Men's Winter Coats/Jackets - The Parka | Men's Fall Winter Essentials Series - Down

(upbeat music) - Hey, welcome back to my Men's Fall and Winter Essential series.

So when I first released my peacoat and overcoat video and article, a lot of New Englanders,Canadians, and Northern Europeans complained that they couldn'twear any of my favorite pieces because they just weren't warm enough.

Now, I'll admit it, livingin Southern California, excuse me, has actually skewed myperspective in this regard.

So, let's rectify this.

To me, there's reallyonly one winter jacket that I like and thatlooks great on everyone, and keeps you nice and warm, and that is the parka.

But not all parkas are created equally.

I'm over this hood.

So, first and foremost,I'm constantly asked for stylish winter jackets.

When it comes to crazy cold weather, I think that utilityshould supersede style.

And that's not to say that, my hair has gone crazy, that's not to say yourparka isn't stylish, but no one's going tolook at you in your parka, and think, "Wow, youroutfit looks so amazing.

" Parkas are designed to go over your outfit and be taken off thesecond you step indoors.

So, if you really want tolook stylish in cold weather, then wear one of my fall jackets, or an overcoat or peacoat, and layer like your life depends on it.

So, let's quickly go over what to look for in a good parka.

First, depending on yourclimate, and how cold it gets will determine how longyour parka should be.

So, the colder your climate,the longer your parka.

So, you'll want a hip-length parka if you live in a climatethat's cold but not crazy cold.

If you live in the tundra,then you'll want a parka that goes down to yourknees or even past that.

If you live somewhere whereit's kind of in the middle, then you want to go with a parka that hits about mid-thigh.

So, just don't be that guy in San Diego wearing a knee-length parka.

It's just too much, and looks weird.

As for colors, I lovenavy, black, and olive.

Just make sure thematerial isn't too shiny.

If I had to choose a color, I prefer navy becauseit's still really dark, but it's easily wearable.

Olive is also a really great color, too.

Black can sometimes look a bitjarring in such a big jacket, but all of those colors willlook perfectly acceptable.

Next, make sure your parkafits relatively well.

So, what I mean by that is you want the shouldersand body of your parka to lightly hug everywhere.

You don't want it to betoo loose or too tight.

So, when you are trying ona parka for the first time, it's really important thatyou're wearing at least a sweater and shirt.

Make sure to zip up that bad boy, because you want to ensure that it doesn't fit too tightly in the body.

As far as lining goes, I prefer down, but synthetic is perfectly acceptable.

But I just think that downkeeps you a little bit warmer, but as always, your mileage may vary.

So, the last feature youwant to look for in a parka is a detachable fur trim on the hood.

This is not a deal breaker, but is more of a convenience thing.

I just think it's nicewhen you have the option of removing that fur trim.

That way you just get twodifferent looks out of one jacket.

Even though they're mostly a utility item, and style takes a backseat,I couldn't help but style a parka outfit for you.

So, one of my favorites is by Parajumpers.

I really like the fitof all of their jackets.

So, I style this navy parka, with a crewneck sweater,wool trousers, and wingtips.

And, of course, I threw on a scarf and some gloves to finish it all off.

Check out my website formy other favorite parkas that'll fit any budget.

And I'm really curious, definitelyleave me a comment below and let me know who makesyour favorite parkas.

Alright, so subscribe to my channel for more videos like this, and if you liked thisvideo, give it a thumbs up.

Thanks so much for watching,I'll see you in the next one.

(upbeat music).

Source: Youtube

Men's Lightweight Down Jacket - Classic Wardrobe Piece? - Light Weight Feather Jackets Coats

Men's Lightweight Down Jacket - Classic WardrobePiece - Light Weight Feather Jackets Coats Hi! I'm Antonio Centeno, the founder of RealMen Real Style.

Today, I'm going to be talking about the lightweight down jacket.

If you haven't already, please subscribe tomy YouTube channel.

By doing that, these videos come right to you, and in addition, if youlike this or if you find it useful, I would appreciate it if you would click on the "like"button.

If you want to learn more about men's style, I've got a free 47-page e-book foryou.

You can get that by just clicking on the link right below this video Let's go ahead and dive into it, the lightweightdown jacket.

As you can see, I have one on.

I don't know if it exactly matches the cardiganand tie and white dress shirt that I have on underneath, but it is something that isvery functional, a very useful piece in a man's wardrobe especially if you like to layerand if you're going to be in areas where it is cold and you value really the strengthsthat this piece of clothing brings to the table.

Let me go ahead and lay out the strengths.

By the way, fashion and style is not one of these.

It used to be probably back in the'70s, but since I would say '90s, this look has really been overplayed in cities, butlet me go ahead and talk about the strengths.

The strengths are it is warm.

This does agreat job.

Down is an excellent insulator and how it does that is actually with thesepockets right here.

These has a number of pockets and these pockets, they suck in airand they use down, which is if you're not familiar, you feathers and then right belowthe feather are down.

I'm not an ornithologist here, but I do understandI think the basics of it, and my understanding is they're not true feathers, but they arevery feather-like, much smaller, and they put them in here.

What this does, they createspace and the air comes in, the air is trapped, and air is an excellent insulator.

Air is an excellent insulator because it doesn’tallow heat to transfer very easily.

So in the same way that your cooler does a goodjob of keeping things cold or keeping things hot like a thermos, this does the same foryou.

It keeps in your body heat and it prevents the cold from going in and affecting yourcore.

So down, really hard to beat when it comes to insulation.

There are a few thingsthat can do it, but really for the cost, this is excellent.

Now let's talk about another thing that'sreally nice, lightweight.

So this jacket, I can tell you, is incredibly light.

It'sa bit loud, so if you're kind of a high-speed, low drag military guy or you're a Force Recon,Navy Seal, Delta Force, you probably don't want to be using this because it gives offa lot of sound.

You can probably hear that in the video, but it is incredibly lightweight.

So if you are going hiking, this could bean option assuming that you're going hiking in a dry area, and I'll talk about why, butif you're going to be hiking and there is going to be no rain for the foreseeable future,great piece of gear, incredibly light.

It will keep you warm.

Let's say you're out in Arizona.

You're hikingthrough the Grand Canyon at night in the winter.

This is a great piece of gear to take withyou also because it can be compressed down.

So during the day, it may be pretty warm andat night, you can pull this out because it sucks in the air and it forms those pockets.

In a sense, air is all over us, all around us.

So again, you can compress this very small.

Now, the containers that a lot of these arein, and in this one in particular, you can see this one actually is water-resistant.

I'm not sure if it's fully waterproof, but I know it's water-resistant.

So another thingabout these jackets, they usually use a lot of synthetic material on the outside, so prettygood at water just rolling off.

The other thing is you're going to see theseare usually made in bright colors.

Of course, there are parkas and other things that usedown and they use more drab colors, but a lot of the garments in this area, you're goingto see maybe with very bright colors.

This is good for safety reasons.

So you'reout hiking and you get lost, all of a sudden, you're a lot easier to spot from an airplane,or if you're out walking on a trail and it's hunting season -- I would advice just notgoing out into the woods during hunting season especially here in Wisconsin -- but a brightcolor like this is going to separate you from the animals.

We've talked about compressible.

We've talkedabout basically warm.

Now, let's talk about the negative things.

The first thing, andI alluded to this, if you get down wet, it loses its insulating properties and it takesa long time to dry out, so down is not a good thing even if it's water-resistant.

If youfall into a lake or you fall into a river or you get drenched on, you could end up witha jacket that's very heavy and is not insulating at all, so that is a negative aspect.

Another one, and I touched this at the beginning,these have been overplayed since the '90s.

And what you've seen, it used to be that ifyou're wearing something like this, you are actually going outdoors.

You are maybe fromthe Seattle area.

You are from Colorado.

Now, you see them all over.

It means that you canwalk through any of the major cities and instead of men wearing stylish gears, most guys looklike they're basically packed to go climb Mount Everest or Mount McKinley or something.

And bright colors, they are not stylish.

It'sjust a bit too much screamy.

Also with the down -- let me put my arms up here -- it reallydoes not flatter the figure, so even if you've got a pretty good size chest, you exercise,your waist, you've got the six packs, no one's going to see it.

I mean, you might as wellhave a keg underneath this jacket because you basically look like a marshmallow.

Another thing, it's hard to adjust.

A lotof other pieces of men's wear you can adjust.

This one is a bit harder even for a seamstressor tailor to bring in, so if it doesn’t fit properly, it's going to be hard to adjustthat, and even on the sleeves simply because they use a lot of -- right here on these sleeves,they've got an elastic around the wrist, which is supposed to help keep in heat, but it'sgoing to be hard for a seamstress to shorten or lengthen.

In fact, she can't even lengthenthese sleeves.

So no shape to the body, if they get wet,it loses insulation, so those are the negatives, but you saw there are a lot of positives.

For the right man, this could be an essential wardrobe piece, but for some of you, there'sreally no room for this.

I like to keep something like this tight, wrapped up inside my truckfor an emergency jacket to be able to pull out, but that's probably about it for my use.

Okay guys, this is the lightweight down jacket.

Let me know what you think down on the comments below and I will see you in the next video.

Bye-bye.

Source: Youtube

Men's Winter Coats/Jackets - The Parka | Men's Fall Winter Essentials Series - Down

(upbeat music) - Hey, welcome back to my Men's Fall and Winter Essential series.

So when I first released my peacoat and overcoat video and article, a lot of New Englanders,Canadians, and Northern Europeans complained that they couldn'twear any of my favorite pieces because they just weren't warm enough.

Now, I'll admit it, livingin Southern California, excuse me, has actually skewed myperspective in this regard.

So, let's rectify this.

To me, there's reallyonly one winter jacket that I like and thatlooks great on everyone, and keeps you nice and warm, and that is the parka.

But not all parkas are created equally.

I'm over this hood.

So, first and foremost,I'm constantly asked for stylish winter jackets.

When it comes to crazy cold weather, I think that utilityshould supersede style.

And that's not to say that, my hair has gone crazy, that's not to say yourparka isn't stylish, but no one's going tolook at you in your parka, and think, "Wow, youroutfit looks so amazing.

" Parkas are designed to go over your outfit and be taken off thesecond you step indoors.

So, if you really want tolook stylish in cold weather, then wear one of my fall jackets, or an overcoat or peacoat, and layer like your life depends on it.

So, let's quickly go over what to look for in a good parka.

First, depending on yourclimate, and how cold it gets will determine how longyour parka should be.

So, the colder your climate,the longer your parka.

So, you'll want a hip-length parka if you live in a climatethat's cold but not crazy cold.

If you live in the tundra,then you'll want a parka that goes down to yourknees or even past that.

If you live somewhere whereit's kind of in the middle, then you want to go with a parka that hits about mid-thigh.

So, just don't be that guy in San Diego wearing a knee-length parka.

It's just too much, and looks weird.

As for colors, I lovenavy, black, and olive.

Just make sure thematerial isn't too shiny.

If I had to choose a color, I prefer navy becauseit's still really dark, but it's easily wearable.

Olive is also a really great color, too.

Black can sometimes look a bitjarring in such a big jacket, but all of those colors willlook perfectly acceptable.

Next, make sure your parkafits relatively well.

So, what I mean by that is you want the shouldersand body of your parka to lightly hug everywhere.

You don't want it to betoo loose or too tight.

So, when you are trying ona parka for the first time, it's really important thatyou're wearing at least a sweater and shirt.

Make sure to zip up that bad boy, because you want to ensure that it doesn't fit too tightly in the body.

As far as lining goes, I prefer down, but synthetic is perfectly acceptable.

But I just think that downkeeps you a little bit warmer, but as always, your mileage may vary.

So, the last feature youwant to look for in a parka is a detachable fur trim on the hood.

This is not a deal breaker, but is more of a convenience thing.

I just think it's nicewhen you have the option of removing that fur trim.

That way you just get twodifferent looks out of one jacket.

Even though they're mostly a utility item, and style takes a backseat,I couldn't help but style a parka outfit for you.

So, one of my favorites is by Parajumpers.

I really like the fitof all of their jackets.

So, I style this navy parka, with a crewneck sweater,wool trousers, and wingtips.

And, of course, I threw on a scarf and some gloves to finish it all off.

Check out my website formy other favorite parkas that'll fit any budget.

And I'm really curious, definitelyleave me a comment below and let me know who makesyour favorite parkas.

Alright, so subscribe to my channel for more videos like this, and if you liked thisvideo, give it a thumbs up.

Thanks so much for watching,I'll see you in the next one.

(upbeat music).

Source: Youtube

How to wash your down jacket | e-outdoor.co.uk

Hello I'm Kathryn from e-outdoor.

Co.

Uk, todaywe're going to be taking a look at the best way to wash a down jacket When people do attempt to wash downthe most common mistakes are made in the drying of the jacket rather thanthe washing part.

When down gets wet it forms into clumps and if dried incorrectly willbe ruined, so it's vital that the correct care is given So for today's demonstrationI'm going to be be washing this Men's Nuptse Vestfrom The North Face.

which is, of course, available at e-outdoor.

This has never been washed before, so it's about time we gaveit a good cleaning.

So firstly it's important that the right soapis used, normal soaps and fabric softeners will damage the down's fibres and stop itfunctioning correctly There are specialist washing powdersavailable for down We always recommend this, this is Granny'soriginal Pure Gentle Soap Flakes.

which can be brought at most supermarketsI picked this one from Tesco.

This is a fragrance free soap that doesn't contain anyharsh chemicals.

It is pure soap it wont take take away the feathers natural oilsso it will give it a nice gentle wash.

So I've prep'ed our washing machine by doing a small rinse cycle with nothing in thereand I've also washed out the soap tray, just to make sure that there is no residue from otherlaundry liquids that have been used in the machine before.

And before we put the vestthrough the main wash I'm just going to rinse it in the sink.

This isn't an essential step, butI just want to make sure that any nasty bits of dirt on the outside are washed offbefore we put it in the machine.

The amount of soap flakes you need will varydepending on the size of the jacket you're washing as I'm washing a vest I wont needtoo much so I will put a little less than a hand full straight in the tray.

So now the vest and soap is in the machine we need to make sure we select the right settings.

We don't want to be too rough with the down so we need to select a delicate cycle andreduce the spin to 600 rpm.

A good temperature to go for is around 30 and 40 degrees.

I'm goingto go for 30, good for the environment and we don't want to put the down in too muchheat.

So now that's set up lets start it going and put the kettle on So that's the easy bit done, as I said earlier,drying down is when most people make mistakes.

To maintain the jackets warmth it's vitalto ensure the down dries thoroughly and correctly.

The down has now have formed those clumpswe talked about earlier and unless we fluff these clumps upwhile drying the down will not recover it's loft and insulation properties.

It is possible to dry down without a tumble drier, this is done more easily in the summerwhen you can air it outside.

If you are air-drying your jacket, be prepared fora very long process.

To break up the down clumps you will need to shake itout by hand every five to ten minutes for a good few hours.

I'm going to dry the nuptse vest in the tumbledrier, a much simpler method as it will do the shaking for you.

So now it's in the drierI'm going to add two clean tennis balls.

These are a great aid as they bounce all aroundthe drum and beat the clumps in the down, helping break them up and aid the drying.

But of course if you have drier balls then you can use them, tennis balls are simplya cheaper alternative.

So once the vest and tennis balls are in the machine,select a low heat setting and set it for about 20 minutes.

You don't want to leave it intoo long at one consistent heat, so we're going to keep coming back to the vest to checkon it and repeat this process until it's dry.

So now the 20 minutes is upI'm going to take it out and just give it go over by hand.

It helps to lay it flat,and just feel for any clumps that are still in the down when you find them just fluff them out byhand as we did before Once you have done that to the wholeof the jacket shake and put it back in the dryer with the tennis ballsand repeat the 20 minute low heat cycle So as you can see the Nuptse vest is now completelydry and has recovered its loft really well It took a total of 4 runs through the tumble drier andthe washing and drying took about 3 and a half hours.

So it is a very lengthy process but definitely worthit to have a nice clean jacket or vest by the end of it.

If you don't feel confident enough todo this yourself by all means take your jacket toget professionally cleaned.

Source: Youtube