can anyone tell me why a soft shell made by any of the 'big' manafacturers costing over £100 performs better than my regatta one bought for £35 quid in keswick which im very happy with ?
It's all personal I suppose, some people want a slightly better cut jacket, different fabrics, a hood etc. some people just want to be covered in labels aswell and some companies cough(the north face)cough, tend to cater for this market quite well.But if your'e happy with your jacket then thats all that matters i guess,more power to you for getting a bargain.
I bought the £12.99 soft shell from Aldi last year and have to say that it is my favourite! I have a Montane one but would definately say that the cut and fit is better on the Aldi one.
I regularly treat it with Nikwax products, which if anything has enhanced it's performance since I bought it.
Yeah, I always find it funny how people can sometimes be reluctant to buy gear without big labels from big manufacturers-even though thers plenty of quality bargains aboot, caveat emptor and whatnot i suppose.
can anyone tell me why a soft shell made by any of the 'big' manafacturers costing over £100 performs better than my regatta one bought for £35 quid in keswick which im very happy with ?
A possible reason is a higher performance fabric. As an example, when Op Pad (a Dutch outdoor mag) reviewed a lot of soft shell jackets a couple of years ago the measurements they took showed breathability varied enormously between the different fabrics used, with the winner (an expensive Patagonia model) being an order of magnitude better than the bottom scoring (cheaper, heavier) jackets.
That's not to say there's anything wrong with your Regatta, and if you're happy with it then it was excellent value, but you can get more by paying more. How much that's value for money is a different question, but there will probably be more to a "big name" jacket than just it's big name, usually by way of a higher performance fabric (lighter and/or more breathable and/or faster drying and/or better drape etc.). The higher performabce fabrics themselves are subject to "big name inflation", so there will be a premium to pay for e.g. Powershield for a brand to use it, so that will go on top of the other "big name inflation" and add yet more to the price. But you generally do get more for your money, usually most significantly in terms of breathability.
I've been monitoring Regatta's soft shells in TK Maxx over the last few years, and they've been improving in quality and basic concept; their first offerings were membraned, with fairly thick fleece inner. I've seen some of their non-membraned offerings recently, and they looked okay.
But they're still not cut for activities like climbing; poor arm raise, and not cut to fit me.
But I'm quite happy to wear 'non-label' stuff; my £10 Aldi winter cycling jacket (almost a soft shell) is now in its third year of use, and going strong.
