A Patagonia Education, Continued

The second part in a series on my Patagonia Education.

Lesson Number Two
In this instance, the store had more sizes available during a sale than the website did. On the website a lot of the stuff I was interested in was not available in my size, small. The store had smalls in many things including the Men's Rubicon Rider Jacket in black (more about that in the next lesson) which seems sold out in size small across the world wide web. The only item I couldn't find in small--and the sales woman checked the computer and said there isn't one to be found anywhere in the system--was the Patagonia Down Jacket in black, no doubt a popular item.

The rest of my education came in the fit of the garments. These items I had seen in the catalogs were now on my body and I was able to get a better sense of their fit and feel. I have to preface this by saying that I am basically a "perfect" size small (if there is such a thing--every guy under 5'10" probably views his height as pretty "imperfect", but you get what I mean) in Patagonia gear, and in pretty much every other brand for that matter. I've had the Patagonia Dimension Jacket, the Down Vest, a Shelled Synchilla, a Marsupial, etc. So that's the premise I'm working from--a small should fit me just fine.

Lesson Number Three
The Rubicon Rider Jacket has really long arms. First of all, I felt like I had scored a coup by finding this in black, size small. As I said, I haven't seen that anywhere on the internet, so I was quite eager to try this one on and possibly make a purchase. Immediately after putting it on, I found that it was very warm and the fabric has a great feel to it. The reinforcements on the shoulders feel tough, like they would stand up so some scrapes. I liked the removable hood too. But what was up with the arms? They were a solid two inches too long. Take a look at this picture I found on the internet that demonstrates my point perfectly:

(Photo from kakaku.com)

The sleeves are almost down to his fingernails and they're STILL bunched up at his wrists. Folks at Patagonia design: this is a great jacket, but please fix the sleeve length! I get that the jacket is supposed to have a relaxed fit and it does. But it shouldn't have a relaxed fit designed for a gorilla. Back to the rack you go, you rarest of finds. May some primate find you useful.

Lesson Number Four
The Patagonia Quilt Again Jacket is really tight. No, not slang "tight" as in "cool" but "tight" as in "restricting"! Again, size small ought to fit me fine. And again, I felt like I had scored because this is a very popular jacket and the website didn't have this blue one in small. Ah, but the fit--I had a hard time even getting my arms through the sleeves. Though I'd like to think it's because my arm muscles are so ripped, the facts tell me that the sleeves are just cut too slim. Mind you, I was only wearing a t-shirt and a thin cotton shirt over that--nothing excessive. Here's the kicker, I later checked out the Patagonia website and they label the jacket "Regular Fit." Just not true.

More Patagonia lessons to come this weekend.