Canada Goose worth it?

[Hank Scorpio]

Who can I turn to but you group of stylish folk for winter coat advice. I was originally going to get the Belstaff Tallow but when I tried it on today the outer nylon just seemed really wimpy and would not stand up to the daily rigors of walking from the car to the hospital and back. They had several Canada Goose jackets that had a much more robust outer shell. Not quite Codura level but definitely could take a punch. I think the model I tried on was either the Maitland or the Emory.

Anyone have any experience or opinion on the brand itself?

Also I noticed today while in a meeting that the space between my two upper front teeth doesn't align to the space between my two lower front teeth. Not sure if that is normal or not but you can check yours and comment on that as well.

[Matthew Strongin]

I’m clearly in no position to give winter coat advice, but my teeth don’t line up either so you’re not alone.

[j44ke]

Patagonia and nothing lines up on my body, least of all my teeth.

[SlowPokePete]

Patagonia and nothing lines up on my body, least of all my teeth.

or go here for a discount...Worn Wear - Used Patagonia Clothing & Gear save money save the planet

SPP

[choke]

I don't have any experience with either brand so I can't say....but if I was looking to buy a down jacket this is the first place that I would look. Down Garments | Down Jackets, Down Vests, and more for backpacking, hiking, mountaineering Feathered Friends Their products may not be as stylish as some others but I guarantee that they will keep you warm.

[vertical_doug]

I don't have any experience with either brand so I can't say....but if I was looking to buy a down jacket this is the first place that I would look. Down Garments | Down Jackets, Down Vests, and more for backpacking, hiking, mountaineering Feathered Friends Their products may not be as stylish as some others but I guarantee that they will keep you warm.

Thanks, I bought a feathered friends down jacket and pants in white. I look great.
Michelin_Man_Custom_Mascot.jpg

As for the canada goose, the jacket will be warm enough and tough enough. I'd just get the Maitland and skip the Emory. The fur hood is too nanook of the north for my tastes.

You can go full snowmobile suit, just don't fart in it. (This joke will only appeal to people who have worn snowmobile suits. For full effect, keep your snowmobile helmet on)

[burgess1108]

I have a "Patagucci" down ski jacket going on about five years now and it's holding up incredibly well. In fact, Patagonia is my go to for jackets. Period. I've never been disappointed whether it was a fleece sweater, a rain shell or my down jackets.

[j44ke]

(snip)As for the canada goose, the jacket will be warm enough and tough enough. I'd just get the Maitland and skip the Emory. The fur hood is too nanook of the north for my tastes.(/snip)

Teenage Italian boys on winter vacation in NYC love those Canada Goose jackets with all the fur around the hood. Somewhat incongruent look. Or as a friend said, "Why to Italian boys all walk around wearing their mothers' coats?"

[Moke]

Wow if the prices are in USD they are pretty proud of their coats. All look well made but looks to be about a grand average cost. Never seen their stuff, but Patagucchi is pretty hard to beat across the line. I have a heavy nylon covered down coat with Goretex, a down pullover and a down sweater from Patagonia that all together didn't cost a grand that are all 5 plus closer to ten years old and are doing fine. Also have an Eddie Bauer light down jacket and a Filson Double Mack wool coat and a waxed tin cloth guide jacket the mix. They are all freekin good coats and in Montana where we started breaking out the down a couple weeks ago and will were it daily till April or so cost is relative. I am thinking the Filson coats are ten plus years old. If you buy good stuff and take reasonable care if it they all last pretty long.
As far as the teeth thing, as long as your bite is good, I would not worry about the front teeth alignment. No one ever sees it except the hygienist and dentist, and they don't care.

[11.4]

Leaving teeth aside, this seems to be a query about the merits and issues around down? I was a NOLS instructor for some years and used down extensively and consulted at length with a couple major down companies. The stuff has evolved rapidly, so here's a brief state of the art.

1. Down gets graded on loft -- how much volume an ounce of down will occupy. Insulation is more or less dependent on volume, so if your down occupies twice as much volume as a cheaper one, it'll provide twice the insulation. Twenty years ago 450 fill down was pretty damned good. Now it's gone to 900 and sometimes tops 1000. Also, be aware that down sold as, say, 900 fill, can only perform as well as 800 or can actually be off a very plush flock of geese and have a measured loft of 1100-1200.

2. Down these days is treated by some companies to make it more water resistant and to recover better from getting wet. Down becomes a mess with little or no insulation capability as soon as it gets wet, but some new treatments make it marginally more resistant. I'm not a big fan of them in high-loft down because they typically compromise the down a bit and if you really need water resistance, there are the new Pluma synthetics that are awfully close to down in performance.

3. If your down collects humidity from wearing it (sweat, body humidity, etc.), its insulation value deteriorates. You need a diffusing layer underneath so sweat from the skin doesn't just transfer directly to the down garment, and the outside of the garment needs to be extremely breathable so humidity can pass through. Down garments used to be covered in heavy fabrics such as 3 layer Goretex or Cordura. Those trapped moisture and also compromised the weight of down garments -- and the weight is the primary benefit of down, especially given the high quality of synthetics these days. So now you'll find very light fabrics such as Pertec. They are fragile, so generally use some kind of shell over them. For street use, you can usually get away with the light fabric -- it often comes with a pretty good water-repellent treatment so drizzle won't soak the down -- but it'll still tear easily from a dog or a car door.

4. For most purposes, if weight isn't an overpowering concern, I'd suggest you get one of the newest synthetics. They perform so close to down specs that you won't know the difference without specialized test equipment. The synthetics can get soaked and simply dry out, you can machine wash and dry them, and they have manufactured structures that allow them to be built up in interesting ways for more appealing cosmetics (i.e., you don't have to look like a puffball, but can have stylish stitching patterns and a thinner garment).

If you do want down, Patagonia is ok but nothing special. Feathered Friends definitely has the upper hand in ultra-fine down, but at a price. You also are paying for better construction methods (such as box baffling rather than stitched-through methods that create thin spots in the garment), better fabrics, higher quality stitching, more down detailing around the neck and related areas, and so on. If I really need a down garment, I always buy Feathered Friends. (Same applies to sleeping bags, for the same reasons.) Western Mountaineering makes some good ones that in some cases use treated down. (Patagonia doesn't treat any down, to my knowledge.) We have a multitude of fabrics and insulation products these days. You won't be unhappy with any of them. It's like choosing among top-end frames.

[j44ke]

Speaking of holes in lightweight fabric on down jackets, Lezyne patches work well for patching small tears or burn holes. There is a company called Gear Aid that makes a product called Tenacious Tape that is similar but purpose-made.

[dogrange]

Was looking at a ridiculous $800 Canada Goose coat and ended up with a $150 Alpha Industries that I love. It is not as nice. It is a good value.

[Trevor]

We sell both Canada Goose and Patagonia. The 'Goose sells itself and is one of the few items you can 100% confidently sell... if the customer is willing to spend the money. They offer a lot of different jackets other than your typical long black parka with fur hood. I didn't think much at first, just like others have said, it was for someone walking the streets of Toronto or NYC. However, after wearing one of their jackets for a day last January when the air temp was around 0 before windchill, it kept me damn warm and dry. If someone comes in and says they are cold 100% of the time, they put that jacket on and you know they will be warm no matter where they are. Personally, I'd never wear one for actual outdoor activities like skiing or snowshoeing, but if I'm doing an event where I'm going to be standing around in the cold not moving, their jackets would be one of my first picks (again, if you like the style and price). Yeah, you're paying for a name, but when aren't you these days?

I also have a few Patagonia jackets that I ski in. One is just a 3-layer Gore-Tex shell that is absolutely bomb proof, but it's just a shell. The other is a 2-layer Gore-Tex jacket with insulation in the back panels, chest and sleeves. That is my go to for skiing in single digits or below zero. Again though, if I was just standing around, the Goose would keep me much warmer.

Depends on what style you want and price. Patagonia's Powslayer is now a $700 shell jacket. Not cheap either. And designed to have layers and become a "system." Lots of good options these days. No major brand is putting out a bad product...they can't afford to.

[11.4]

Just to wrap up, unless others want to add more helpful comments, this basic point: Down stays dry and works extraordinarily well at higher altitudes and where the humidity is low, water is present as snow rather than rain, and one isn't generating huge amounts of sweat. Those also happen to be the best conditions for using Goretex, so a combination of a down sweater and a high quality Goretex shell is unbeatable in those environments. Specifically, in those environments. If you are generating a lot of sweat, or if your down is going to get wet, or if the humidity is so high that moisture can't be removed from your down jacket, you really are better off in synthetics. So let location drive a significant part of your decision on down or synthetics.

[vertical_doug]

so to summarize, if you are going to a late season Jet's game at the Meadowlands where you may get wet when someone throws a beer, synthetics work better than down.

If you are going in a expedition to the high desert in the Atacama or Arctic where it never rains, then down should be your first choice.

YMMV

[GonaSovereign]

The cost of Canada Goose jackets: they're made by people living in Toronto (big city; expensive place). They source the down in a somewhat more ethical way than most companies. (Most makers don't say where it comes from because the answer is upsetting; Patagonia has historically been vague but trying harder now.) Goose is expensive; they do sell them at a discount in the north, but you'll need to get up there.

On the flip side, they leg trap coyotes so random kids in cities can have a halo of fur around their face. You can decide whether that's acceptable. Of course, they do offer models without the coyote attached.

[GrantM]

Leaving teeth aside, this seems to be a query about the merits and issues around down? I was a NOLS instructor for some years and used down extensively and consulted at length with a couple major down companies. The stuff has evolved rapidly, so here's a brief state of the art.

1. Down gets graded on loft -- how much volume an ounce of down will occupy. Insulation is more or less dependent on volume, so if your down occupies twice as much volume as a cheaper one, it'll provide twice the insulation. Twenty years ago 450 fill down was pretty damned good. Now it's gone to 900 and sometimes tops 1000. Also, be aware that down sold as, say, 900 fill, can only perform as well as 800 or can actually be off a very plush flock of geese and have a measured loft of 1100-1200.

2. Down these days is treated by some companies to make it more water resistant and to recover better from getting wet. Down becomes a mess with little or no insulation capability as soon as it gets wet, but some new treatments make it marginally more resistant. I'm not a big fan of them in high-loft down because they typically compromise the down a bit and if you really need water resistance, there are the new Pluma synthetics that are awfully close to down in performance.

3. If your down collects humidity from wearing it (sweat, body humidity, etc.), its insulation value deteriorates. You need a diffusing layer underneath so sweat from the skin doesn't just transfer directly to the down garment, and the outside of the garment needs to be extremely breathable so humidity can pass through. Down garments used to be covered in heavy fabrics such as 3 layer Goretex or Cordura. Those trapped moisture and also compromised the weight of down garments -- and the weight is the primary benefit of down, especially given the high quality of synthetics these days. So now you'll find very light fabrics such as Pertec. They are fragile, so generally use some kind of shell over them. For street use, you can usually get away with the light fabric -- it often comes with a pretty good water-repellent treatment so drizzle won't soak the down -- but it'll still tear easily from a dog or a car door.

4. For most purposes, if weight isn't an overpowering concern, I'd suggest you get one of the newest synthetics. They perform so close to down specs that you won't know the difference without specialized test equipment. The synthetics can get soaked and simply dry out, you can machine wash and dry them, and they have manufactured structures that allow them to be built up in interesting ways for more appealing cosmetics (i.e., you don't have to look like a puffball, but can have stylish stitching patterns and a thinner garment).

If you do want down, Patagonia is ok but nothing special. Feathered Friends definitely has the upper hand in ultra-fine down, but at a price. You also are paying for better construction methods (such as box baffling rather than stitched-through methods that create thin spots in the garment), better fabrics, higher quality stitching, more down detailing around the neck and related areas, and so on. If I really need a down garment, I always buy Feathered Friends. (Same applies to sleeping bags, for the same reasons.) Western Mountaineering makes some good ones that in some cases use treated down. (Patagonia doesn't treat any down, to my knowledge.) We have a multitude of fabrics and insulation products these days. You won't be unhappy with any of them. It's like choosing among top-end frames.

You do realize that 99% of Canada Goose jackets are worn by celebrities for dashing between their AMG GLS class and the valet stand?

-g

[AllKnownBikes]

Resident Alaskan chiming in:

- Synthetic down is awesome (i.e. you can wash it really easily).
- Don't look for 1 jacket to fit your needs, LAYER!
- You should layer.
- Did I mention that layering is a thing?

TLDR: Layer. Just wear layers.

[dake13]

At the college I teach at, there are a ton of students from India and China who break out their Canada Goose coats whenever the temp drops below 60 degrees. In fact, I think they're happy to go to school in a place where the temp occasionally justifies wearing a Canada Goose coat. I read an article about the brand, and as I recollect, it was fringe extreme weather gear that re-branded with an NYC brand manager to the mainstream. I don't doubt that those $800 coats keep you plenty warm, I just don't think most people need it, unless they're working on the latest remake of John Carpenter's The Thing. I'm from NH and at 15F up there, everyone's wearing sweatshirts from Walmart.

[King Of Dirk]

I'm from NH and at 15F up there, everyone's wearing sweatshirts from Walmart.

I love my state and hope it's my primary residence for the rest of my days, but there's something about New Hampshire. I think if I had to move (and could find gainful employment), it would be at or near the top of a very short list. I love the absolute lack of bullshit.

Not a comment on how anyone chooses to dress; as Charles Wright said, do your thing - whatever it is. I'm just seeing an awful lot of style over substance invading Houston over the last few years, and the no-nonsense vibe in NH appeals to me.