|
Long-term Report:
"Found the flexibility of the combination of the
jacket and sweater a big plus"
My testing of the Big Sky Products Warm-n-Cozy
Better-than-Fleece Jacket and the Better-than-Fleece Convertible Sweater
has occurred on four bushwalks/camping trips, a week long
geocaching/car-camping trip out through the eastern wheatbelt and into the
goldfields of Western Australia and some local morning exercise walks (not
enough of those). During the Field Testing phase three walks where
undertaken. The first was a nine day
bushwalk (actual eight nights) in the Fitzgerald River National Park in
April 2006. The second bushwalk was a weekender in the Julimar Conservation
Reserve in May and finally I got one nights camping in at 37 Mile Break in
the Avon Valley National Park in June, 2006. A total of 10 nights testing of
the sweater and jacket. During the long-term testing phase I extended this
with another overnight walk into Shapcotts Campsite on the Coastal Plains
Walk Trail, a six day geocaching and car-camping road trip, I call by
Kalgoorlie Geocaching road trip, and numerous early morning walks around
Lake Herdsman. All up 18 + days of testing.
During the Shapcotts Campsite, Coastal Plains Walk Trail walk at the
end of June, I wore the sweater in vest mode on the 5 km walk out to the
campsite as we were walking in the dark and the temperature was mild. Found
it quite comfortable. Once I got to camp I added the sleeves and wore the
sweater for the remainder of the night until going to bed. I leant the
jacket to Karl (fellow gear tester) as he had forgotten his thermals. He
reported back in the morning that he was pleased to have worn the jacket!
On this walk, I found the sweater was ideal for me in the given conditions.
On the Kalgoorlie Geocaching road trip in July, we camped out at Jilakin
Rock and at the Breakaways spending the rest of the nights in cabins in
caravan parks at Norseman and Kalgoorlie. I used at least the
sweater every day on this trip as my warm gear resorting to both layers at
the Breakaways. It was cold enough overnight there to freeze the water left
out on the outside table. July in the goldfields is generally cold by
Western Australian standards, so I found myself wearing the sweater all day
every day. It worked well keeping me warm and it did not seem to pick up any
smells over the week.
Referring now to my test plan as published in my Initial Report and Field
Report, I will
comment on the various aspects that I planned to focus on; a summary if you
like of my findings to date.
My comments from the Field
Report, repeated here stand: "As my opening comment states, I
really like the flexibility of the combination of the jacket and sweater.
There have been times when I have worn both, times when I have just worn
the sweater, times when I have worn the sweater as a vest and times when I
have just taken the sweater. I think that says it all in terms of
flexibility!"
During our time in Kalgoorlie we
did experience some light rain. The sweater did start to wet out but it
did continue to work well keeping me warm. Really not enough rain to
comment in more depth.
I have used the sweater and
jacket around camp, as day wear and on at least one day's walking in the
Fitzgerald River National Park. Neither the sweater or jacket are showing
any signs of wear or tear.
This aspect was only really
tested during the Field testing stage, hence I repeat my comments from the
Field Report: "I put the effectiveness of the
wind resistance of the jacket and sweater to the test on the Fitzgerald
River National Park walk when we encountered winds off the Southern Ocean
most days. It got so cold on one day that I resorted to wearing the
sweater in vest mode, something I normally don't do. I found the sweater
was very effective in these conditions, i.e., was good at protecting me
from the cold winds."
During our time in Kalgoorlie we
did experience some light rain. The sweater did start to wet out but it
did continue to work well keeping me warm. Really not enough rain to
comment in more depth.
My experience as reported in the
Field Report has been my experience through out this test. That is I
have not experienced any issues with
the zippers or drawcords. I find the zippers do not tend to snag, have found it
easy to un-zip the sleeves on the sweater and general use of the zippers
and drawcords has been without issue.
So in summary:
Things I like:
- I like the way the jacket and sweater are reasonably compressible within
my pack - made fitting them in so much easier;
- I like the degree of warmth provided given my conditions;
- I love the versatility of the laying options including removing
the sleeves on the sweater.
Things I don't like:
- Nothing of note. I like this combination and will continue to keep
wearing both the jacket and the sweater.
My thanks to
BackpackGearTest.org and
Big Sky Products for being able to participate in this test.
[Click here to return to the top]
|
