Shooting / walking jacket
Posted by: Mick P on 28 December 2005
Chaps
My Barbour wax cotton jacket of 20 years seems to have shrunk a few inches around the waist, so I will be passing it on to one of my sons.
I propose to buy one over the next few days and would like to pick your brains.
Is the wax cotton still the best best or are the new machine washable ones as good. Are there any pros and cons.
If anyone has any knowledge or experience of either, I would be grateful to hear from you.
The main use will be for the occassional shoot and more for taking the dog for a walk.
Regards
Mick
My Barbour wax cotton jacket of 20 years seems to have shrunk a few inches around the waist, so I will be passing it on to one of my sons.
I propose to buy one over the next few days and would like to pick your brains.
Is the wax cotton still the best best or are the new machine washable ones as good. Are there any pros and cons.
If anyone has any knowledge or experience of either, I would be grateful to hear from you.
The main use will be for the occassional shoot and more for taking the dog for a walk.
Regards
Mick
Just drag it through some bushes & some mud, hose it down, use a piece of very fine sandpaper and do a bit of dodgy reproofing and it'll look 10 years old in no time at all 
Steve.
Steve.
quote:
If I turned up at my shooting club wearing that, they would take the pee so much I would never be able to live it down. Was bad enough being the only auto shooter though it did give me the fun of bouncing shells off the person next to me.
Steve.
Mick
Since the wax jacket has become such a universal symbol of the British rural lifestyle perhaps you ought simply to take more notice of what your companions are actually wearing? Then discuss their choice with those who are not wearing a quality wax jacket.
Winter hunting conditions are colder over here and the enormous numbers of hunters (with guns and of all social classes) are rarely seen in waxed cotton (in my limited experience) despite the universal wearing of green clothing.
Since their activities are repellant to me I take little interest in what they actually wear for their butchery.
May I suggest that, should you decide to follow the herd (and your hard-won instincts) that you purchase two quality wax jackets? Thus allowing a modicum of rotation between the two to ensure they dry and air properly between outings. The better to survive your walks with the dog.
Perhaps one Bellstaff and one from a competing quality maker? Perhaps a Barbour? The comparison between the two might even prove enlightening and worthy of polite conversation in the quieter moments on a shoot.
Since the wax jacket has become such a universal symbol of the British rural lifestyle perhaps you ought simply to take more notice of what your companions are actually wearing? Then discuss their choice with those who are not wearing a quality wax jacket.
Winter hunting conditions are colder over here and the enormous numbers of hunters (with guns and of all social classes) are rarely seen in waxed cotton (in my limited experience) despite the universal wearing of green clothing.
Since their activities are repellant to me I take little interest in what they actually wear for their butchery.
May I suggest that, should you decide to follow the herd (and your hard-won instincts) that you purchase two quality wax jackets? Thus allowing a modicum of rotation between the two to ensure they dry and air properly between outings. The better to survive your walks with the dog.
Perhaps one Bellstaff and one from a competing quality maker? Perhaps a Barbour? The comparison between the two might even prove enlightening and worthy of polite conversation in the quieter moments on a shoot.
Wasn't tweed always intended to be waterproof to some degree? Worn by farmers and country folk of all classes. Probably year round. Perhaps it used to be left with the sheep's natural waterproofing more intact than today? Or it built up from repeated close contact with animals?
Working country people certainly had no use for umbrellas or macs and never knew if they'd be caught in a shower or a storm. It was not expected that they would shelter "while it went off". Life and work went on regardless of the elements.
There are an enormous range of weights of tweed cloth even today. My "The Crofters" jacket is wonderfully warm but probably twice the weight of my other Harris Tweed jackets. But I digress...
Working country people certainly had no use for umbrellas or macs and never knew if they'd be caught in a shower or a storm. It was not expected that they would shelter "while it went off". Life and work went on regardless of the elements.
There are an enormous range of weights of tweed cloth even today. My "The Crofters" jacket is wonderfully warm but probably twice the weight of my other Harris Tweed jackets. But I digress...