10/23/2011- Saw Snow on the Mountains a Few Hours from the Home Base last weekend!
Won't be long until it's snowing here too! Welcome to the New Winter Season!
CHECK OUT all the latest technologies and trends used in snowboard jackets and outerwear right now...TODAY!!!
You 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 very important 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 Outdoors.comThey have a good sampling of snowboard jacket brands and styles.
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 go to
Altrec Outdoors.comto check out their full inventory
Backcountry.com andDogfunk.comhave one of the largest selections of snowboard jackets anywhere Both with free shipping! They have many of the same snowboard jackets, so I chose to
Show just the Backcountry.com's
Snowboard Jacket Shop !!!
When you are done cruisin through The Backcountry.com's killer jacket shop...
Try The-House.com's snowboard shop next...The crew at The-House.com carry's over 60 different jackets from a bunch of other top names in snowboarding...The BIG news is they have a really good size selection...It aint no good to find the jacket that rocks only to find they havent got your size...The-House.com also has easy to use sizing charts to help you get the right size...
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 and lets jabber about their jackets...They are packing K2, Bonfire, Quicksilver, Ride, Burton , DC and Volcom...I probably forgot a few others but cruise on through their shop and see for yourself their awesome selection and reasonable prices... 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
Summit Sports - Free Shipping over $99! They have a pretty good selection and lots of sizes...SummitOnline.com also has live help ...most of the time and flat rate shipping...which is good if you can get some of your friends to buy also , you can get a good deal on the shipping cost....Well what TOP brand names do they carry...Columbia, Helly Hansen, , Ride and more...
One other very good shop online is
REI.comThey have lots of killer jackets by Burton, Ride, Quicksilver, Bonfire,Sessions and NorthFace...
Here's a QUICK LIST of other online stores and resources to score snowboarding jackets ...
Moosejaw.com is a new store I haven't used recently...Check em out ...
FogDog.com has a ton of snowboard jackets and lots of other real cool snowboard gear...
Boardtactics.com has a great snowboard jacket selection at good prices...
Amazon.com where you can find a snowboard jacket offered by Amazon.com thru their affiliated retail stores...
evo.com New For This Year! Evo.com has a wide selection from over 20 different name brands.
ParagonSports.com I haven't checked here in a awhile, but sometimes worth the quick look ! JACKETS FOR UK ,EU 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 has free shipping to anywhere in EU and they have a killer selection of over 200 snowboard jacket styles to pick from for both the guyz and the gurlz by Burton, Analog, Bonfire, Oakley, Zimtern, Sessions and FourSquare...While you are there at HOTZONE.tv,Check out the rest of the cool snowboarding gear they have...
See ya later from The Snowboarding Master !
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Altrec Outdoors.comThey have a good sampling of snowboard jacket brands and styles. 
where you can find a snowboard jacket offered by Amazon.com
