User Review: Patagonia Men's Retro Cardigan

I'd always lusted after one of these jackets, and when I heard they were being discontinued a few years back, finding one "became my mission." I'm REALLY glad I did, & actually I now have 2 of them. Lucked out & found the very last one on sale at the Dillon Outlet store, & another one at another Patagonia outlet. Both for Cheap. Got lucky it seems.

I grew up in N. Michigan, so I'm used to serious cold. So between that & lots of time on frigid oceans, I've had plenty of jackets, parkas & sweaters over the years. Including literally almost anything I desired in high end clothing as a professional yacht racer, & teaching ocean sailing.
Hands down these are my favorites. Probably the warmest jackets I've ever had, rivaling down, & or my DAS Parka [when weight's a non issue]. Just toss on a shell if it's uber windy. But up to 25mph or so, such really isn't an issue with these. And the almost triple thick fleece is a great insulator. Short of a sub-zero, polar type blizzard with gale force winds, they're a touch warm for any sort of real exercise. Yep, real cozy.

Some [likely jealous] folks may call'em Fugly etc, but cute gals & most others too, still always seem to want to touch, borrow, & or climb into said jackets with me. So if you happen to find one, & yeah they surely last so such is doable, have it Lo-Jacked so that it doesn't grow legs. It seems that after pawing one, my jacket becomes a "high demand" item. Be it for wear on a winter's eve at the pub, or a brisk day on the water or the mountains.

The draw backs to them; they're not really what one would call compressible. And while it takes a lot to do it, if you get'em really soaked, they weigh a ton when wet. But like most fleece, they wring out by hand fairly easily. Oh, & don't get too close to the campfire. Not that I've done it, but bad, melting type things tend to happen. Yep, wool still has irreplaceable virtues in some areas.