Winter Is Coming! How to Choose a Perfect Winter Jacket

When choosing a winter jacket, it’s easy to feel lost in the wilderness with new fabric materials, designs, and technologies emerging every year. Boathouse Sports has your guide to choosing a warm winter jacket that will have you looking and feeling your best this winter, no matter what Mother Nature throws at you.

Gore-Tex Waterproof Rain Jacket

Water Resistant.

In most parts of the country, winter means PRECIPITATION. The first quality you want in a winter jacket is waterproofing. Gore-Tex is our favorite water barrier, as it’s lightweight and waterproof. Other effective barriers to sleet and snow include Weatherblock-lined tech fabric, event, H2NO, DWR coating, or laminate. You can use a rain shell as a winter jacket with effective underlayering like fleece.

Breathable.

You can’t stay dry if you’re sweating profusely in your winter jacket. The beauty of Gore-Tex rain jackets is that it not only very effectively keeps wet out, but allows the escape of water vapor from within, so you don’t overheat. The late 1990s saw the proliferation of softshell – a lighter, more breathable alternative to traditional nylon hardshell jackets. This new knit polyester was sometimes combined with nylon and spandex for extra stretch, but was widely viewed as a revolution in the winter jacket. Softshell jackets are comfortable, breathable, and weather-resistant: the best of all worlds.

Softshell jacket for winter

Warmth.

Next to the outershell, you’ll need to look at what sort of insulation layer a jacket offers. Options include non-down quilting, high-pile fleece (also known as Sherpa), shearling, feather down, synthetic loft, and hybrid down. The aforementioned Softshell has its own layer of built-in insulation, too. All of these fills will keep you plenty warm. It usually boils down to a matter of comfort – which stuffing you feel keeps you cozy and allows sufficient freedom of movement.

 

Stretchy.

No one wants to feel like the Michelin Man in a winter coat. Polyester, nylon, spandex – these old vanguards are still some of the stretchiest materials for winter coats today. You’ll want to avoid fabrics like cotton or wool, which become less stretchy when treated with waterproofing.

 

Fashionable.

The best outerwear should make you look good, whether you’re taking a winter run through the park, skiing the slopes, or running errands in the city. Removable hoods offer a great customizable look, especially as you layer up with hats and scarves. Our Design-Your-Own outerwear gives you the greatest choice of individualized style with your choice of color combination, logo, names, numbers, piping, lining, collar, and hood.

 

Made in the USA winter Jackets and Outerwear

Made In USA.

It’s extremely important to us that our winter coats be made not in a sweatshop, but here in America, by American hands. Buying American supports U.S. workers and the U.S. economy, promotes American independence, uses technologies that are better for the environment, and adheres to the highest labor safety standards. Workers are paid fair wages and produce higher quality goods. All Boathouse Sports jackets are made in Philadelphia since 1976!

 

Contact Boathouse Sports to get more tips for choosing winter jacket fabrics and to learn more about the different winter coats and elite performance outerwear we offer.

For further reading on the benefits and features of Boathouse Gore-Tex Waterproof jackets, check out these articles:

    1. HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR GORE-TEX WATERPROOF JACKET SO IT LASTS A LIFETIME.
      Breathe new life into your Gore-Tex Waterproof Jacket in just a few simple steps. When done correctly, it will extend the life of your jacket and increase its overall performance.  Before we begin, it's important to understand the science behind what makes a good waterproof jacket.

      1. 4 HOURS IN THE RAIN AND STILL BONE DRY WITH GORE-TEX.
        I first learned of GORE-TEX in 1988 during the Seoul Olympics. I sat outside the Athlete’s center for 4 hours, in the pouring rain with a teammate drinking beer in a GORE-TEX suit that we were given as part of the 1988 Olympic kit. Our races were done so we had all the time in the world to talk about our plans for the future now that we agreed our athletic careers were over. After 4 hours and a 12-pack we returned to the Athletic Center in search of food. When we got inside we noticed we were bone dry! That 1988 Olympic jacket and pant still hang in my office…though the fit is bit more snug.

      2. FALL FOOTBALL AND GORE-TEX ELITE PERFORMANCE OUTERWEAR
        It’s the last week of August and few things are more obvious than the start of the Football season. Football is as American as apple pie, the Corvette, and Boathouse. In fact, Boathouse has been partnering with Football teams of all levels for more than 25 years!