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@jemoka / Jemoka Knowledge Base / wiki/concepts/shoes_and_jackets.md
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--- title: "shoes and jackets" type: concept related: [Gear] source: https://www.jemoka.com/posts/kbhshoes_and_jackets/ confidence: high status: active --- A friend recently asked for recommendations for shoes and jackets, and I realized that the links on my gear page has slowly died (very sad). So I figured I should update it with more information and alternatives. What I (normatively) do I’ll give specific recommendations shortly, but before I do that I feel like it’d be helpful to give some normative statements about what “good” gear to me feels like. light, and waterproof, in that order I try to get things that are both waterproof and light, and if both doesn’t exist (in particular for shoes), I prioritize being light. This can be justified somewhat as a high measure (https://web.archive.org/web/20230207121856/https://taimur.me/posts/measure-a-mental-model-for-decision-making/) decision, in the sense of: I have to carry around the gear a lot (i.e., they have to be high availability) I can’t afford (temporally, financially, mentally) multiple copies for different scenarios Back pain so I try to spend a semi-stupid amount on gear that fits the exact load-bearing requirements to make my life easier. minimized style/logos I think icons/branding is bad and makes me feel like a walking advertisement. In particular this is why I refuse categorically to wear Adidas clothing because of the stupid stripes. I try to buy cloths that minimal in style (i.e., MUJI). get it (in spirit) from REI Like for carabiners, so with cloths. If it works to save hikers’ life, it surely works for some urban scrambling. Try to get things that are battle-tested or at least variants of them. This, of course, assumes that you do what I do which is buy this once and use it for as long as you don’t loose it, up to replacing and resurfacing. Fashion and/or daily travel doesn’t work this way. Often you will realize that performance requirements change dramatically if you are actually using them to do things. A pair of normal khakis are $50ish, the same technical pants for EMS are upwards of $80. Not a huge difference, but it does make one. a note about cost gear I end up choosing are largely super duper expensive (your tax dollars at work!); I buy very little other things, so it mostly works out, but it doesn’t mean your actual cost is actually this high. For instance, for jackets (in particular not! shoes; break in shoes by yourself), second hand + retreating the Gore-Tex fabric often does wonders. What I do Let’s begin with what I actually wear; mostly these are no longer on sale except for the second-hard market. Jacket In terms of rain jackets you can’t really get better than the ultralight jackets from Arcteryx. I loved the Norvan SL, but at the time it was more out of range: https://www.rei.com/product/117215/arcteryx-norvan-sl-hoodie-mens or, its sibling, Norvan LT, which was more in range: https://geartrade.com/products/arcteryx-norvan-lt-hoody-mens-1067816 (used link for $200!) Arcteryx apparently still sells this line of Jackets, just at a stupid high price of $450: https://arcteryx.com/us/en/shop/mens/norvan-jacket-9571. I can’t vouch for how good they are physically, but from product photos they look much stupider than the original versions if nothing else but the enormous logo. Shoes I wear three types of shoes, two for daily carry, both from Merrill, and one for support, being Asics. summer: for non-rainy-seasons, and in terms of general carry, there’s nothing in my opinion that beats the Embark Lace sneaker: https://www.merrell.com/US/en/embark-lace-sneaker/52565M.html?dwvar_52565M_color=J067217 (for some reason, only this hilarious aqua colour is available, but for $50 bucks!) winter: sadly you can only buy these used, but for trail hiking/weather withstanding, the Gore-Tex MQM-3 from Merrill is light and unbeatable: https://www.ebay.com/itm/126614314821 (they don’t see it anymore :/) running*/*tennis: asics Gel-Kayano: https://www.asics.com/us/en-us/gel-kayano/c/aa50101000/ (much like wands, everybody and they running shoes is a 1 to 1 match, I wouldn’t overindex on this) What I recommend I have no clue why I’m qualified to give product recommendation, but here goes. Also here’s a fun ultralight packing list which is cool. Jacket $300-400 range: M10 from Patagonia (10 oz), or Arc’teryx’s stupid looking new Norvans (7.6 oz) sub-$200 range: Montbell Versalite Jacket (6.4 oz!, this is on sale somewhere, but for some reason you can’t buy it in the US?) sub-$100 range: REI Rainier Rain Jacket (11.3 oz) sub-$30, a garbage bag to put over you: Frog Toggs Ultra-Lite2 Shoes I feel unqualified as to give shoe opinions because they can’t be measured as easily. Also I find that decent shoes are always in the $50 - $150 price range, unless something is up or you run marathons. Summer Other than the admittedly garish colour, I think one can’t beat the Embark Lace. Its slip on, breathable, very light (7.19 oz) non-water-proof. Overall pretty happy. Winter I still wear my MQM-3 (11.63 oz) daily, and if you can find it, you shod too; I heard Agility Peak Gore Tex running shoes are pretty good, but it really isn’t a shoe for more technical scrambling, etc. Running You can still buy a Gel-Kayano. But your mileage may vary and you should visit a Footlocker.