I've had the pleasure of sharing a campfire with Bilmo of this parish several times over the last few years. After seeing some of his handy work, I pushed the button and ordered a Ventile wind shirt from him last October.
From the initial conversation, it was obvious that Bilmo knew what he was talking about and he offered me lots of advice regarding colour choice, lining etc.
Once we had agreed a design, Bilmo made up a rough model of the wind shirt, in calico, and posted it to me, with a few samples of lining material to choose from in order to check fit and design. He told me to write on the model with any changes I wanted, but I was happy as it was, so posted it back to be made up properly.
The finished item arrived early December (this was agreed, as Bilmo explained from the outset that he was busy with previous orders to fill) and to say I was made up with the shirt is an understatement. The workmanship and attention to detail was superb.
I asked for the wind shirt to be green (of course) with a woollen lining. I also asked for the hand warmer pocket to lined with the same material.
Anyway, a picture says a thousand words...
You can see in the picture that the windshirt has two pockets, one a kangaroo style map pocket and the other a through style handwarmer pocket.
The map pocket has a flap over it, with concealed button holes to keep it in place and a zip to keep the pocket contents secure. The idea behind the concealed button holes was that it would make it less likely for the buttons to snag on a rucksac strap...attention to detail, suggested by Bilmo.
In order to ease putting on and taking off, the windshirt has a zip each side (think Buffalo or Snugpak style smock). Each of these zips is secured at the bottom with a flap of fabric and a button. You can see the quality of the lining in the picture below...
I've had the windshirt about a month now and can honestly say that I am still very happy with it. I wore it to the December Middlewood Meet, where temperatures hovered around 3C during the day and was warm enough with just a merino t-shirt underneath. As the temperatures fell at night, I did feel a bit chilly, so put a coat on over the top.
Since then, I have worn the windshirt for dog walking and general use outdoors. It has performed admirably every time, keeping me warm and dry in some pretty heavy rain. At this point I have to say that it is Ventile, so not waterproof as such, more water resistant. Suitable base layers need to be worn underneath as with all Ventile garments, otherwise you will soon start to feel damp and cold. Like all Ventile garments, it goes get a little stiffer when wet (!), but this isn't noticeable until you take it off.
How much did it cost you say? Well that is between Bilmo and myself, after-all SWMBO might be reading this
. If you are looking to have a bespoke item made, I can heartily recommend Bilmo to do a first rate job...you can contact him via PM should you wish!
From the initial conversation, it was obvious that Bilmo knew what he was talking about and he offered me lots of advice regarding colour choice, lining etc.
Once we had agreed a design, Bilmo made up a rough model of the wind shirt, in calico, and posted it to me, with a few samples of lining material to choose from in order to check fit and design. He told me to write on the model with any changes I wanted, but I was happy as it was, so posted it back to be made up properly.
The finished item arrived early December (this was agreed, as Bilmo explained from the outset that he was busy with previous orders to fill) and to say I was made up with the shirt is an understatement. The workmanship and attention to detail was superb.
I asked for the wind shirt to be green (of course) with a woollen lining. I also asked for the hand warmer pocket to lined with the same material.
Anyway, a picture says a thousand words...
You can see in the picture that the windshirt has two pockets, one a kangaroo style map pocket and the other a through style handwarmer pocket.
The map pocket has a flap over it, with concealed button holes to keep it in place and a zip to keep the pocket contents secure. The idea behind the concealed button holes was that it would make it less likely for the buttons to snag on a rucksac strap...attention to detail, suggested by Bilmo.
In order to ease putting on and taking off, the windshirt has a zip each side (think Buffalo or Snugpak style smock). Each of these zips is secured at the bottom with a flap of fabric and a button. You can see the quality of the lining in the picture below...
I've had the windshirt about a month now and can honestly say that I am still very happy with it. I wore it to the December Middlewood Meet, where temperatures hovered around 3C during the day and was warm enough with just a merino t-shirt underneath. As the temperatures fell at night, I did feel a bit chilly, so put a coat on over the top.
Since then, I have worn the windshirt for dog walking and general use outdoors. It has performed admirably every time, keeping me warm and dry in some pretty heavy rain. At this point I have to say that it is Ventile, so not waterproof as such, more water resistant. Suitable base layers need to be worn underneath as with all Ventile garments, otherwise you will soon start to feel damp and cold. Like all Ventile garments, it goes get a little stiffer when wet (!), but this isn't noticeable until you take it off.
How much did it cost you say? Well that is between Bilmo and myself, after-all SWMBO might be reading this
. If you are looking to have a bespoke item made, I can heartily recommend Bilmo to do a first rate job...you can contact him via PM should you wish!
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