B
Billr
Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2020
- Messages
- 65
Couple of years ago i bought a waterproof, down coat from a company out of England. Snowbee. Not cheap but it works really well.
dudemanspecial
Well-known member
Thanks I have never heard of Snowbee. I like their website.
S
Skook
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2014
- Messages
- 140
I believe Snowbee has had a display at recent Fly Fishing Shows held in Lancaster. At least I know I've seen some of their products there. It appears to be quality kit.
I'm taking my son to New York next week to fish for steelhead. He hasn't gone with me or done much other outdoorsy stuff since he was 16 or 17 years old. He is now 23 and has gained about 50 lbs. since graduating from high school (not in a bad way). For next week's trip, he pretty much required a full-blown winter weather clothing upgrade in order not to be completely miserable during our trip.
I have found that eBay is our friend. Having known this trip was coming up, I started scouring eBay for great deals on gently used winter clothing a few months ago. I have been able to piece together a collection of high-quality gear for him at a fraction of the price of buying new. Not knowing whether he is done growing and/or whether he will use this type of gear much in the future, I'm reluctant to buy him expensive new clothes or recommend to him that he do so himself.
Most of the pieces are hard to tell from new. I wash everything twice using ATSKO Sportwash and then apply a fresh coat of ATSKO DWR waterproof treatment to the outerwear, which is mostly Gore-Tex. During my search, I even found a few articles of clothing for myself that were too good to pass up at the price.
My guess is that many of these eBay sellers find this stuff for stupid-cheap at Thrift Stores and make a huge profit by reselling it online. I could probably try doing this myself to save even more money, but I just don't have the time nor patience for it.
I do buy new outdoor gear, including clothes, but I have been pleasantly surprised how much money I can save on quality gear that is hard to tell from new by shopping discriminately in the second-hand market, including the classified ads on forums such as this one and others dedicated to hunting, fishing, backpacking, etc.
I'm taking my son to New York next week to fish for steelhead. He hasn't gone with me or done much other outdoorsy stuff since he was 16 or 17 years old. He is now 23 and has gained about 50 lbs. since graduating from high school (not in a bad way). For next week's trip, he pretty much required a full-blown winter weather clothing upgrade in order not to be completely miserable during our trip.
I have found that eBay is our friend. Having known this trip was coming up, I started scouring eBay for great deals on gently used winter clothing a few months ago. I have been able to piece together a collection of high-quality gear for him at a fraction of the price of buying new. Not knowing whether he is done growing and/or whether he will use this type of gear much in the future, I'm reluctant to buy him expensive new clothes or recommend to him that he do so himself.
Most of the pieces are hard to tell from new. I wash everything twice using ATSKO Sportwash and then apply a fresh coat of ATSKO DWR waterproof treatment to the outerwear, which is mostly Gore-Tex. During my search, I even found a few articles of clothing for myself that were too good to pass up at the price.
My guess is that many of these eBay sellers find this stuff for stupid-cheap at Thrift Stores and make a huge profit by reselling it online. I could probably try doing this myself to save even more money, but I just don't have the time nor patience for it.
I do buy new outdoor gear, including clothes, but I have been pleasantly surprised how much money I can save on quality gear that is hard to tell from new by shopping discriminately in the second-hand market, including the classified ads on forums such as this one and others dedicated to hunting, fishing, backpacking, etc.
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Kyle
Well-known member
thanks for the heads up. ill have to check them out.
mt_flyfisher
Well-known member
I’ve got the Snowbee Nivalis hooded coat which may be the same as your that I also bought at one of the fly fishing shows several years ago. I haven’t worn it very often, but so far, so good. Most sizes of that coat appear to be out if stock now, however, on Snobee’s website.
As a background comment, I’m not a big fan of British made/designed products’ quality in general, including fly fishing gear, clothing, automobiles, etc. I know there are exceptions, and many will disagree with me (justifiably) but that’s my opinion from owning a number of British manufactured items over the years, and my experiences from working at one of my former company’s manufacturing plants in England a number of years back.
(As an side example, while visiting one of our company’s auto dealers a few years back, a Rolls Royce sitting on the showroom floor was leaking oil, and the sales manager shrugged his shoulders saying ”they all leak oil like that.”
). You get my point…
As far as the Snowbee jacket, here are my observations:
It appears to shed water fine so far, but I don’t know what kind of waterproofing it has. I asked the Snowbee factory sales rep that same question, and he wasn’t very clear with his answer, only saying something to the effect that it would be waterproof when I bought it. ???
I believe that Snowbee has only a 12 month warranty on the jacket, but I don’t know what kind of customer service Snowbee has on their products should it be needed??
The jacket’s zipper appears to be waterproof, but it is not as robust as I would have preferred, and you have to be a bit careful in zipping it so that it doesn’t get jammed in the fabric.
The sizing seems to run a bit smaller than on some US branded clothing. I needed an XL Snowbee jacket to fit me, although somewhat snugly, whereas a couple Simms jackets that I have fit me very well in size L. So, it woukd pay a person to try one on before buying it.
I do like the tight quilting of the jacket which keeps the down fill completely in place, and I also like the Velcro closure on the sleeve cuffs to keep out any rain or wind. And, I also like the fact that the jacket has an attached hood, which is one of the more important parts of keeping dry and warm.
As a background comment, I’m not a big fan of British made/designed products’ quality in general, including fly fishing gear, clothing, automobiles, etc. I know there are exceptions, and many will disagree with me (justifiably) but that’s my opinion from owning a number of British manufactured items over the years, and my experiences from working at one of my former company’s manufacturing plants in England a number of years back.
(As an side example, while visiting one of our company’s auto dealers a few years back, a Rolls Royce sitting on the showroom floor was leaking oil, and the sales manager shrugged his shoulders saying ”they all leak oil like that.”
). You get my point…As far as the Snowbee jacket, here are my observations:
It appears to shed water fine so far, but I don’t know what kind of waterproofing it has. I asked the Snowbee factory sales rep that same question, and he wasn’t very clear with his answer, only saying something to the effect that it would be waterproof when I bought it. ???
I believe that Snowbee has only a 12 month warranty on the jacket, but I don’t know what kind of customer service Snowbee has on their products should it be needed??
The jacket’s zipper appears to be waterproof, but it is not as robust as I would have preferred, and you have to be a bit careful in zipping it so that it doesn’t get jammed in the fabric.
The sizing seems to run a bit smaller than on some US branded clothing. I needed an XL Snowbee jacket to fit me, although somewhat snugly, whereas a couple Simms jackets that I have fit me very well in size L. So, it woukd pay a person to try one on before buying it.
I do like the tight quilting of the jacket which keeps the down fill completely in place, and I also like the Velcro closure on the sleeve cuffs to keep out any rain or wind. And, I also like the fact that the jacket has an attached hood, which is one of the more important parts of keeping dry and warm.
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