Expedition Shells

Hi,

Too little exercise and too much good food requires that I replace my decade-old expedition shell, and I'm underwhelmed by what I see in the stores. I'm hoping I'm just looking in the wrong place, hence my plea for help.

My current shell is EMS-brand, Gore-Tex, with an attached hood stowable in a collar roll, horizontal zipper-close pockets, poorly executed wrist cinches, and a faded 'high-visibility' yellow and black color scheme. Except for the 'poorly executed' and 'faded', these are all 'must have' features. I'd also like velcro pocket closures rather than zips so I don't need to unglove or need two hands to open the pockets, and the usual assortment of features useful for surviving in the open during summer excursions 'north of sixty'. I'm budgeting US$300, but I'd like to spend less. New isn't necessary -- heaven knows my current shell wouldn't win any prizes ...

Any ideas?

Thanks.

George E Sollish

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There are a number of good expedition shells out there. Depends, though, on what level of "expedition" you are headed for. I have a Montane eVent jacket (about $150 on closeout at Liberty Mountain) that works well for lots of expeditions (Kilimanjaro, for example, or last weekends backcountry tele trek), but is too light for Denali or Antarctica. My Marmot Alpinist 3 (or the current version, the name of which I forget, but am considering) or my former Wild Things Alpinist (former, because Young Son borrowed it to head for New Zealand Mt Cook and other South Island activities, then "forgot" to return it to me) are excellent for the Denali and Antarctica types of treks ($500-600 class). The big difference in these is ruggedness. The Montane is fine for light packs, so less shoulder stress from the straps, while the Marmot and Wild Things have cordura reinforcing over the shoulders to stand up to the 60-70 pound packs you carry in month-long expeditions. Marmot and Wild Things (and Mountain Hardwear, North Face, Arctyrex, Mammut, and some other better quality manufacturers) have a variety of different levels of shells. Oh, yeah,

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Hi Bill,

Thanks for the reply, which explains why I'm not finding the cargo-style pockets. Most of my backcountry time is spent in boats, with backpacking largely confined to schlepping gear to and from landings, so I hadn't noticed that such pockets would foul a pack; life jackets foul everything!

You've given me some ideas, however.

George

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Hmmm, I see I apparently punched the "post" button in the middle of a sentence. Wonder what I was thinking? If I remember the thought, I will complete the sentence ;-)

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If you spend a lot of time in boats I wouldn't recomend Wild Things Gear at least not at present. I got an alpinist and though I like the jacket the cuffs had a tendency to soak through at the edges once they get wet (as in pretty much immediately). Not a big deal in warm weather but not so great in cool or cold weather.

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