I was in a "proper" ( ) outdoor shop the other day and saw they had waterproof jackets costing £500
I've not really been anywhere near mainstream outdoor gear for years now, making do with comparatively basic clothes layered sensibly for the conditions. Five hundred quid for a jacket is lunacy - never mind the cost of the things you'll be wearing under it. The illusion that it'll keep you warmer/ drier/ safer 'cos it costs more is ridiculous. The bloke in the shop says people regularly come in and buy them without blinking. The world has gone mad.
I think to some degree you get what you pay for but that is ridiculous. Part of it is also the DFS mentality of huge RRPs that then appear to be heavily discounted to more realistic prices.
My gore tex berghaus jacket had an RRP of £300 but I bought it at about £130 which was much more suitably priced!
I can imagine the tears as they thrutch up a granite chimney in the 'gorms with no protection for 30' to the sound of their sobs just about drowning out the sound of ripping Goretex...... oh wait no... it'll be worn down the pub or walking the dog
In my opinion they only charge prices like that because there are plenty of idiots out there only to willing to pay stupid money for stuff because they equate expense with best and best with better personal performance or even worse to pose and sneer at people who have lesser kit. Let the fxxxwits waste there money!
A North Face Changabang Gore Tex jacket was £300 in 1996 or thereabouts, so probably nothing new. As with bikes, at the sensible money end stuff is far better vfm.
Top prices equals top kit in many peoples eyes, and when they are going for an extreme walk in the hills they'll need it. And it looks good walking the dog in the park.
But then some people pay thousands for a pushbike.......then just ride it round some hills!
It's all relative, and it gives me things to buy on eBay when these people sell their good kit in unused condition
johnnystorm wrote:A North Face Changabang Gore Tex jacket was £300 in 1996 or thereabouts, so probably nothing new.
That.
There has always been expensive stuff around. Thankfully, some folk buy it. That means the features/materials etc slowly work their way down into "lower end" kit.
Does no one else remember 3-layer GoreTex Taslan then?
Ian wrote:I guess I'm getting grumpy/tight in my old age
I can see your point, I guess the difference was that back at Uni the only people I knew with £300 Gore Tex jackets were all walkers/climbers and you wouldn't see everyone on the high street wearing them.*
In fairness, have you seen the price of some "fashion" clothing. I know nothing about fashion, but come across some fashion type clothing and it costs more than decent outdoor kit, only lasts 1 season and is useless at doing anything other than "looking cool".
In my last year I had a Peugeot "racer", as we called them back then, with ridiculously high gearing that I used to ride up Lon Pobty at full tilt. It was the only way to actually make it up!
You'd occasionally see my orange Orange E3 locked up outside the Thoday Building at the bottom of the hill.
Most effective waterproof item I have is my skin. It's so good I try to keep it dry, like carrying two umbrellas, one to keep the other dry. I have worn some seriously expensive kit to go mostly nowhere and cheap as chips poor show for going on a mega adventure. I sweat too much and get wet anyway so have eventually come to accept that being warm is more important than staying dry.
And the best way to stay warm and dry is to avoid getting wet and cold.
Was it arcteryx? If so, their kit is well with the money. Have plenty of items by them but they certainly last (my softshell is 8 years old and still looks new despite doing everything in it)
) outdoor shop the other day and saw they had waterproof jackets costing £500 
