patagonia?

what do you guys think of patagonia for outdoor wear or adventure gear. i know it certainly has its own look but what do you guys think of the quality, styling, etc. is it worth the price?

What are you going to use it for?

Patagonia does a wide variety of stuff from the simple fleece to professional mountaineering kit and the prices match. In general it is good kit with decent designs but the prices are sometimes steep.

If it is just for hiking about or normal outdoor activities I would not say you need to pay the prices they charge for their top of the range professional products.

Patagonia products are typically extremely well made and designed for outdoor pursuits - depending on your use of them, they are eminently worth the price.

They usually have a few things on sale; if you can find an outlet, the prices are even better - I get my stuff from the Santa Cruz outlet.

Other companies that I would consider equivalent would be Marmot and ArcTeryx.

Originally Posted by aarghh

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Patagonia products are typically extremely well made and designed for outdoor pursuits - depending on your use of them, they are eminently worth the price.

They usually have a few things on sale; if you can find an outlet, the prices are even better - I get my stuff from the Santa Cruz outlet.

Other companies that I would consider equivalent would be Marmot and ArcTeryx.

+1

Patagonia is also pretty good about paying a fair wage to the actual workers who make the stuff.

I love Patagonia.
They have a very strong "common good" approach. They integrate things. They care about the product, employees, environment, labor. Products are extremely functional, minimal in design, tested for incredible durability, and they are beautiful. They're respected as the main innovators in the field. Their stuff is absolutely legit for outdoor activities, and beautiful enough for streetwear--hence the terms "Pradagonia" and "Padagucci." (Although this also comments on their price!) Someone once captured the emotional response people have to Patagonia by saying that when his house caught on fire and he had a couple of minutes to think about what to save, he grabbed his Patagonia stuff bec. it spoke to him of survival.

My love of their stuff started in college. In my freshman year I rowed crew, and we would row out on the river until the river froze. For a short period the rush of the river would prevent it from freezing over, but the water was well below freezing and any splash that hit us would freeze on our bodies. I had grown up in Las Vegas so I was by no means used to this. I started out w/ what got me through LV winters: cotton, waffle thermals. They were worthless in the cold and wet, so I went to an Army surplus store and got 50 Cotton/50 wool thermals. Small improvement. Went to Helly Hanson Lifa polypropylene--warm but retained sweat. Moved on to LL Bean polyester. Good but not great. Got some Patagonia capilene and have never strayed. I've flirted a bit w/ other products, but nothing as as good as the capilene stuff. I still have the shirt I got then, 15 yrs ago. It's been all over the world w/ me.

When I travel I always pack 2 of their briefs, one pair of their boxers and one t-shirt. The briefs dry in an hour or two if you wring them in a towel after handwashing. The shirt (silkweight) is great as underwear in the cold, and the best thing for outerwear in the desert or the rain forest (Philippines). The boxers can be a bit stuffy.

I have jackets, pants, shorts, socks. Never tried their shoes. The socks I wear on 14 hr a day motorcycle trips are Patagonia. I once bit it on a bicycle wearing patagonia pants and an LL Bean Gore-tex shell and the shell was ripped up, as were my legs, but the patagonia pants didn't have a scratch. My brother had a similar event. I've used their original, large messenger bag for 5 years on daily bicycle or motorcycle commutes and as my carry-on. Once I didn't secure it to the motorcycle and ended up dragging it 1.5 miles. It was scratched up a bit and blackened, but looked nearly new after a wash. Laptop was inside and undamaged.

Their pants and shorts fit me perfectly. Their hemp shorts are my favorites.

OK, I'm gushing, but I do love them, and I think it's a love w/ good grounds.

Most of their things I've gotten during their semi-annual sales (Around Feb and August) or the factory outlets. Sometimes their website has sales. STP carries things. But ebay is the best.

I have a friend who's pretty into outdoor stuff (hunting and mountain biking particularly) and he swears by it. At this point I think almost all of his (outdoor) gear is Patagonia. It is expensive though.

Nice stuff, a little collegey (but not as bad as North Face). Look at Marmot or Arcteryx as more grown up stigma-free alternatives.

Rather expensive. Seems like something a 30 something woman would wear. Their underwear wasn't good with odors when I wore them. I've been wearing Marmot, Mountain Hardwear, and REI brand for outdoor clothing. REI seems like a good value.

I love Patagonia. However, I've now had 2 long-sleeve shirts unravel at the seams after just a year or two of ordinary wear. I'll still buy their slacks, jackets, etc., but I'll not be spending the $80 for their shirts any more.

I've also associated Patagonia with tree-huggers. They make perfectly tree hugging gears.

I would put Arc-Teryx a notch above the other retailers. I own two of their jackets and one pair of overalls and those things are incredible. I've owned them for nine years and they have little signs of wear despite lots of abuse (including using one jacket as a makeshift sled to slide down a steep, rocky bluff)

Patagonia rocks, great product and an environment friendly company!!!
Check them out, Arc'teryx is great too, but I prefer Patagonia.

I like their clothing, especially fleece jackets, vests, mess hats and rain gear. Anything I bought from them I've had to loose, it never wears out. Now my college age son steals them from me. I think it is wonderful stuff for casual vacation clothing and not just camping. I like that it is a bit more fitted than many others. But, I would stick with the usual colors. Every now and then they come up with some odd colored items that you might end up owning for a very long time.....................

Ah, the Pata-gucci. I have more than a few of their short sleeve button downs in a breathable synthetic fabric, which are great if you spend a great deal of time outdoors in the summer. I've been to multiple outdoor music festivals and concerts over the past few summers as part of work (tough deal, I know), and they are an indispensable part of the wardrobe. You manage to stay cool and dry without looking like a total douche.

I'm also a fan of the jackets and fleeces for winter outerwear. I have not been overly impressed with their long sleeve cotton button downs. Otherwise, their merchandise is top notch and at least done with a social conscience.

As someone else mentioned, there is also Arcteryx and Marmot, both of which I have had good experiences with.

I'd go with something more like woolrich or mountain hardwear for outdoor gear. Patagonias not bad but it has become sort of a trendy thing. My fleece jacket is very comfortable and I love the bone (?) color (albeit the same as probably all other polartec fleeces).