Back in July, I published a Shit on Sale, and my friend Jeff reached out asking where the love was for men’s gear. My gut response was “literally any other gear blog.” Women’s gear rarely gets the same coverage, and pretty frequently, manufacturers will launch product in men’s version and quietly add women’s the following season. Even the name of the site is femignarly, for chrissake.
But the more I thought about it, the more I feel like it needs to be included. There are a lot of blogs and groups and classes than are led by women, for women and they are an integral part of growing participation and developing skills for women in the outdoors. But on the flip side, sometimes there are important conversations that go on in an echo chamber. I want this site to be for feminists (intersectional, at that – and consumer advocates, mindful consumers, and frugal clearance rack enthusiasts) – and all of those categories include men. So, welcome boys! Come for the gear deals, stay for the conversations about the pay gap in athlete sponsorship and sustainable improvements in gear production.
Shit on Sale is a monthly round up of damn good deals scraped from the clearance rack. I’m a huge fan of getting the best quality you can get with your budget, and finding items that’ll serve you for years to come. As an eco-conscious reminder, remember to buy what you truly need and pass along or recycle any items you’re replacing.
- 7Mesh Revelation Jacket – $99 (MSRP $450; 78% off – black has a more comprehensive size run): This one’s for the biker babes. If you haven’t heard of 7Mesh, they are a fairly new company full of Arc’teryx alumni that build gear for cyclists. This jacket features Gore Tex Pro, just like all of Arc’teryx’s $500+ technical shells, but the cut and features are tailored to biking. The hem is higher in the front, which is more comfortable if you’re hunched over the drop bars, and the vents are located on the forearm and side (more visible here), so you can keep one hand on the handlebars and unzip with the other, compared to your standard alpine shell where you’d have to stop, raise one arm in the air, and unzip the pit zips with the other. The side vents also double as a pass-through if you need to get to your jersey pocket for snacks. The hood is low profile and designed to fit under your helmet so you don’t compromise visibility while maneuvering through traffic. I convinced my ski wife to pick one up for shoulder season mountain biking and now her husband has one to match. It runs small, so if you’re between sizes, round up.
- Sierra Designs Sierra Down Jacket – starting at $65 (MSRP $159; 59% off): This is essentially the Patagonia Down Sweater – 800 fill power jacket, polyester ripstop face fabric, around 12oz. The only difference is that this uses hydrophobic down, which helps with moisture management, but has a trade off with compressibility. The face fabric is also 40 denier polyester vs. 20×30 denier recycled polyester on the Down Sweater, so there’s a tradeoff between durability and sustainability. The Men’s version is also discounted, starting at $80.
- Marmot Neothermal Polartec Power Grid Hoodie – $59.99 (MSRP $125; 52% off): This jacket uses Polartec Power Grid fabric, which makes it the same fabric as the Patagonia R1 series (with the exception of recycled fibers in the R1 line). It’s rare that a fabric can wick and dry quickly, yet also insulate well. Power Grid is one of the few pieces that does both adequately and can be worn against the skin or over another layer. The hoodless version, the Preon jacket, is also on sale for $59.97 for men.
- Eddie Bauer IgniteLite Flux Stretch Hooded Jacket – $101.99 (MSRP $249; 59% off): This jacket is a nylon face fabric with Primaloft Gold (60g/sm in the hood and sleeves, with 80g/sm in the rest of the body). This construction is similar to the North Face Thermoball or Patagonia Nano Puff. The Nano, and as of this season, the ThermoBall both use recycled polyester on the face fabric and partially recycled insulation. But if you’re going to put this jacket through the ringer and wear it for casual wear and as an outdoor workhorse, the nylon fabric on the Eddie Bauer version will pay off in durability. The extra insulation in the body also means it’ll run a little warmer. For men, there’s also a clearance version for $90 with the Outdoor Research Cathode Hooded Jacket (in Glacier blue). This version also uses a Pertex face fabric, which adds to the wind and water resistance.
- Marmot Scree Softshell Pants – starting at $49.95 (MSRP $110; 55% off): I waxed poetic in a gear review these pants when they first went on sale for the season, and the pricing has only gotten sharper since then. Discounts on the men’s version has been slashed even more at $39.95.
- Patagonia Descensionist Pant – starting at $134.97 (MSRP $379; 64% off): The entire Patagonia Descensionist line is being discontinued and replaced with a new version with a slightly softer hand feel. They features a 3L H2No construction and are uninsulated, so they’ll do double duty inbounds and out. The matching jacket is also on sale (starting at $179.97) and the men’s equivalents are also modestly discounted.
- Black Crows Camox Freebird Skis – $399.99 (MSRP $719.95; 44% off): These are a touring favorite in the PNW, with a wide enough waist at 96mm and shape that provides float for all but the largest skiers, yet the weight is friendly for vert-heavy days on the volcanos. And that’s only one model from Black Crows that’s on serious discount.
FemiGnarly 