The Quality Of Arctery Clothing Is Always The Best
It’s easy for a reviewer to say that a
product is high quality and then move on to other things without explaining
further. I’d point to three specific things about Arc’teryx that make their product high quality –
design, materials, and construction.
Design
When I say that there is quality in their
design, I mean not only style, but that the items are intended for a specific
purpose or task and they perform that task very well. They do so with a minimal
amount of weight and bulk and often include clever features that are so well
integrated that they might be missed at first or second glance. These design
features sometimes show up on other manufacturers’ products, but they originate
at Arc’teryx sale.
 |
| Arcteryx |
Although it is one of their more simple
products, I will use the Atom LT jacket (MSRP $199) as an example of excellence
in design. It’s a pretty basic insulated jacket and available in a variety of
colors in their standard line, as well as black, Crocodile (sort of a
brownish/greenish/tan), and Wolf (gray/grey) in the LEAF line. It was mostly
unchanged when it went from Arc’teryx to LEAF, other than color, and that’s a
good thing, because it didn’t need to be changed.
“Crocodile” blended in very well in Syria. Unlike my face, voice, and
attitude.
What makes it so great? It weighs 11.5
ounces and is compressible. And it has kept me freakishly warm in some rather
cold places, with temperatures reaching just below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. At the
same time, it’s waterproof and also quite breathable.
I don’t feel uncomfortable wearing it at
temperatures up to 65 or 70 degrees, and even then, I can just unzip it. That
brings me to another cool design feature, which is that many of the zippers can
be unzipped simply by pulling the collar of the jacket away from its counterpart.
This is a lot better than fumbling with a zipper if you have thick gloves on or
are wearing a pack with chest straps. On the other hand, this means that if you
wear scarves like I do, the zipper will be constantly unzipping itself to a
certain point unless the zipper is up all the way. Since I’m probably the only
person on the “bring masculinity back to scarves” train, that isn’t a big deal.
The fact that it can be compressed and/or
squished down to approximately the size of a compressed camp pillow is
outstanding. And because it weighs less than a pound, it’s something that
always goes with me if I think I might have to deal with even mildly chilly
temperatures.
 |
| Arcteryx |
Materials
There are a lot of materials used by Arc’teryx outlet, and I
won’t try to cover them all here or describe them in detail, because that’s not
my forte. What I will say about Arc’teryx materials is that every lot of, say,
Gore-Tex that comes in is inspected through a number of processes before it’s
used in clothing. Other manufacturers do this, but perhaps not to the same
fanatical level of attention to detail. By the way, whoever managed to make
waterproof fleece is a genius.
In addition, the company drives the
development or modification of materials for other purposes – for example,
thinner waterproof tape over seams. In the end, what matters most is that when
it comes to selecting a material for a product, performance (weight,
durability, insulation/breathability/waterproofing) is the determining factor, not
cost.
Despite being made with as light and
breathable a fabric as I have ever encountered, the Chimera shirts (MSRP $149)
my teammate (pictured) and I were given to use during the 24 Hour Sniper
Adventure Challenge showed no rips or tears after spending lots of time low
crawling over sharp rocks and thistles/brambles.
Construction
I can be very detail-oriented at times, but
before I had ever laid hands on Arc’teryx stuff, I hadn’t really considered the
details of clothing manufacture. Even now, I’ll admit that having a
near-perfectly stitched seam doesn’t keep me any warmer. However, when I look
at the way their clothing is put together, I am simply impressed.
I took some macro photos of both my
Arc’teryx Bravo jacket in Wolf (MSRP $329) and my Dickies Storm gray jacket. I
paid approximately ten times as much for the Bravo jacket (the Dickies product
was on closeout – I paid closer to retail for the Arc’teryx product). This
isn’t intended to be a direct comparison of these specific products, just a look
at how a very expensive Arc’teryx jacket compares to a very inexpensive one in
an attempt to show that “you get what you pay for.” I picked the same areas of
each jacket for the photos below.
With very few exceptions, the stitching of
an Arc’teryx product looks like this – straight, even, orderly.
In comparison, the overall stitching of my
Dickies jacket is not even or straight.
At full zoom, we can see that the fabric
and stitching of the Arc’teryx product, although it has seen very heavy and
frequent use, is in excellent shape.
Whether it is due to use or construction or
design, the Dickies fabric and stitching appears more worn.
This joining of fabrics on the Bravo
jacket, while not perfect, is quite orderly. In addition, the methods of
stitching simply look robust to me.
The same area of the Dickies jacket, which
is of similar design, shows a much simpler and perhaps less
confidence-inspiring manufacturing method.
This internal zippered pocket of the Bravo
jacket is shown at full zoom for inspection purposes only – there aren’t any
internal zippered pockets on the Dickies jacket.
It comes as no real surprise to me that
after almost a year of using the Bravo jacket and treating it roughly, it looks
practically new. I’m also not surprised when I hear anecdotal reports from
friends who use Arc’teryx stuff that it lasts for years instead of months. I’ve
had my share of clothing and gear wear out prematurely, but that really isn’t a
concern with any Arc’teryx product I’ve used. The only Arc’teryx sale store product I no longer
use is the Alpha jacket (MSRP $599) I loaned to an ex-girlfriend. She decided
to never return it.
Comments
Post a Comment