By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
If your winter coat needs replacing, consider an upgrade to a warmer coat for the season.
Women’s Coats
Columbia’s Women’s Joy Peak II (www.columbia.com, $150) features its Omni-Heat Infinity lining. Inspired by NASA’s space blankets, the fabric texture helps hold onto body heat while staying breathable and repelling moisture and stains. The coat’s polyester Thermarator insulation is lightweight yet surprisingly warm. The Joy Peak has a plush, lined collar, chin guard, zippered side and inside pockets and long inside cuffs with thumbholes to prevent cold wrists.
Women’s Montana Puffer Jacket (www.carhartt.com, $149.99) offers warmth in a stylish puffer jacket. Coated, quilted nylon and sherpa fleece sandwich synthetic insulation, providing very warm layers. The nylon is treated with Rain Defender® durable water repellent to shed rain and snow and Wind Fighter® technology keeps wearers warmer. The hidden hood drawcord with cord lock for an adjustable fit shuts out drafts, as do the internal elastic cuffs. Pockets are always important in a winter coat and the Montana doesn’t disappoint with a zip chest pocket, snap-button drop-in pockets, lower hand pockets with zip closure and large interior utility pocket.
The Nuclei SV Parka for women (www.arcteryx.com) is deceptively light, but represents the company’s warmest synthetically insulated belay parka. Layer after layer of Coreloft insulate between layers of Arato 15 shell that is windproof and repellant to light moisture. The Nuclei offers three external and two internal pockets to keep essentials at hand, along with a hood. Stretch-knit cuffs help keep cold out.
Men’s Coats
L.L. Bean’s Baxter State Parka (www.llbean.com, $229) offers two-layer protection with a TEK waterproof shell that’s windproof and 650-fill DownTek water repellent down. With four exterior zip pockets and three interior pockets (two of which zip), there’s plenty of room to stash stuff. The insulated hood zips off, as does its faux fur trim. The two-way zipper has a snap storm flap for further protection. Fleece lining on the collar and hand pockets, along with the ribbed cuffs, augment its coziness. The Baxter’s internal drawstring snugs up the fit. An unusual feature, the coat boasts internal backpack straps so it’s easy to carry when indoors, making it an ideal coat for wearing to an indoor event.
Carhartt Men’s Super Dux Relaxed Fit Insulated Traditional Coat (www.carhartt.com, $179.99) offers extreme cold protection at a lower price point than many similar coats. Constructed of lightweight nylon, the coat doesn’t feel like a heavy coat but delivers warmth and wind and rain protection. The coat features Super Dux 7.75-ounce nylon with Rain Defender® water-repellent finish. The quilted insulation has 100 g. of polyester 3M Thinsulate. Practical features include a hook-and-loop right chest pocket; zipper left chest pocket; two snap front lower pockets with side entry hand warmers; interior hook-and-look pocket on wearer’s left side; drop-tail hem; adjustable hood with chin guard and hidden drawstrings; rib-knit storm cuffs; side seam zippers and twice-stitched main seam.
Langford Parka Heritage (www.canadagoose.com, $1,775) looks stylish and offers incredible warmth, including a longer length than most jackets, storm flap over the center front zipper, down-filled hood, chin guard, rib-knit cuffs and quilted lining. The coat is rated to minus 13F. Functional details include two interior pockets, webbing grab strap at upper back, placket with Velcro® closures over two-way zipper that unzips from the bottom for added range of motion or ventilation and four exterior pockets, including two fleece-lined hand warmer pockets, two lower pockets with top flap and Velcro® closures. The interior pockets include a security pocket with zipper closure and a drop-in pocket.