8th October 2019 The new, winter jacket!

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Tuesday 8th 48-57F, heavy overcast and raining.

My first, newly purchased jacket in 35 years is about to be tested on a 40 minute walk to the lanes. All my previous jackets have been bought from charity shops and all failed miserably in rain. There are waterproofing treatments but I have never tried any of them.

A can of proofing was often twice the price I had paid for the jacket. I nearly bought a can at an army surplus store, once, but decided against it. It proved to be a good decision at the time. The PU coating inside the secondhand jacket was totally absent over a large area of the back and shoulders. What could cause such delamination I am not sure. Perhaps it was washed at too high a temperature? Nonetheless, the jacket was always too sweaty in all conditions despite having no insulation. In other words it was a tailored bin bag but without the waterproofing qualities. A shame because it looked smart in a country jacket sort of way. 

The new jacket only had to cope with light drizzle and a light headwind at worst. It felt snug. Without any extra and undesirable warmth. The warmth should always be controllable by what is worn underneath. Otherwise it becomes strictly a cold weather jacket. A perfect fit but a little stiff as new.

The snorkel shaped, detachable hood is obviously intended for truly foul weather but was still comfortable. A hat worn inside ensured the hood turned reliably with the head. Important for sideways observation and vital for safety in traffic. Without a hat it did not turn with my head without tightening the drawstring. The hood lay nicely flat behind me. So it would not fill with rain if deliberately worn that way with a separate hat.

Not keen on the breast level, hand warmer pockets without a soft lining. My binoculars might have  been a nuisance but I had deliberately left them at home. The lower pockets, behind the large bellows pockets, felt too low and too horizontally inclined, despite being fleece lined and zipped.

When wearing my Helly Hansen I usually stuck my hands down into the main, bellows pockets. For windproof extra warmth with inadequate gloves or bare hands. Though this risked rain running down my arms and into the pockets.

I miss not having a small, secure pocket for my phone and ID. So I just shared my camera and other items between the big bellows pockets. Not ideal because they were much lower than the HH jacket and the camera was bordering on being bounced by my legs as I walked.

The surface of the cloth was damp but not soaked by the drizzle. It would have taken larger droplets to bead off. The jacket soon dried again when left outside in the sunshine on a hanger. Despite the modest temperatures and gentle breeze. Dry weight with detachable hood fitted was 3.3lbs or 1.5kg. Which feels unusually heavy in the hands but is unnoticeable when worn.

Two minor stories on road transport and drivers ignoring the law: Denmark's police caught 10,000 speeding motorists in only one week at the beginning of October.

German police caught large numbers of people on electric scooters over the drink driving limit. An electric scooter is considered a motor vehicle according to the law. The police warned the public ahead of the October Beer Fest not to use the scooters for the duration. Their advice was ignored and 414 drivers lost their licenses for drink driving. [While riding electric scooters.]

 

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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