Design Features For A Better Garment?

[Monk]

What design features would folks like to see in a garment that would make the garment wear better and LAST longer?
I'm looking at several things..
First, I would swipe the reinforcement patches..the shoulder and elbow reinforcements from the SAS smock. Second, The cuff edges and the hem of the garment need to be edged/hemmed in some taslan/nylon to stop that annoying stringing/ragged threads effect you get from cotton based garments. Third, an attached hood obviously. Fourth, the length...idea from a US fishtail parka...snaps on the inside of the garment so you can snap up the length of the garment on the inside on the garment. Fifth, the bottom has to be a wider cut than the top..you can tie off the ends around each leg to cut chilly drafts. Material...a poly cotton mix like the Lundhags anorak.
Garments on the market have different similar features but no garment has all these features. Any design ideas? Comments from gear makers?

 

[tenbears10]

Third, an attached hood obviously.

Good post Monk but point 3 is not obvious to me. I would much rather have a good hat and a decent neck on a jacket. I hate the way even expensive so called dynamic hoods end up with you looking at the inside of them when you look left or right. A fixed hood is prone to flap when you are not wearing it unless it has a roll down feature which is often difficult to stow when you have the jacket on.

This is why we dont all wear the same gear I suppose.

If i get a jacket with a detachable hood I more often than not find the hood at the bottom of a cupboard unused long after the jacket has worn out.

I'll be interested to see what everyone else says. You can please some of the people all of the time I think it is.

Bill

 

[jakunen]

One thing with cuffs/collars, you need to make sure its a material that will be comfortable. I've got a Norwegian camo fleece that has wool collar and cuffs that itch like buggery...

 

[RovingArcher]

Great post. I agree with not having a hood and instead, having a good collar and a hat. I dislike having to turn my entire body to see something that isn't right in front of me.

This isn't a popular material anymore with all of the man made waterproofed materials available, but I prefer wool. It is tough, quiet, warm and keeps me dry. Plus, when trying to get close to a fire, it won't melt down around me.

 

[Neil1]

Everyone has their own preferences, what suit you may not suit me and vice versa.
When designing my own gear I start with a basic idea of what I want to achieve, consider the application it will finally be used for, draw many diagrams in detail, then rethink the lot to simplify my original idea, this helps with the final manufacture of the item.
Particular garments have features that have been developed for the envisaged end user, reinforced elbows on a SAS smock - the end user will spend a fair amount of time crawling or prone holding a rifle or binoculars, double thickness shoulders - the end user will spend a lot of time carrying a very heavy bergen. A longer smock would be difficult to run in.
You obviously have very definate idea about what gear you want and what features it should have, the features you have mentioned seem fairly simple, so bite the bullet, buy some fabric and do something usefull on these dark winter nights, in the spring you will emerge wearing a wonderous new garment :biggthump Send us the pictures when you do ):

 

[Gary]

Monk is this something you hope to make or just an exercise in theory?

Reason I ask if we will all have lots of ideas but if you plan to produce these you will quickly find you need to trail all the different ideas as many simply wont work or will be too fussy or will bump up the price too much.

If its an exercise in theory bend your ears back and I will tell you all about the design I sent to Barbour jackets a while back ......... :shock:

 

[Neil1]

Monk is this something you hope to make or just an exercise in theory?

Reason I ask if we will all have lots of ideas but if you plan to produce these you will quickly find you need to trail all the different ideas as many simply wont work or will be too fussy or will bump up the price too much.

If its an exercise in theory bend your ears back and I will tell you all about the design I sent to Barbour jackets a while back ......... :shock:

Well said Gary,
Thats why I rethink the whole idea, its very easy to get carried away, the KISS rule is particularly appropriate when designing kit.
Neil

 

[Tantalus]

nice idea Monk

all too often the market is driven by what producers want to produce

and being afraid of losing too much investment on a radical design they tend to go along the lines of what sold well last year..........

i agree there are some great new materials out there, and some tried and tested old ones too

we should be able to come up with something that would please most people if we put our heads together

my biggest gripe is the bit between the bottom of a coat andthe top of my wellies or walking spats

about hoods, personally i am not a fan of them either, but....... nothing keeps gale driven sleet out quite as well as a built in hood

nice idea to cover the edges too, gotta be something fairly soft though to avoid it "sawing" when wet

keep the suggestions coming :super:

Tant

 

[tenbears10]

If its an exercise in theory bend your ears back and I will tell you all about the design I sent to Barbour jackets a while back ......... :shock:

Got to be better than their new Northumberland range Gary. Nice jackets but £300 the're having a laugh aren't they. Lord Percy (the designer) may be able to afford that but ...... :shock:

Bill

 

[Monk]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! About the hood, I'd have to roll it up and have a snap to keep it in place. Gary, I've already done this with a ventile jacket that I got ..the elbow patches and the reinforced shoulders add to the durability while the non-reinforced areas are wearing out. I've worn it pretty hard the past 3 years and now that I see where the wear is I'm able to come up with these areas for suggested improvement. Neil1, I'm all thums with a needle but I'll give it a go..unless I can get a seamstress to help me out! The hood I agree with folks..people either love or hate a hood..for me I'm thinking of making the hood more user friendly like another drawcord arrangement to control shape/volume of the hood.
Length...mid-thigh with the option to make it shorter by snaps.
Monk

 

[Neil1]

Monk,
The hood on my ventile has such an arrangement (tenbears has the early evolution of this), it is relatively simple and works well, the hood moves where my head moves, all the cords are captured (no cords hitting you in the face in strong winds). Most the features of my kit have been developed as a result of my own experience, whether its button sizes, design of pockets, where padding is placed on rucksacks or a sleeve for a kip mat on my hammock. I sometimes wonder how much experience "pro-designers" actually have.
Neil

 

[Justin Time]

I've got a Keela Falkland Ventile coat which is mostly great.. not mad on the removable hood, the main problem I have with it is the light coloured lining which stands out a mile and is probably not as robust as it could be. Waterproof poacher's pocket is handy though.....