Metro to Mountain Journal

Many years ago, my first pile jacket was a Patagonia jacket. It was the only jacket Patagonia made. It was ugly. I mean really ugly. You could leave the jacket anywhere and no one would ever steal it. If it came up missing, the first place I would look was in the trash can.

The jacket was a beige color. It was originally stiff and smooth on the outside with the fluffy pile on the inside. The outside "piled" with each use. (Piling was when the fabric formed little knotted balls on the exterior.) The jacket was warm, heavy, and compressed to the size of an inflated beach ball. The jacket was made for use in cold, wet conditions - it was made for ice climbing. Patagonia was soon to improve on the original design with better material and vastly improved looks. These later generations of the original jacket were the beginnings of the Classic Fleece jacket.

The styling on the jacket has improved. It is now suitable to wear in public. If anything, it is stylish. In fact it might be too stylish for me to wear!

So for a few Patagonia Retro Fleece Jacket notes...

• The jacket is warm.
• The fleece is on the outside, instead of the inside. The jacket really warms up with an outer shell.
• The "x" factor is the windproof fabric. The "x" is warmer, but it does not breath as well as a jacket without the "x".
• It retains warmth even when wet.
• It still does not compress.
• The new jacket is lighter than the original one, but it is still does not have the best weight to warmth ratio.
• The jacket is made from about 75% recycled fleece.
• The jacket is a great round the town jacket or insulation layer when weight and compression are non-factors.
• If you lose this jacket, there would be no need to look in the trash, probably one of your friends just wanted to borrow it so they could look as cool as you!

Happy Retro Fleece trails.