, as the print on the label has worn off. I have had it more than 10yrs now and it gets worn every day in the wet/windy/cold seasons. Apart from some small tears where I have caught it on barbed wire, it's still in excellent condition. Unlike the Wax Oil ones, when it gets smelly/mucky I just chuck it in the washing machine.

In reply to The Lemming:

I have a Bedale...lovely, light (for a waxed jacket), warm, and with the added liner ideal for standing around for 10 hours at a point-to-point in the Cotswolds on a cold March day!

Great customer service from Barbour too.

In reply to The Lemming:

Why does the OP want to dress like Nigel Farrage?

In reply to The Lemming:

Shame you don't live in the North East as the Barbour factory shop regularly sells factory seconds/samples at very low prices. The shop is in South Shields.
A couple of years ago I picked up an International bike jacket in navy blue for £95. No faults just a run of samples that didn't become regular stock.
As an aside also recently bought a merino wool jumper for a tenner, still had the price tag on, full price was £79.99.
I call in on the way home from work every now and then as the stock changes quite quickly.

In reply to The Lemming:

My own Barbour is over 20 years old, full of rips and with pockets bulging with old syringes, bottles, knives and bits of plastic.

If you're looking for a terrier-walking coat, best to start with something like this. Preferably tied at the waist with baling twine.

Martin

In reply to maisie: Is your Barbour the 'Liverpool Jacket' ?

In reply to The Lemming:
Thanks for this post and replys I ve just decided to keep the Barbour I was going to offer to sell you . It been hanging in the Cupboard for years and only been worn a couple of times , however we have agreed bit to get a dog until the youngest sprog is 3, which is soon. Just realised that walking and retrieving a terrier cross from various bracken/ bramble covered holes will probably be outside the operating guidelines of my collection of patGucci outdoors wear .

In reply to L.A.:


Cornish, but I know what you mean

Martin

In reply to The Lemming:

Belstaff.

Col.

In reply to The Lemming:

Whatever you get make sure you like it because if it's a Barbour you'll be wearing it for years.

In reply to The Lemming:

So how did such a cool yet utilitarian clothing range become a useless high street chav stamp apparel? Worn by male and female TOWIE types up and down the country.

In reply to The Lemming:

Middle class oiks at Glastonbury? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-524329/Waxing-Lyrical-Why-Barbour...

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

Started with the sloans trying to pretend they're only in town for the day from daddies estate ...yah.
Then it got worn by Kate Moss at Glastonbury .... yay.
Then the fashion journo's picked it up and the air heads on towie decided it was cool .... shut up!

In reply to L.A.:



Still laughing at this!

In reply to The Lemming:
The quality of Barbour is good but you are now paying a premium for the brand as well. The zips are very good but essentially it's square cut pieces of cotton that's been waxed then stitched together. RRP's are around the £220 mark (add £30 for a hood as they're not included). The range is huge and if you're buying one new then you really want to be going to try one on - the classic models have the same fit but if you go for anything else the range in sizes is ridiculous.

It's not really true that Barbours are lighter than other brands, they come in different weights, the heavier cotton holds more wax and is seriously heavy and weatherproof. The lighter weight ones are comfier but not as robust. I see no reason why Barbour would be more breathable than other brands, never saw anything in their marketing about that and I imagine the main factor for breathability will be the fabric weight and hence amount of wax that is on the jacket.

I'm surprised people say they're warm as I've never heard that before. There's no warmth to them imo and you'll need to size to layer up if you're using it in winter. They keep the wind and rain out but the wax gets stiff in the cold and you'll feel like there's a stiff block of ice sitting on your shoulders. You'd be warmer in (for example) a lightweight, insulated regatta waterproof for £30. You just wouldn't look as good...although you might smell better!

If you go to try them on then it's worth knowing that Barbour split their range and only allow businesses to sell a certain range based on the other brands they stock - so if you go into a fashion store you'll get the chav range, if you go into an outdoors store you'll get the country range.

On longevity, they do last ages and Barbour do excellent repairs and rewaxing themselves. This is however ludicrously expensive and Barbour work at 1mph so you'll say goodbye to your jackets for weeks or even months depending on how busy they are. Also due to the way they price repairs a few holes and a rewax can easily be 3 figures and I've seen a fair few people just buying a new jacket which kind of takes away from the "they last forever" mantra. Another point is that you cant wash them*, Barbour don't offer a washing service and if you do more than sponge down the inside you'll end up removing the wax then when it's rewaxed it will soak through to the liner. So if you (or probably more importantly your family!) don't like the smell of stale wax in the hallway and on all your clothes then a wax jacket might not be the way forward.

They're good for what they're made for (beating/dog walking) and if you're a country boy who'll be happy with a smelly jacket that you've stitched up yourself and periodically slapped a bit more wax on then they're good. Whether they're much better than the competition I'm not convinced, you can certainly see the workmanship is good and the zips are good but waxed cotton is waxed cotton (bar the seriously cheap brands), is that worth £220? Depends on you but a lot of people really love them.

I worked at a place that sold Barbours for a while although i've not had one myself, used to have a cheap town and country style wax jacket when i was younger and don't remember there being anything wrong with it - but it didn't make me look like james bond or a country gentleman.

*well you can but it really involves pulling the stitching on the lining, washing each seperately, rewaxing then sewing the whole lot together again - I've heard of people pulling some stitching and then using greaseproof paper to slide between the layers before rewaxing...sounds like a lot of hassle either way.

In reply to Sharp:
I have re waxed a couple of my barbour jackets, I quite enjoyed doing it actually and they came up like new. Only took about half an hour for each jacket.

For anyone who cares, put the tin of wax in some boiling water in a pan and wait for it to melt. Then apply to the jacket using a cloth. I used the dining table covered in newspaper. Once done, I put the jacket in an old pillow case and threw in the tumble drier for a few minutes. The heat helps the wax penetrate the cotton.

In reply to Sharp:

I gave mine to the local charity shop last week because of all the disadvantages you mention.
They are not practical at all. A couple of warm light layers under a waterproof jacket beats them hands down.
Also people look at you askance in the street, thinking that you are a poser, and that's in my small market town deep in the countryside where you would think such things to be familiar.

In reply to The Lemming:

I've had a couple of Barbour coats for 30 odd years now. Still going strong, if a bit smelly (strong smell of the proofing wax).

I get rips repaired at Sketchleys every few years, Cheap. Patches on the patches.

I've honestly had people stop me in the street and try to buy the coat off my back in the past - they look good apparently. (Must be the way I wear 'em!)

In reply to mockerkin:

Tynedale at Wigton got burgled a few years ago - the very next day all the chavs from Greenacres were wearing brand spanking new barbours. North Cumbria - if you want to be invisible drive a defender, wear barbours and wellies - being Cumbrian, being invisible seems to be important to us

In reply to Sharp:

I'd use the Like button here, but that would do your comprehensive reply a disservice.

Very helpful.

Cheers