Posted by I’m sometimes accused of slightly misconstruing, even embellishing, what actually happened in this blog.
But today, I’m going to try and be 100% truthful because this is a story that is so bad it doesn’t need me to embellish it one bit … it’s the story of what must be one of the worst articles of clothing I’ve ever bought … the Vigilanti Gokarna Lightweight Rainjacket …
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| Source: http://www.vigilante.com.au |
Now things started well when I bought this $129.95 jacket for half price ($65.00) back in March because (not surprisingly) I wanted a lightweight rain jacket for our (then) upcoming trip to New Zealand …
Fast forward to our walk on the Milford Track and we’re heading up Mackinnon Pass on a cold and wet day, I want to stay dry … and so not surprisingly enter stage left my brand spanking new Vigilante Rainjacket
Despite the smiles above, this is where things started going wrong.
As it was a cold, windy day, I went to cinch the waist strap as soon as I put it on, and instead of cinching tight … the whole waist strap just detached from the jacket, See exhibit A below …
On closer examination it was only held in place by a flimsy piece of cloth …
But that was just a minor annoyance and so I forgot it, we had a good trip, I wore the jacket another couple of times in New Zealand, then I got home and the jacket got put up on a hook and forgotten until I grabbed it to wear to work the other day (first time it’s been used since New Zealand).
I got into work and went to take it off, pulled at the wrist cinch strap to loosen it and …
… It just pulled straight off the jacket.
One jacket malfunction is an “OK, things happen, moment“. Twice is a “This product is crap, moment” and I started thinking about returning it.
Except … I got distracted with life, forgot about it, and instead decided the other day to take it on the trip that never was …
So I’m riding along with my nice Vigilante jacket on, I look down a few minutes into the ride … and what do I see … the f*#king zip had broken from the bottom and was half undone … (sorry no photo). What followed was that fun game of trying to get the zip back down to the bottom of the jacket on a broken zip so I could rezip it … in the snow, with cold hands. I love that game.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back … this was meant to be a $130 jacket … what it was, was the biggest piece of crap I’d ever bought … and it was while I was thinking about how I hate companies that produce crap and sell it at premium prices that I brushed a branch that was jutting out a bit … and ripped a huge hole in the jacket sleeve …
Seriously Vigilante – check the definition … A vigilante is meant to be someone who takes law enforcement or protection into their own hands … they’re meant to be cool, they’re not meant to be outright thieves.
You get zero out of ten from the rambler.
Oh, my… You really didn't have luck with that jacket! I got ghoosebumps when you talked about the zipper and the snow and frozen hands 🙂 That is the worst thing that can happen to you when out in the cold! This is exactly why you have to do some serious research before buying a jacket, or anything else for that matter. Personally, I triple check all the reviews about a certain product before ordering it. For example, when it comes to hiking clothes, I always read the reviews of this one site I found a year ago, and they never let me down. You can check an article about rain jackets if you are looking for a new one: http://hikingmastery.com/top-pick/best-packable-rain-jacket.html