Waxproof jackets - Alternatives to Barbour?

Tartan_Terrier

Well-Known Member
What are the current options in the way of waxproof jackets? Barbour seems overpriced to me, and the £20-40 ones I see on Ebay and at markets are probably not of the best quality.

Is there a mid-priced option that can be recommended?

Cheers
T_T
 
I've tired them all - the cheap market ones, the £40-60 Hoggs, Dickies etc and Barbour wins hands down. My wife ripped her pocket and Barbour repaired it and re-waxed it good as new. I've had my current one ~6 years and it is going strong. I used to get through a cheap one every year.

My advice would be to bite the bullet and get a Barbour. Everything else (I have tried) is a poor imitation.
 
I had to check the date on this post as waxed jackets went out of use in the '80's. Stiff in the cold, melt in the heat and the corduroy collar holds water for hours after the rain is off.
PS i have a Barbour waxed retro waist length jacet in light blue. £65 posted. (unworn).
 
Tartan,

Mid priced wax jacket is a Barbour second from their factory shop. It's in South Shields and comes up if you google it.

Try one on at your local shop to get the style and size you want, then give the factory shop a ring. They'll post one to you. I've had a few this way. The "faults" on the seconds jackets are barely noticeable. Cost is usually between half and two thirds of the full price.

Partridge ( from Staffordshire) used to be a rival to Barbour, but they're pretty much fashion items now and are expensive.

Cheers,

Bob
 
I think that you can get some decent Barbours on eBay at a reasonable price. It is also worth checking the Oxfam website. My wife directed me to this and there were some cracking looking harbours at a good price. In particular I noted a couple of Northumbrias and a Border, which looked pretty much as new. Might be worth a look. I have a longshoreman smock, which although is a bit smelly now, serves me really well. Best wishes.
 
I bought mine form a Barbour stocking in the Lake district around 3 years ago not when they had a summer sale on, got it nearly half price, still £100 but goes to work, Shooting/Beating and walking and still going strong just needs waxing every year or so when the pheasant season kicks off and good as new. Shop around and you can find good deals if your not in a rush to buy one.
 
I have had a Boyt Harness hunting coat in microfiber with Scotchguard treatment and a wool liner for years. It is very waterproof, breathable, relatively lightweight, great pockets, including lined ones to warm your hands, seude leather collar and cuff edges, zip out game bag, and looks good enough to wear out shopping. It is olive green. Upland Jacket.

View attachment 45003
I recently bought a Beretta waxless cotton hunting coat, for much colder weather. It is nice, too. The Field Coat. Much less expensive than the Gamekeeper ($680 US).
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Waxed is a little dated but I have a Barbour longshoreman smock that I bought in the 90's. If the weather is truly terrible I wear it instead of any modern breathable jacket I have. Last winter I wore it in a howling gale on the slobs after duck, driving icy rain and I was very cosy! A second hand Northumbria with the original wool lining would be a great buy. Charity shops or ebay. I had Barbour totally rebuild a Northumbria for me a few years ago. 30 year old jacket that was my dad's came back good for another 30!
 
Wax jackets may be out of date, but still work as well as ever they did.
Same goes for Ventile, it just plain works, outperforming and outlasting any modern breathable liner coat.

Neil. :)
 
Wax jackets may be out of date, but still work as well as ever they did.
Same goes for Ventile, it just plain works, outperforming and outlasting any modern breathable liner coat.

Neil. :)

You beat me to it Neil, What is or has 'out of date' (whatever that means) got to do with it ? If it works it works..! If you want to keep dry then good quality wax jackets do the job - end of..! Bit like Wool really, Not fashionable but sheep have done quite well on it over the years and if you want to keep warm (and dry come to that) you wont go far wrong.
 
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I don't know if you can get Filson in the UK, but there is a really tough line, for loggers, their original customers, and a lighter weight line of clothing for hunters and fishermen, which are still more sturdy than Barbour, but a lot like it. A good waterfowl shooting coat runs about $250 USD. Sturdy USA made brass zippers, wool liners, etc

American Brand: Quality Outerwear, Outdoor Clothing, and Bags | Filson
View attachment 45023

I have some filson stuff from a cousin and its fantastic but I've found trying to buy new from filson in the UK is a nightmare. They don't send stuff to the UK and you need to go through their UK "distributor" which is a fashion shop in Soho London stocking b* handbags for men. My name is with them so they can notify me when their new stock comes in and that was three months ago.
 
I have some filson stuff from a cousin and its fantastic but I've found trying to buy new from filson in the UK is a nightmare. They don't send stuff to the UK and you need to go through their UK "distributor" which is a fashion shop in Soho London stocking b* handbags for men. My name is with them so they can notify me when their new stock comes in and that was three months ago.

I have two Filson's in XXL - one is a tincloth jacket with the wool liner and the other is a Mackinaw cruiser (the traditional black/red check). The Mackinaw is probably the best jacket I have for sitting out in the snow, super warm and comfy. The tincloth, however, I've hardly worn and will probably offload as soon as my Nomad arrives.

Tartan, I have a Border and a Solway Zipper stuck away in the garage if you're interested - both are XL's (or 52 chest) I think?

In case you hadn't noticed I have the jacket "thing". If I counted them all I'd need a whole separate thread - Swazi, Sportchief, Harkila, Ridgeline, Kammo......
 
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Until recently I owned a lovely old Barbour Northumbria jacket (very apt ;) ) which was about as tough as a tough thing, until a friend's Labrador pup ate it. We thought she was sleeping on my jacket on the drive back home...

All I would say is that the new stuff isn't a patch on the old stuff - the cloth and stitching is a lot thinner than it used to be.

I had an old Belstaff as well, but that went up in a workshop fire :(

The vintage stuff turns up now and then on eBay but I've often found some excellent examples in rural Oxfan stores for not much money.

I'll be in the market myself now that I find myself without one - Barbour's seconds are usually good value but I always have to have mine altered being 6' 4". I found out a long time ago that extra large or XXL usually means *ahem* a lot wider and no taller :rolleyes:

For a nominal sum Barbour stitch extended cuff sections on for me, sufficiently lengthening them to fit my long arms :british:

Filsons are great but hard to get - I'm pretty sure I saw some in stock at a tailors shop in Edinburgh recently ?
 
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Tartan, I have a Border and a Solway Zipper stuck away in the garage if you're interested - both are XL's (or 52 chest) I think?

In case you hadn't noticed I have the jacket "thing". If I counted them all I'd need a whole separate thread - Swazi, Sportchief, Harkila, Ridgeline, Kammo......

Thanks Willie, they'd be a bit on the big side for me though, as I usually take about a 42".
 
I have some filson stuff from a cousin and its fantastic but I've found trying to buy new from filson in the UK is a nightmare. They don't send stuff to the UK and you need to go through their UK "distributor" which is a fashion shop in Soho London stocking b* handbags for men. My name is with them so they can notify me when their new stock comes in and that was three months ago.

Filson is from Washington State, but they used to have a contract sewing plant near my brother's home which actually made a lot of their coats and pants, and he would go to the outlet store and get an over run, as they always make a few extra in case of spoilage or quality sorting. I will ask if they are still there... prices were about 75% of US MSRP.

That Mackinaw is made for hunting in the Cascades.. like the similar coat from LL Bean in Maine, or the heavy green wool one from Hudson Bay.

No, there is very little still made like the old ones. I still wear a 10X canvas upland coat I bought in 1971. The one I had as a boy was worn by my son and my nephew, and is still good.
 
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