Cheap wax jackets

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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,186
1,557
Cumbria
I've just seen a Peter storm wax jacket online, barbour lookalike. £78 at go outdoors. Not in my size at the moment not that I'm looking but barbours are £140-230. I wonder what an £80 wax jacket would be like, anyone seen one?
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,977
4,624
S. Lanarkshire
I used one for work. It was actually very good. The pockets were better designed not to fill up with rain :) and it had a stud on hood too.

Ehm, otherwise, it really smelled of paraffin wax, but it heated up and smoothed out just fine. It wore as well as the much more expensive jacket but things like the studs rusted eventually, and the zip snagged on the lining after years of use.

Honestly, quality is no longer a label. Check something for yourself, know what you're looking for, and how much you're prepared to pay.
I wouldn't look at Go Outdoors for it though, I'd look at someplace like the Edinburgh Woollen Mill. They have a 'country clothing' range, and the have the wax jackets on sale fairly often. They're robust enough, and if it fails, you can take it back.

M
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,715
1,961
Mercia
I've just seen a Peter storm wax jacket online, barbour lookalike. £78 at go outdoors. Not in my size at the moment not that I'm looking but barbours are £140-230. I wonder what an £80 wax jacket would be like, anyone seen one?
So long as Peter Storm offer a repair service, heavy duty YKK zips, rust proof studs, zip in liners, optional hoods a rewaxing service, tins of wax then great!

If not, buy a second hand 6 or 8oz Barbour (or Drizabone or Filson) for a few quid on eBay, clean , rewax and pass down to your kids. My last Barbour cost a tenner.
 

grainweevil

Forager
Feb 18, 2023
183
225
Cornwall
I'd like to buy secondhand, but no hope of finding my size, and Barbour doesn't begin to accommodate us more Rubenesque types, so went with Drizabone. They're made in China now, which I didn't know when I purchased, and quickly had two failed press studs which suggest they're not keeping enough eye on quality control in the face of Chinese corner-cutting. So if you go for one of them secondhand, make sure it's not a recent one being moved on by another unhappy purchaser.
 
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Buckshot

Mod
Mod
Jan 19, 2004
6,466
349
Oxford
When i first started work as gamekeeper at 16 years old my father got me a wax jacket from a market stall.
I would ride my 50cc moped half an hour each way in it as well as wear it all day if needed.
i reproofed it after 6 months or so and as needed after that.
lasted many years and was warmer than many expensive wax proofs i've had since.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,767
Berlin
When Land Rover was owned by BMW you could get such a 4x4 every corner in Germany. And with it photos of happy people in such kind of outdated jackets.

The rich bought them and those who wanted to look like them, originals and copies.

Afterwards they discovered that the Mercedes G is simply the better car and German made Goretex the material for better rain gear.

The result is that you can get original Barbour jackets regularly nearly unused in German second hand shops and via Ebay for less than 100 € and the copies in good condition they literally throw behind you.

Unfortunately not the Defender though.
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,977
4,624
S. Lanarkshire
I'd like to buy secondhand, but no hope of finding my size, and Barbour doesn't begin to accommodate us more Rubenesque types, so went with Drizabone. They're made in China now, which I didn't know when I purchased, and quickly had two failed press studs which suggest they're not keeping enough eye on quality control in the face of Chinese corner-cutting. So if you go for one of them secondhand, make sure it's not a recent one being moved on by another unhappy purchaser.

PG Fields is made in the UK. They're the range that I saw in the Edinburgh Woollen Mill.
I have a 48" bust, and I tried some on, they fitted fine, just that I'd need to shorten the sleeves :sigh:


Walker and Hawkes ladies sizes only go up to an 18, and the cut of some of their ladies jackets narrows at the hips, and if you're wearing heavy kit beneath, it's all just a tad neat.

I don't think manufacturers all scale up sizes in ways that actually fit people.
I'd be a slim six footer, but I'm certainly not at 5'2" :rolleyes: but jackets to fit me end up with arms far too long, with shoulders that hang down at my upper arms, waistlines that are like tents instead of shaped in.....one size clothing fits no one very well anyway, but for those who are vertically challenged it's a whole other set of issues.
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,977
4,624
S. Lanarkshire
When Land Rover was owned by BMW you could get such a 4x4 every corner in Germany. And with it photos of happy people in such kind of outdated jackets.

The rich bought them and those who wanted to look like them, originals and copies.

Afterwards they discovered that the Mercedes G is simply the better car and German made Goretex the material for better rain gear.

The result is that you can get original Barbour jackets regularly nearly unused in German second hand shops and via Ebay for less than 100 € and the copies in good condition they literally throw behind you.

Unfortunately not the Defender though.

Y'know why Brits wear Barbour /assorted variety wax jackets ?

Because gortex sucks.

It's damned all use when you're working with animals, it's damned all use in the mud, it's damned all use when you're scrambling through hedges and over dykes and next to barbed wire.

Waxed cotton though ? that works :)

I have goretex jackets, and I have waxed jackets, and to be honest the waxed ones get a little more use than the goretex.

The Goretex is the 'keep it clean' jacket type, the waxed ones I can wear near a fire, when I'm in the mud, when it's rough going, and I don't worry about shredding it.

Horses for courses.
 

jcr71

Tenderfoot
Aug 6, 2014
70
26
hampshire
Gortex i find is good if you dont mind buying new coats regularly and just want them for light duties.
unfortunately the man made materials arent nowhere near as hard wearing as the natural stuff.
 
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grainweevil

Forager
Feb 18, 2023
183
225
Cornwall
I don't think manufacturers all scale up sizes in ways that actually fit people.
I strongly suspect manufacturers size entirely on the basis of how economical it is for them to make things. I'm tall and, alas, broad, so a lot of women's stuff is hopelessly too short in body and arm. Have to resort to men's. Not helped by much preferring a loose fit, which in this never-ending era of the skinny fit (see manufacturers' benefits again) means several sizes up from where I technically should be buying. Drives me nuts, and that's despite having absolutely no interest in my appearance and merely looking for something in order to avoid accusations of exhibitionism. The thought of trying to find something that genuinely fits me gives me the cold shivers!

But where were we? Oh yeah. Gortex. Can only agree with the previous posts.
 
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Toddy

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Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,977
4,624
S. Lanarkshire
To be fair, the really heavy weight goretex does take a bit of a beating....pity it only comes in camouflage though :rolleyes: and it's still overwhelmed by the wet and the mud.
 

demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
4,694
711
-------------
To be fair, the really heavy weight goretex does take a bit of a beating....pity it only comes in camouflage though :rolleyes: and it's still overwhelmed by the wet and the mud.
It also comes in railway orange Hi Viz.
I have a very good railway orange goretex jacket thats easy as tough as my Tilak Odin Ventile jacket and I also have a cable jointers gore tex jacket thats about the toughest jacket I own. Hi Viz green and the pockets are at an odd height though.
Saying Gore Tex is fragile fabric is kind of a bit simplistic as it really depends on the fabric.
 
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GreyCat

Full Member
Nov 1, 2023
85
102
51
South Wales, UK
It also comes in railway orange Hi Viz.
I have a very good railway orange goretex jacket thats easy as tough as my Tilak Odin Ventile jacket and I also have a cable jointers gore tex jacket thats about the toughest jacket I own. Hi Viz green and the pockets are at an odd height though.
Saying Gore Tex is fragile fabric is kind of a bit simplistic as it really depends on the fabric.

Yeah, I've got a railway orange goretex track jacket, great things, really hard-wearing. I've also got a set of goretex salopettes too (prefer them to the overtrousters as they don't slip down). And some high-leg goretex-lined heavy duty track boots, and the balaclava with mesh ears to go under the obligatory hard hat.

Back in the days when I spent nights out with the resignalling teams, I had a goretex romper suit* supplied by my employer...... had to hand it back when I left unfortunately.

*[that's a onesie made from goretex and lined with quilting- including down the legs and arms too. Ideal for the signalling testers who sit on the ground for hours in the dead of night in winter, doing complicated electrical checks. Way too hot for almost anything else tho.]

It's very hardwearing kit and is very effective when working outside, comes in a great range of sizes too. The only downside is the colour......

GC
 

jcr71

Tenderfoot
Aug 6, 2014
70
26
hampshire
Let us know what you think of it.
it turned up today. initial impressions- fairly thin, that is compared to my partners drizabone. the zip feels a bit stiff and cheap. hopefully time or lube will cure this. but it does have a handy ring pull on it.
the padding seems to be quite effective, almost as soon as i zipped the coat up i started to overheat.
the cut is quite generous, plenty of room for a thick jumper underneath.
and most impressively it has a made in Britain label on the inside.
seems to be quite the bargain.
will try it out in anger tomorrow hopefully.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,767
Berlin
Yes, one has to buy a military Goretex suit of course for working.

I recently got an unissued French one for 150 €. That's OK, isn't it?

But most of my Goretex suits have been bought used from the German army for round about 75 €.

We aren't rich though, that's why my brother has a Defender and no Mercedes G. And I have a good pair of hiking boots and a larger railway ticket.

:)
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,977
4,624
S. Lanarkshire
It's December, it's sodden wet, and windy here.
I went into the cupboard three weeks ago to dig out my heavier goretex jacket....and lo and behold the blasted thing has started to delaminate across the shoulders. Looks like a bad case of dandruff :sigh: and the seam sealant tape has started to lift at the neck and beside the zip too.

Beside it was my most ancient wax jacket (nearly thirty years old) the moleskin is looking a little shiny on the cuffs, but the jacket is fine. It's sound, it's wearable, it works. It stops the rain and the wind. Not a lot of fun to wear all closed up when working really, really hard for hours on end, because it runs hot, but it works. It's worked for nearly thirty years, and it's back on me again this Winter.

Can't say that about goretex.....which is regularly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of moisture around, ends up a sweaty mess inside, and doesn't do muddy at all.

The wax jacket just is 'the jacket'.
 
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