 GET THE LATEST ON HOT SNOWBOARD JACKETSJUST NOW...UPDATED FOR 2007/2008 SEASONYou can find out all about the latest jackets available on the market for this season. WHAT to look for in a quality boarding jacket or shell... WHY it is so important to get the absolute best quality and deal you can... WHO makes the best quality jackets and outerwear... WHERE you can get the latest and best jackets available... The best quality snowboard jackets are the most expensive...The reason being they are designed to be waterproof and windproof and highly breathable all at the same time...The best material invented up to this year and date is GORE-TEX..... GORE-TEX is WATERPROOFand WINDPROOF and... $ VERY VERY EXPENSIVE $ Gore-tex is still considered to be the best by most people in the snowsports community...Any snowboard jacket or snowboard clothing item manufactured with GORE-TEX is going to be much more expensive than a similiar jacket or item made with a less expensive material... You can learn about GORE-TEX here at GORE-TEX.com The challenge for you is to decide if you really need any snowboard jackets made with Gore-Tex or not...Some of the factors to consider are... How WARM and WET is the area where you snowboard? If you live somewhere where it is always really cold...REALLY COLD being 20 degrees F / -6.6 degrees C or below....Then you might be able to get away with a snowboard jacket made with good quality nylon or other high tech material that is not as quite as waterproof as Gore-tex... Consider this...If it is really cold, the snow clinging to your outer snowboard clothing is less likely to melt and seep through into your snowboard jacket and pants...WHY??? Because you are probably wearing more layers, the snow outside is insulated from your body heat and will not melt... Plus your outer clothing is much colder at the outer surface due to the low outside temperature... THE SNOW WILL NOT MELT!!! If the temperature is above 20 degrees F and especially true in the 28 degrees to 34 degrees F / -2 degrees to +1 degrees C range...The snow on your clothes will melt and you will ALWAYS be better off with snowboard jackets made from Gore-tex or other highly waterproof fabrics... Some other factors to consider are... HOW MUCH TIME you spend outside on a typical day snowboarding??? Are you a fair weather snowboarder? Do you thrive on the blizzard days? when the powder is deep and alot of people are in the cafeteria or bar... How many days a year do you snowboard??? Season pass holders and snow resort town residents are always much more likely to be packin Gore-tex or highly waterproof gear than a weekender...ASK yourself all these questions AND THEN DECIDE IF YOU NEED OR WANT GORETEX OR NOT!!! If you didn't check it out already, go check out GORE-TEX.com and get schooled all about GORE-TEX...Another good website to get schooled about some other commonly used fabrics and materials used to build a killer snowboard jacket is PATAGONIA.com where you can learn all about CAPILENE versus wool... BREATHABILITY AND WATERPROOFNESS There are lots of other fabrics used for snowboarding jackets and the important factors are waterproofness and breathability... The industry standard for waterproofness is in millimeters (mm). Breathability is measured in grams squared...The higher the number for both factors the more waterproof and breathable it is... Some easy examples of this standard are...Inexpensive snowboard jackets may have a waterproofness of 5,000 to 8,000 mm and 5,000 gram breathability...While the top of the line BURTON snowboard jackets can have 30,000 mm waterproofness and 20,000 gram breathability... These two standards make it much easier to compare snowboard jackets for both of these factors... QUALITY SNOWBOARD JACKET FEATURES REMOVABLE OR STASHABLE HOODS A good quality snowboard jacket will have a hood that is removable or storable,AND will have a storm collar that can be fastened easily around the top of your neck with a soft patch of material where your chin is... SLEEVE AND WAIST POWDER GAITORS Good quality snowboard jackets will have built in snow gaitors at the wrists...My favorite jacket has wristies also called wrist gaiters, built in that slide over my hand and have a hole for my thumb so they dont slide up...It is way soft and comfortable made from LYCRA....Well worth a few extra bucks...The sleeves should have a adjustable closure, usually velcro...This way you can either wrap the sleeves tight over your MITTs or GLOVES....or close the sleeves and then pull your mitts or gloves over your jacket sleeves...Again this is a personal preference... Some people pull their sleeves over the handwear, others do it the other way... One other thing...A full on quality snowboard jacket will have a powder skirt or waist snow gaiter that allows you to keep snow outta your snowboard pants and the back of your shirts...Some of these powder skirts are removable and can be zipped in or out depending on the weather and snow conditions...The skirt should be adjustable so you can tighten it or loosen it easily...My favorite snowboard jacket has a really good powder skirt that is non removable...But it is highly adjustable with lots of snaps and cords...If I am not using it , I do not even know it is there... RADIALLY CUT SHOULDERS At the shoulders ,a radial tailored shoulder is preferred for snowboarding.What this means is that the shoulder panels and sleeves are cut and assembled in a pattern that gives more room at the shoulders and allows easier arm movements...Which is good for the flailers...ah man!! I am just joking... BUT seriously, snowboarders tend to move their arms for balance alot more than skiers do ,so its a good thing to look out for and one very good reason to buy a jacket DESIGNED specifically for snowboarding.... LOTS OF POCKETS AND STASH PLACES An excellent quality snowboard jacket will have lots of inner and outer pockets...My favorite snowboard jacket has a 3 inner pockets and 4 outer pockets PLUS a magnetic lift ticket holder that I really like ...I just flip the the flap up to show the lift crew my pass and let it drop into place...the magnets grab it and its ready to go for the next trip up the lift... MESH OR FLEECE LINERS Top quality snowboard jackets will have a mesh or fleece liner, alot of times these are removable or there is a whole extra layer that can be zipped into the shell to add or subtract an extra layer of insulation fast and easy...Some of the Good quality 1-2-3 combination snowboard jackets come to mind here...Which is a light jacket and maybe a fleece jacket also within a snowboard jacket shell...ULTIMATE LAYERING!!! TAPED OR THERMO-WELDED SEAMS The highest quality snowboard jackets will have all the seams taped or thermo welded...All Gore-tex snowboard jackets are seam taped or thermo-welded.... CONVENIENT LARGE TABS AND ZIPPER PULLS Now a convenience thing...A really good snowboard jacket will have large tabs on the zippers or any moving part to allow you to do adjustments with your gloves or mitts on...A brightly colored tab is also a plus as it is easier to see through goggles... QUALITY ZIPPERS AND PIT VENTS Your snowboard jacket should have a quality zipper for the main closure...Pockets should have a zipper or velcro closure...A quality snowboard jacket will have zippered vents under the arms, called "pit vents" My favorite jacket also has zip vents in the front as well... All the zippers should be protected by flaps to cover the zipper when not in use...The most expensive snowboard jackets now come with waterproof zippers... WHERE TO BUY THE BEST SNOWBOARD JACKETS MY advice...AS ALWAYS...SHOP and make a wish list or tops list, then head back and get what you decide is the best jacket for the best price...SHOP SHOP SHOP SMART... A GOOD PLACE TO START is at Altrec.com I can show you a sampling of snowboard jacket brands and styles they carry. Be aware some of the jackets shown are for climbing or hiking and could be used as a mid layer jacket under a shell...You can click into their website to check out their full inventory by clicking on any of the jackets shown... If you are using Internet Explorer: make sure to allow blocked content (scripts) or you wont be able to see the Altrec snowboard jackets in stock now directly below this paragraph... If you dont see snowboard jackets below, IE is blocking you !!! Backcountry.com Both with free shipping!.They have way too many to show on this page, so I combined the two into ONE BIG SNOWBOARD JACKET SHOP !!! When you are done cruisin through The Backcountry.com and Dogfunk.com's killer jacket shop... Go check out the Snowboard Clothing at The House Boardshop The-House has one of the largest selections of Bonfire snowboard jackets, too many to pick from...So check em all out and add one or two to your top ten list...Oh I almost forgot...They also have a few jackets for the younger crew by World... Hey we are on a roll...Jam on over to USOUTDOOR.com Snowboard Shop Ok I DO HAVE TO TELL YOU...They got good selection but NOT very good SIZE or COLOR selection...Make sure they have your size before putting any of the jackets on your tops list...The Upside is that IF they got your size and style and color then you get a stylin deal... The gurlz also have a giant selection but mediocre size and color choices... The next place, if you got the TIME and ENERGY, is to climb on up to SummitOnline.com's Snowboard Shop One other very good shop online is REI Snow Sports Now one last place if you are low on cash ...Slip the rope and slide on over to BackcountryOutlet.com Here's a QUICK LIST of other online stores and resources to score bindings at...
E-bay also has new gear from lots of online shops------------------------->>> Moosejaw.com FogDog.com! Boardtactics.com - Your online source for boarding gear. Amazon.com  where you can find a snowboard jacket offered by Amazon.com thru their affiliated retail stores...Try Bizrate to Compare prices for Snowboards and Snowboarding Gear. Its a fast way to find the best price if you already know exactly what you want... JACKETS FOR UK ,EU AND CANADIAN RIDERS UK Riders and powderhounds should hit it over to the Boardshop.co.uk to see the men's and women's snowboard jackets...The selection is not bad, They have in stock right now jackets by Billabong, 686 and FourSquare and a few others...But it's still early on in the season, so check back here to keep tabs on the arriving stock for the new season... Another UK shop is OutdoorGear UK They carry a fair selection and variety of snowboarding jackets for men and women and kids at reasonable prices...If you do not see anything good there...Keep going... If you live ANYWHERE in the EU... You are in luck as the HOTZONE.tv
 SPORTMART.ca has lots of killer snowboard jackets to choose from by Airwalk, Ripzone, Mole and SMX for the Guys, Gurlz and Kids...Check them out now!!! Last time I was in Canada, I happened to visit the SportMart in Kelowna BC and I was impressed with the gear and with the people that worked there, much better than most sports chains in the USA which I usually avoid...So if their online gig is as good as the stores , look for good products, good prices and good service...Ok well done...If you are still reading here, then you have ingested some real good info about snowboard jackets and the technology behind them...You should have no problem from now on shopping for a snowboard jacket...at any time of the year,whether you are surfing the net for a new jacket or hanging out in Argentina, Australia or NZ for the Summer... Or gearing up for the N-hemispere winter... One last thing... I am a Snowboarding Master but I am NOT an Internet Master, see how this site was PLANNED then BUILT and is QUICKLY and EASILY maintained... PLUS ...more importantly how to attract the right traffic to your business website by clicking on the graphic!!!  If You are like Me, Then I KNOW you want to be out doing some outdoor activity, not sitting in front of your &$@?* computer all day................ See how with SBI ! .....Check it out TODAY ! IF you have ANY questions here is a convenient way to ASK OTHER SBI USERS A QUESTION KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! INFORMATION IS KNOWLEDGE!!!! INFORMATION IS YOUR POWER!!! USE YOUR POWER!!!! |
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