Go on Dave you know it makes sense :)

Donty fight the urge ...lol

Ive got a Blue Viento Jacket for sale in medium if anyone fancies parting with some cash for it - nearly new worn twice

A Bit later on esp. if I end up doing mamal surveys etc, after all an aspira smock would be a useful addition to my aspira jacket ;)

Got one from CCC in February £199.00 Bargain!!

Hi -- Didn't get involved here because I was on my way to the Outdoor Retailer show at Salt Lake City, UTAH

I'll just post one response to some of the themes mentioned here.

Firstly: Supply. Yes, there has been aproblem with supply, and that has been because deamnd in the 2004-2005 season far outstripped our most optimistic predictions. We have supplied 20 per cent more than what we planned for as a top limit, which isn't bad ...So Paramo is at a premium right now and some items are difficult to get hold of. What we are sticking too with retailers is not to promise what we are not sure of supplying, and I believe that they are respecting that. But they do need to get THEIR forward orders in.

Secondly: Style and Colours
To say that this would be an old chestnut is an understatement. However, we will not sacrifice function for style, in part because these garments last a life-time. If you want a fashion garment that you throw away after a couple of years because it is out of fashion, don't buy Paramo, you would be wasting your money. Better to buy something cheap and throw away, and replace it every 2 years. It won't work as well as a Paramo, though ... and in the long term that practice will waste resources, cost you more money, and you will be less comfortable.

Having said that, I do believe that we are addressing the younger consumers better with the new styles -- take a look at them, if they haven't sold out yet, that is!

Thanks to all those Paramo enthusiasts, and to all contributors to this thread...

Well i'm 20 No beard and have very bad memories of when i was a wee young cub and using an outsideframed sack.

I prefere the darker colours stops me standing out like a sore thumb whilst on the hill.
I went to Paramo after years of doing walks in all weathers and in those occasions of needing waterproofs i got sauned to the point that i was wet wearing waterproofs or not! So after a long time and hearing what Paramo was like (most from this site) i decided to get myself sorted out.
And Ok Ok i can regale you all with the technical features of the range (no i jest).
But i am really pleased with it and my bases of getting it is

"if various branches of the MRC can use Paramo and it performs in the conditions in which can be considerd the most severe where most of us would not even consider stepping outside the front door let alone go out to the hills. It must be good enough for me!"

When someone GIVES me outdoor gear, I try and accept as graciously as I can, then I give it away surreptitiously.

When I want outdoor gear for myself, I go out and BUY Paramo!

I waited 4 months for my Fuera trou to arrive, and i'm here to tell you they were well worth the wait.

To be honest i'd have waited 6 months for them there that good..

> Didn't get involved here because [...]

This is a bit of a zombie thread, Nick, brought back from the dead. You made some excellent contributions to it last year, and it remains the definitive thread on how Paramo works.

I don't want a fashion item, but I do want something that doesn't look like a sack on me, for both aesthetic AND functional reasons. And all the Paramo things I've tried on look and feel like sacks on me. Which I feel is a shame.

Maybe my body shape simply doesn't match your patterns; you're aiming for a different target market. Patagonia and Montane stuff fits me like a glove.

From the pie-in-the-sky dreamworld of the "Paranoia Products Philosophy Document":

"Paranoia Products are designed to fulfil the needs of climbers. As such, emphasis is placed on freedom of movement, light weight, versatility and comfort. We are not concerned with the vagaries of fashion; to us, function is everything. Oh, go on then, we also try to make them look good too, but hey, 'form follows function'."

I'm afraid it works the other way round for me,i've tried the Rab thingy then there's the Mountain equipment watsit and oh yes the Sprayway gismo gtx, but they all felt like they were riding up at the hem, or i was forever adjusting my shoulders while walking, most anoying. but Paramo always seems the perfect fit every time...

As for fashion who cares..? the more unasuming a the garment,the better i like it...

I love my ultra boring dark blue Paramo Cascada. It's as versatile as tweed! On one hand, it fits nicely over a suit and can be worn to serious meetings. On the other hand, it's been a lifesaver in full on Scottish winter conditions.

Paramo have done some funny colours. I was unable to buy a new dark blue Cascada when I was in the market for one so I ended up buying a second hand one.

Anyway, it's all academic to me. I've got enough Paramo now!

I'm the proud owner of an aspira jacket, in a nice subtle blue/black mix, I chose function but to be honest the Jacket looks fine when not being worn on the hill as well as on the hills.

Keep up the nice work Guys

Captain Paranoia - zombie thread? So who is the voodoo expert that revived it then --- not me. Anyhow you can't please all of the people all of the time, but a Paramo gets bigger there will be more diversity and we are listening. We are not going to stop making Cascadas though - for all the reasons expressed above, and they were assessed as best mountain jacket in a consumers association test last year, 8 years after we first made them .... now, I really must get on with some work ...

Paramo gear performs as it says on the lable, is durable, and the aftersales service is exemplary. Do you buy gear to perform on the hills, or make you look like a high street poser? I am now going to stop the link to this discussion as I have better things to do, and you lot should get a life.

Big Thread!

Haven't read all of this but after many years of hiking and scrambling a few of brands stand out as producers of durable kit that works well year in year out.

I'm sure there are others but my top 3 are: Mountain Equipment, Macpac and surprise, surprise Paramo.

Personally I couldn't give a rats bum as to how my kit looks either from a fashion perspective or whether it looks just plain daft.

I wear ME Ultrafleece Sallys most of the year round and I confess to looking a complete Burke in them - however they do the job.

Sorry to resurrect this bit but I notice that no one in London had heard of Paramo.
Londoners (I was born there but have now defected to the far far better Lake District) only register a brand once it has a bit of urban street cred: witness outbreak of Berghaus high altitude all singing all dancing GTX jackets on the streets paved with gold after a certain rock-idol wore one.

Makes me laugh when I see the tourists come up to the Lakes each year clad in pristine Nike/Reebok/Adidas gear that is as much use as the proverbial choccy teapot esp' when they give me an odd look cos I'm clad in my battered 'low cred' hill gear.

I realise I am now going on a bit so I'll go now before I outstay my welcome.

I'm only on here this morning cos it is bucketing down and the Fells look miserable.

Cheers

Nick

A quick correction of empasis: If you read my post (previous page) carefully you'd realise that I was NOT talking about transient *fashion*, I was talking about style.

(Think: A Rolls Royce, a Bentley - even perhaps a Ferrari...- they do not need to follow highstreet fashion, but they do need a strong visual sense of "good design" & timeless quality in their styling)

For Paramo, and their Mountain-Rescue-Boys-Wear-Them niche, then function should be very much the first consideration. HOWEVER issues like colour (and arguably to some degree the fine-tuning of cut) do NOT affect function.
Thus to say function is God therefore we shall ignore style is, IMHO a total cop-out.

One of my main complaints was the lack of colours that blend in with the hill (particularly in trouses & base-layers).

Regarding cut, (& "fashion" too, if you must) it's the cut of the T-shirts more than the jackets that I found most disappointing - especially the cut round the neck for some reason... Yuk.

However Paramo are broadly still excellent products, and I'm glad to hear that sales are doing well, Nick - and thanks for participating in this thread. I await expansions & enhancements to the range with interest!

(More subtle greens & greys please, for those of us who in any way shape or form want to blend into the hill and/or watch wild-life)

With thanks


Ship
Shiperton Henethe

Hi shiperton Henethe 2

Too many Nicks on the thread!!!

I was just reading your last post and was puzzling over how it related to my post.

I have now just twigged - you were posting re nick brown 5.

Duh!

Gin & Tonic + advancing years + addled brain!

However, a thought occurs to me. For the MRT types (and the rest of us for that matter) perhaps colour does affect function eg red jacket = higher visibility, therefore the colour of a jacket performs a safety function.

Depends how you define function maybe?

Back to the G&T.

Cheers

Nick

Surprised to see a comment about Londoners not having heard of Paramo and seeking only "urban street cred" (Nick Laurie). It is unfair of anyone to laugh at those who wish to walk in the outdoors and can't buy anything but adidas or reebok in their local sports shops (or don't know any better). Remember there are plenty of people wearing all the "right gear" that just walk round the shops in Keswick with no intention of setting foot on a mountain.

I may live in London, but grew up in Glasgow and you should have seen what I wore in the hills in the 70s and 80s!!!! It was what you could get (and afford) that you wore. And if it wasn't the very superest thing, well you just got on with it and laughed at the mummies' boys in matching goretex.

My point was simply that it is crazy that such a well known brand is unavailable in Central London - astonished really. I have never bought a single Paramo item - not available to choose in my town. Now lots of other good brands are readily available, so I buy them.

I remember buying paramo in the early 90's from YHA shop in covent garden so it was there once. I liked the soft feel of the jacket as compared to its early goretex competitiors. My only gripe was that the wind seemed to cut through it making rest stops uncomfortable. It eventually got stolen and I switched to goretex which serves my 3 season perfectly. However, if ever I get back into winter walking, I'll certainly be looking at P again.

Praps not being availible in some places, gives paramo some exclusivity? after all who would like to see it go the same way of attracting the same Chav/Ned audience as the Berghaus mera peak! :-o


right i'll put my stirring spoon away!