Beanies
Have you ever wondered why you sometimes get so cold out there, even if you’re wearing a really warm jacket? Well the problem might not be in your jacket, it could be in something that you don’t have. A lot of the body’s heat escapes from your head. So what do you do to solve this problem? Invest in a good beanie, skull cap, or some other form of hat.
I have a North Face beanie myself, and there is a pretty good story as to how I got it. When I was out trying to get my Condor Triclimate jacket a year or so ago, I was having a ton of difficulty finding one. I finally managed to find one at a North Face store in New York. They said that they would ship it to me in Massachusetts, so I was pretty pumped. However, the store was closing, so they said to call back in the morning and they would put my order through. It would be set aside for me though, so there would be no issue in getting it.
Great! So I called back in the morning to place my order. I actually spoke with the same guy… only this time there was no jacket. WHAT?? I was very angry. They had promised me the jacket just the evening before, and somehow between when I called and when the store closed the night before, they had managed to sell the jacket they promised to me. Great. Just great. So what does the store manager offer? He offers me a North Face Beanie. Of course, at the time, I was so angry that I didn’t want it. However, I was surfing the internet at the same time, and did manage to find it online and purchased it on the spot. Also, I took advantage of the free beanie, and two weeks later, one showed up in my mail, matching the jacket that I got.
I keep it in my car, and wear it whenever its cold outside, and I have to say that it does wonders. It’s great when you’re pumping gas at 2 in the morning. You end up nice and toasty if you have a nice jacket and a nice beanie on your head to keep in all that warmth that might have escaped. There are many types, and I’ll try to go over them. For now, here’s a beanie you can buy!
How Burton Snowboards are Made
I recently had a question from Cody on my post about Burton Snowboards. He asked several questions, which I will try to answer. Most of the information that I’m going to be using is straight from the Burton website, so if you don’t feel like reading it here (I hope you do though), you can go there to find out about them.
How Many factories make Burton Snowboards?
I can’t give an exact number on this, but from the company information sheet, it says that there are “Many”. With the popularity of Burton Snowboards, I suspect that they have several in major areas of snowboarding, such as the Rockies, California, the Northeast, and more.
Are any of the factories overseas?
There are several divisions of the Burton Company, with offices located in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Knowing this, there are more than likely several factories in Europe as well as Japan. So the quick answer to this question is yes!
How Can I contact these factories?
Well, if you live near one, you could contact one directly. However, if not, I suggest that you go to the Burton website and contact them in order to obtain information on how to contact their factories. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to set up a tour, if that’s what you’re interested in!
Cody, I hope that I answered your questions satisfactorily. Is that a word? Please let me know if you’re interested in anything else. For those who don’t know, Burton is famous for great graphics on their snowboards, as well as being innovators in the field. You can check out a Burton snowboard for purchase below!
Down Winter Jackets
Down jackets are some of the warmest jackets that you could ever get. For those who don’t know what down is, down is the layer of feathers found underneath the exterior layer of feathers on some birds. It is an excellent insulator and has good lofting capabilities, which means that it can trap small pockets of air very effectively. For these reasons, down is an excellent insulating material for jackets, sleeping bags, and other things that need to be warm!
So what should you be looking for when you pick a down jacket? Well there are several things that you should pay attention to:
- Fill Power - The fill power is the number of cubic inches displaced by a given ounce of down. The higher the fill power, the better insulation the down will provide, and thus keep you warmer!
- Layer of Insulation - This is a must have for people who are getting products that are filled with down. When wet, down loses many of the properties that make it such an excellent insulator, and it takes an extremely long time to dry to boot! This is definitely not good if you are trying to stay warm in the rain!
How warm is down? Well to quote the Down Buying Guide:
As nature’s most efficient insulator, down is warm, yet light and lofty. It takes 14 wool blankets to equal the temperature control of one down comforter.
I don’t know about you, but I think that is pretty warm. There are plenty of offerings for warm down jackets. I’ve provided a few below. You can also visit some of our sponsor sites to purchase these jackets.
To learn more about down, you can check out its’ wikipedia entry. Have you had good experiences with down jackets? We will explore other materials as well, feel free to share your opinion!
Hope You are all staying Warm
Apologies for the long hiatus here, I have been pretty busy, but I hope to ramp things up in the coming weeks, months, and so on. It’s the holiday season, and we’re all looking for great gifts for our friends and families. I have some great ideas for my family…. and this just might be on the list.
Burton
One of the first companies that comes to mind when you mention Snowboarding is Burton. Often a sponsor of the winter X games, you can see their name plastered everywhere when you’re out on the slopes. Where do the roots of this company lie, though?
It all dates back to 1977, when Jake Burton started Burton Snowboards in Londonderry, VT. Four years later he moves the factory to his home in Manchester. As the popularity of snowboarding increased, Burton Snowboards grows. The European division opened in Austria in 1985. Previously, in 1984, Jake began production of the Burton outerwear line. By 1986, over 1000 stores in the US carry Burton Snowboards.
Burton continues to grow in popularity. They now have 6 different brands that belong to the Burton family, including RED (Rider Engineered Devices), Gravis Footwear, and Anon Optics. Burton is known for several technological advances in snowboarding equipment as well (From Wikipedia):
- Burton ICS
- Burton started utilizing a single channel binding mounting system on their 2006 Jeremy Jones pro model called the Infinite Channel System (ICS). The ICS system is claimed by Burton to be the most responsive binding setup possible when paired with the Burton EST binding. In 2007, the ICS system has found its way to the X8, Jeremy Jones, and the Un..Inc snowboard lines. Jeremy Jones has been the largest advocate of the ICS System, claiming it is responsive enough to be able to feel the snowbaord in ways that were unthinkable before.
How about a Burton Snowboard… these guys aren’t kidding around!