Patagucci as technical wear?

Is it technically tactical or tactically technical???

Also, I enjoy wearing my (less expensive) technical clothing as everyday wear. I just bought a Rab Sawtooth jacket to replace the North Face jacket seen in my avatar after the Napoleon pocket completely fell off after a year of light city use. I think the right pieces look sharp and are just as functional in the urban jungle as in the woods. I've got plenty of normal, nice clothes from when I worked retail at Banana Republic, so the majority of my clothing purchase are of the technical variety, many serving double duty on the trails and on the streets.

I'm usually rocking the thrift store outfit, cheap button ups cotton, polycotton, gym shorts, old nylon windshirts, anything I don't mind getting dirty, sooty, torn, or burned. For scrub its usually some old pair of jeans (if it's dry weather)… yes jeans… deal with it.
Usually get out the nicer all synthetic stuff when it starts raining and getting cold.
Cheap no name or brand name fleeces, fluffy wool sweaters, saved a bunch of money.

I'm wearing thrift store head to toe 99.99999% of the time and if not thrift store, it's outlet, eBay or web specials somewhere. Just because it's thrift store doesn't mean it's ratty junk. Paying retail is agin my religion!

But I'm in Seattle. The people on the bus are wearing Patagonia, Arcteryx, TNF, REI, etc, and they are headed downtown. Formal wear here means it doesn't have holes or pizza sauce stains :)

Jeans? In town sure, but wet jeans suck big time, so not on the trail. I can wear soft shells 9/12 months.

"Jeans?"

In Silicon Valley, everyday clothing is jeans. Formal clothing is clean jeans.

–B.G.–

Most "outdoor" clothing is used for walks in the city park with the dog or other such activities

Now if one uses their outdoor for social situations as well as the occasional foray outside … Then buying $$$$ "technical" clothing does make sense somewhat as its multi-use … Especially if you are taking the bus or riding a bike in PNW weather

It also makes sense if you use it where youll die if you dont have the latest and best …

But i suspect for most of use its more of a want than a "need" … Now does it realisticallt make most of us any better or do things any harder than what people did years ago

I generally use my cheap puffies, fleeces, shells for much of the stuff i do that involves rock … Saving the good stuff for winter, or where weight or having a somewhat fresh DWR matters … Or social situations, i wore my dead bird to a friends wedding this year and all my fellow azns said "Ahhh-teh-licks numbah won!!!"

Most of these outdoor brands are 80% marketing IMO … They want you to believe their stuff is the best and since some crazy climber wears it, youll somehow capture is mojo or be better because you are using th "best" gear

And the snake oil works like a charm

Heres the line up for the arcteryx factory sale this past friday at 11pm. … The line was several blocks long earlier in the day and even at 8pm there was a 5 hour wait just to get in

The sales were minimal … 50% off a very few select items … 20-30% off the rest … And anything bought there has NO warranty

Yet my fellow AZNs lined up for hours to buy the "best brand" on a mediocre sale

And around the block in freezing temps …

On a side note the westcomb sale has no line up, 50-75% off MADE IN CANADA fleeces, puffies and shells …

But i think my fellow city slicker AZNs are catching on as i saw tons of them walk out with armloads of chilko and kokanee sweaters saying "vely guuud deel" … Cant say im immune either as i bought a kokanee puffy as a gift for someone for 100$, a spectre for family for 150$, etc …. None of whom will wear it for anything more than walking outside

now bring on the sugoi factory sale with their insanely cheap merino sweaters

;)

We have reliably dry weather for 6 months of the year, Mediterranean climate. So regular cotton clothes work fine part of the year. Even in winter we get some long dry spells.

BPL does it again.

Just got the Patagonia Micro-D fleece in the mail. Large fits me like a glove.

No pockets, no hood, no drawstrings, no ribbing, no velcro, no liner, no huge logos and patterns, 1/2 zip.

<3 It's love at first sight… <3

It's definitely ultralight and definitely SIGNIFICANTLY warmer than my Arcteryx fleece, which weighs in at 13oz. Patagonia comes in at 8oz. It's wicked lofty and unbelievably soft to the touch. I'm wearing it over an Ibex baselayer right now, but it's loose enough that I could fit another fleece under it, yet it doesn't look baggy at all. It'll layer perfectly underneath my puffy.

Thanks for the suggestion, Stephen. I think this is perfect, exactly what I was looking for when I started the thread. I'm glad I asked!

And jeez, 60 bucks?! Booyah.

now whenever somebody puts "tactical" and "pack" into google they are gonna find their way here. not that i have anything against folks that dress head to toe in 5.11 and carry a murse from maxpedition, but i draw the line at those that spend most of their time re-reading the posts at shrineofthemallninja and comparing their gear to that of gecko45. and if you want tactical from patagonia instead of technical (the diffrence is in the color and it's made in the usa)just shop their mars line of products or from dead bird their leaf line or from wild things wt tactical. because it's not so much what you call it, but how you use it. if your an outdoor apperal manufacturer the holly grail is to be adopted as high-end urban streetwear and to have the boys and girls from natick working with your designers and getting a listing in the gsa catalog. i'd wager that no more than 5% of the dead bird or patagonia shells or fleeces sold ever see the side of a mountain. and i'm ok with that. as long as these companies keep making quality gear that works for me i don't care what else they make or who else buys it.

the Micro D has been my Go to Fleece for Daily wear (as needed)for 2 years now. Im tall and long armed, and it fits me great. Super comfortable, no frills, warm, and has held up great.

I wish the micro D hoody was the same shirt with a hood and not pocketed pullover.

One warning is the light fibers aren't nearly as resistant to embers as the denser "technical" (I had to) fleeces. So watch it around idgits with a tendency to over fuel fires.

"not that i have anything against folks that dress head to toe in 5.11 and carry a murse from maxpedition, but i draw the line at those that spend most of their time re-reading the posts at shrineofthemallninja and comparing their gear to that of gecko45. "

We call that "tacticool."