Who would pay $1,000 for a Tactical Jacket

[PPGMD]

Right. And people also pay entirely too much for LOTS of things in life which have no mechanical or intrinsic value beyond what is printed on the label/side/bumper. I would wager that there are more products in the world that cost what they do due to the marketing costs and hype than the actual cost to produce, and even if it *does* cost that much to produce, it doesn't mean it actually does anything better relative to that cost. A jar of Egyptian desert sand would cost me thousand of dollars to go and collect, but that doesn't mean I can sell it here for twice that.

Unless, of course, I pay some Tier 1 guy to proclaim it the best desert sand ever and paint a bird skeleton on the side or coat it in multicam.

I look at most of these jackets and such (especially as a Floridian, where they are not as uncommon as they should be) the same as a guy buying a lifted jeep and then never leaving the pavement. None of my business, he's free to spend his money how he wants, but *I* think he wasted it on showing off, so *I* think it's stupid as hell.

And before anyone pipes in with "what do you care what he does" I'd offer "what does he care what I think?" (the obvious answer being that he wouldn't have bought the showy jacket or jeep and then spent all this time on the internet defending himself if he truly didn't care what other people think)

There are differences in jackets.

For example take something that should be near and dear to the heart of a Floridian. Rain jackets. Most cheap rain jackets are a waterproof plastic, you get clammy pretty quick. Mid-level jackets start to get into low end wickable fabrics, but they get soaked through easily. The upper end jackets include high quality wickable, and thicker better applied DWR coatings.

And that is not even talking about features, low end jackets sometimes don't have a flap to cover the zipper. Mid-level jackets may or may not have pit zips. And even among the higher end jackets there are feature differences.

I use a REI brand eVent jacket, I consider it among the lowest end of the upper end jackets. It is missing a number of features seen on the better jackets like the Dead Bird. But I decided the $200-300 savings was worth giving up those features.

If I purposely went out in the rain, I would probably get a set of Dead Bird rain jacket and pants. But since I don't I just use the REI brand rain jacket.

[JodyH]

Two posts from the same (bi-polar?) dude...

Out of curiosity, what counts s a non-internet opinion for you? one that matches your own?

Most of the benefits of the Surefire come down to personal preference for most of the personally-purchased lights. If you prefer those features over those of the Streamlight, and you have the funds available, then you decide if they are worth the added cost, and purchase accordingly. For me (all internet-y and all) I prefer the mount and the switch of the Surefire, and they are therefore worth the extra paper route I might have to take on to pay for them.

Strangely, I rarely hear the "benefits" of the Streamlight separated from the lower price, which to me is generally a clue.

Right. And people also pay entirely too much for LOTS of things in life which have no mechanical or intrinsic value beyond what is printed on the label/side/bumper. I would wager that there are more products in the world that cost what they do due to the marketing costs and hype than the actual cost to produce, and even if it *does* cost that much to produce, it doesn't mean it actually does anything better relative to that cost. A jar of Egyptian desert sand would cost me thousand of dollars to go and collect, but that doesn't mean I can sell it here for twice that.

Unless, of course, I pay some Tier 1 guy to proclaim it the best desert sand ever and paint a bird skeleton on the side or coat it in multicam.

I look at most of these jackets and such (especially as a Floridian, where they are not as uncommon as they should be) the same as a guy buying a lifted jeep and then never leaving the pavement. None of my business, he's free to spend his money how he wants, but *I* think he wasted it on showing off, so *I* think it's stupid as hell.

And before anyone pipes in with "what do you care what he does" I'd offer "what does he care what I think?" (the obvious answer being that he wouldn't have bought the showy jacket or jeep and then spent all this time on the internet defending himself if he truly didn't care what other people think)

[MGW]

I would pay a hundred bucks for that jacket in a heart beat. To bad it doesn't come in grey though.

Wait a minute, I read that wrong. $1k for a jacket? Somebody be smokin the crack.

[orionz06]

For what it's worth...

Burton Snowboards sells a snowboarding jacket for $650.
Dianese sells a motorcycle jacket for $800.
Various jackets on REI for $600+. They are all shells, part of a system, with the intent of another couple hundred dollars worth of layers worn underneath.

Those are all purpose built and worth the money. Men's fashion jackets jump over $3000.

Not that I am saying everyone needs a $1000 multicam jacket designed for soldiers but getting a solid frame of reference it seems about average.


One thing to note... Weight. A $50 Dunham's clearance coat may be fine but it will add piles of weight, restrict movement, get heavier when wet, and not breath. The modern fabrics are pretty damned awesome.

[jc000]

And a grand still wouldn't get you up to SouthNarc level dapper.

No doubt. I have a cashmere Brioni jacket which laughs at a $1000 price tag (of course I paid a fraction of the retail price). Even though I am willing to pay a premium, the trick is to always buy discounted.

In my experience there is no value in skimping on clothes. Though I think $600 Made-in-China Arcteryx is silly, back in the day if you wanted very well constructed, very well tailored, and very functional outdoor shells, they were really the cream of the crop. Good clothes last. I have a Made-in-the-USA Patagonia Fleece, approaching 20 years old, that still keeps me warm and cozy.

"Buy once, cry once" has become cliché, but I will spend good money on outerwear and shoes. It's worth it to me. That being said I won't even bother buying anything without MINIMALLY a 20% discount.

[HopetonBrown]

My $500 Arcteryx is made in Canada. Bought it after standing in the rain getting wet in a class for 2 days while the super cool Alias instructor was wearing one.

From my Motorola StarTAC.

[DocGKR]

Have you guys tried the Vertyx one: http://wearvertx.com/Vertx-MultiCam-...al-Jacket.aspx?

[LittleLebowski]

Have you guys tried the Vertyx one: http://wearvertx.com/Vertx-MultiCam-...al-Jacket.aspx?

That looks much more reasonably priced and Vertx makes quality stuff in my experience.

[rob_s]

Two posts from the same (bi-polar?) dude...

Maybe.

I, of course, see it perfectly dovetailed into one another.

Nobody in this thread has discussed anything relative to what gives this jacket a value of $1,000. Mostly what they've done is reacted to the discussion of a $1k jacket because they have a $500 jacket in the closet.

Tom's example of motorcycle and other purpose-built jackets vs. "fashion" jackets is spot on. however, if you're not participating in the activity that the jacket is designed for, you look like a choad. AND, what the ninja community hasn't yet caught on to is the fact that there are brands within this market that are nothing but fashion, they just happen to be wrapped in multicam or tagged "TAD".

[PPGMD]

My $500 Arcteryx is made in Canada. Bought it after standing in the rain getting wet in a class for 2 days while the super cool Alias instructor was wearing one.

High end Arcteryx really technical stuff is made in Canada, but the more mundane stuff is made in China.

I think they actually wrote about that somewhere, though it might have been someone else. They said something to the effect that it takes years of experience to develop into a fabric cutter and various other positions nessarry to make these types of clothing. And with the death of the textile industry in the United State and Canada finding experienced people to replace people that left or retired, let alone to expand operations to keep up with demand was like pulling teeth.

Have you guys tried the Vertyx one: http://wearvertx.com/Vertx-MultiCam-...al-Jacket.aspx?

I was actually looking for that as a reference, because I knew someone else made an updated version of the British Smock.