BRAND AND SKIINGS

Hi Skiiers

I know I am very loyal to the brands I love - PATAGONIA, dynastar, hot chili's etc..

I was wondering what everyone else liked for brands! This is a saturated market with tons of choices. It's great because you get a lot of different options, and everyone can be unique. Although, it is bad because there is sometimes information overload, and I just want to know what to buy!

What are some of your favorite skiing brands? Why do you like them?

This way, maybe I can branch out a little from my typical gear/clothing, and try some of your favorites!

Let me know what you think!

Thanks!
Skiier Laurie

 I'm not sure I have a favorite. The only gear I use that I have two of by the same brand are my ski pants and jacket. I plan on buying Hestra gloves when the old ones stop working properly. My favorite thing to do to find new gear is to go to the local ski shop and ogle the merchandise, I usually always walk out with my wallet half empty one way or another.

I've spent more time skiing on K2 than all other brands combined. Lately though, Nordica and Salomon have also gotten a lot of slope time.

I somehow ended up with a pair of Salomon Skis this year. I thought I would never ski on a Salomon. 

I can't even tell you the brand name of anything other than my skis and boots. I usually use layers so I don't worry about going out and getting high performance pants and coats. The only thing I spent a reasonable deal of money on was gloves because I have poor circulation so my hands are always freezing cold. I don't really see the brand loyalty thing, I just go with whatever seems like it will work and is cheap, but I'm a cheap person when it comes to clothes anyways.

Half empty, how do you do it?

Wish I had that much control.

Well what's holding me back is a new pair of fatty ski's i have on my mind. If it weren't for that I would have bought a new shovel, a probe or more wax last time. The time before I went in looking for something small and ended up buying Smith prodigy goggles... I only thought I had $110, guess I did have $130. 

Arcteryx - The real thing, not overpriced gaperwear. Try a piece or two and you'll be sold.
Dynastar - Try 'em, you'll like 'em. Have them in all models in all sizes in quivers around NA
Oakley Goggles - Had them all - the A-frames and their lenses just work perfectly for me
Lange or Head boots with wide forefoot - work for me
Look/Rossi/Dynastar bindings - won't use anything else
Marmot Randonee gloves - wow.
Giro helmets - have Fuse(s), Omen(s) and G10(s). They fit my head, the venting is excellent and they team up well with the Oakleys.

I am not real brand loyal, as there is so much good equipment out there, I know what I want and it is all about the price. I usually buy my skis and boots between Feb and and Aug. Everything else between April and July. I am a HUGE gear whore, so price is everything. O, on boots, I only buy the best Tecnica's out there, as they fit my feet great, straight out of the box for smokin internet deals.

This made me laugh. I love Epicski, always good for a chuckle.

It has gotten so confusing there are so many choices and so much verbiage about all the brands.  I copped out and don't buy brands any more, only buy RED ones, because red ones are best. 

Need new boots now, they are blue.

I buy whatever is on sale.

All of my current skis and boots have been purcahsed on sale. I never buy current-year gear unless I have no other choice. As far as brand loyalty, I only have one and that is related to gloves--Hestra.  

I have skied on pretty much everything but Kastle and Stockli. No preference for brands in this department, really.  If it's on sale and is a ski with the dimensions I am looking for, I consider it. If it's not on sale and I want it, I just wait until it is.

Good job taking my comment completely out of context, you tied my hands being cold with me buying cheap gear completely disregarding the fact that I stated "I spent a reasonable deal of money on was gloves" due to the fact my hands are cold. My cheap gear keeps the rest of my body warm and dry so I see no point getting expensive brand name stuff.

I have a few..

Boots: Dalbello Krypton

Poles: Goode 10.4

Goggles: Smith I/O

Transoprtation to the hill: Subaru

Past that I am pretty open, there are a lot of great brands that I will use. I will watch what I type with Whiteroom around. 

I'll agree with you on that one

The only thinig Im loyal to are Burton snowboard jackets and pants because they are usually a little more generously cut.

This is an interesting thread.  Id love to see some more candid responses.  In any event it raises three  issues for me.

1)  Unlike other sports, i seem to be much much more brand conscious with ski equipment and clothing then i am in other sports.  This could be a vestige of growing up in the late 70s early 80s when ski equipment was much more specialized.  This has both positive and negative implications. For example, on a positive front, Ive always loved gear like lange which  if it fits, is consistently great.  OTOH, and to my detriment, I could never consider say a pair of nordica skis. They may be the greatest thing ever, but to me noridca is a boot maker not a ski company.   Similarly, i had a bad experience with K2 skis a long time ago, and can never consider them again, when they moved from the USA it seem to finalize things against them for me. This is also a shame because, I'm sure the obsessthed and a few other skis are outstanding.

2) The second issue is a bit more focused but it concerns shells (and pants to some extent).  I am under an impression that with the exception of a few brands (archterex, westcomb) most of all the jackets are made in china at a limited number of factories.  Thus, the implication here is there is not a huge difference in the quality of manufacturing any more -other then the what the maker demands from the factory. Thus,  given a standard issue shell or jacket, they  should probably function similarly.  However, most of us seem to stay with the same brands, even if a competitor may have come out of the same factory.  Obviously this is a very general rule, and for example patagoina may have much stricter requirements from their factories then say Columbia or LL bean.  But is there really that much difference in function say between average brands?  If so why do some of us stay with certain brands? Is it marketing?

3) Unlike cars or say stereo equipment, there are some ski oriented brands that i would never consider under any circumstances at any price.  This includes Karbon, Phenix, etc.  Are ski brands thus set in stone for other consumers, good or bad?

just some random thoughts on a sunday am

yes, yes I did...  but, it is pretty well accepted fact that we lose 60% of our body heat through our heads and our bodies are designed to protect the vital organs by reducing blood flow to the extremities and keep it at the core when cold.

lots of people 'think' they have cold hands due to poor blood flow, until they dress properly.

- quick tip also, sometimes 'cold hands' is a result of sweating hands, they start off too warm, perspire and later get really cold due to being wet. A breathable glove is sometimes a great solution ( Gore-tex and leather aren't all that 'breathable' ).


Edited by Whiteroom - 11/1/09 at 7:03am

Clothes: Arcteryx makes the kind of gear you would want to be marooned with.
             Cloudveil makes great gear as well. Sturdy materials, and very thoughtful designs. Like they actually think about how people will use their gear and design products with that in mind. Extraordinary customer support too. I blew out a zipper on a three year old jacket and sent it back to see if they could repair it. I was going on a trip and need a quick answer so I called the company to find out turn around time. Company rep and I talked. Long and short is that they sent me a new jacket higher up the food chain than the one I had, and they sent it even before mine reached them. That is good service. I have since bought several other jackets and pants. 

Ski gear: Never had much brand loyalty in 45 years on snow until I bought my first pair of Blizzard three years ago (Titan Cronus). Then got the Supersonics for hard snow. Something about the "feel" of a Blizzard ski that appeals to me.

   Just bought my first pair of RED boots, tried on many, one pair fit perfect, but they weren't RED...I WANT RED. I don't care if my left ankle hurts a little, I got RED, now I get to sit at the grown-up table.

I bought Oakley goggles just because I wanted the 'O', wore them 3 times & didn't like 'em, narrowed my peripheral view. Now wearing my old K2's, but hey, the O's look cool hanging off my mirror.

Go with what fits & works best for you, every brand has good and crap. Every brand changes the style, what worked last time may not this time. 

It's a never ending battle, a fun one, but never ending.

Tossing the idea around of having my left ankle bone shaved to fit my new RED boots better.


...and yes, I just quoted myself.

Looks like this is a urban myth.  Multiple studies have shown this not to be true.

http://wildernessmedicinenewsletter.wordpress.com/2007/02/14/heat-loss-through-the-head-and-hypothermia/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/17/medicalresearch-humanbehaviour

http://researchfrontiers.uark.edu/12401.php

Just curious why you wouldn't buy Karbon or Phenix. Do these have a bad reputation for quality?

My favorite brand is 'Sale'. I also like: '$xx.xx, after xx/xx/xx $yy.yy, after yy/yy/yy $zz.xx.'

I have been Skiing Fischer skis lately.  I have both the Watea 78 & 94.  I really like the way they skied and did not buy them because of the brand.  Fisher seem to be the most common brand but I skied Rossi's back in the 4S days.

Marker Bindings - I really like the sliding AFD.  Being an "old guy", I don't push them hard enough for pre-release to be a problem but have skied Look, ESS, Salomom.

No specific brands of boot or clothing.  I just moved to Salomon boots from Tecnica.




Edited by brownie_bear - 11/1/09 at 12:29pm

Nice links brownie_bear.  Do you wear mittens, tylrwnzl?  I do find mittens work a lot better.  And finger dexterity ... I don't use all my fingers to operate my poles.  

I reckon I have to actually post what I like, but like most others I like cheap stuff.  However, I have a family with older skiers, so I wear hand me down clothes so I'm 10-20 years out of style.  Purple coat, FTW.  Except, as you said tylrwnzl, I bought some nice-ish mittens and now my hands are nice and warm all the live long day.

I ski on fischers, and I like them.  Fischer!  (however, I've never tried any other skis, so take that with a big grain of salt)

I haven't gone to mittens yet because I can't stand them, I'd rather suffer having my fingers barely moveable from the cold, which is what usually happens even on a relatively warm day. Last year after a long day in about 25 degree weather I had to have someone undo my boots because I couldn't move my fingers. I like to take a lot of pictures when I ski so I usually wear gloves, but I am thinking about trying mittens this year because after that ordeal with not being able to move my fingers at the end of last year I'm thinking I'd rather deal with my hatred of mittens than not being able to move my fingers.

Purely for non scientific and subjective reasons.  I think they are ugly and i associate them with a certain stereotypical type of skier which is not polite to mention further.  

Plus they dont have enough zippers

I'm a fan of Smartwool socks. When my feet feel good, it makes the day feel good. Once I started wearing the first pair I got (as a gift), I was hooked.

The only brand I'm loyal to is whatever is on sale! That is, if they fit me. And actually do what they said they do (pants that are waterproof, gloves that are "breathable", etc)

Between those two (3?) critiria, I end up with 1 peice of gear from every brand under the sun!

As a result, I'm warm, I'm dry and I have fun!