Shopping for a Waxed Jacket

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Most things I buy these days I buy online. Usually through Amazon. My wife and I have a prime membership, so our purchases tend to arrive the next day, even at weekends. Prices are always competitive.

Somethings are very easy to buy, like books, maps and kitchen tools. We even buy our coffee and chocolate online, it’s much cheaper than the supermarket.

Even expensive things can be easy. Last year I bought a Microsoft Surface Pro and an expensive Panasonic camera online. These were easy to research, and I was pretty certain I was getting what I wanted. I did.

Sometimes, online shopping just doesn’t work, you really need to see, feel and try on what you’re buying. This is getting increasingly difficult. Shops seem to be cutting down on the stock in their actual shops and expecting us to buy online more.

This year I need a new winter coat, and I fancy a waxed jacked. I had one twenty or so years ago (it lasted ages but eventually fell apart). I could have bought online, through amazon, as it’s easy to send things back. But the big problem is that I might need to send several back before I get what I want.

I was not prepared to buy an expensive waxed jacket without seeing it first and trying it on. I really need to see what’s available in a shop, and I needed a decent choice.

I’m also prepared to pay the extra it costs to buy something in a shop.

Earlier this year my wife was looking at a (I repeat a, as in just one) leather jacket in Marks & Spencer’s just off the M62 near Warrington. She fancied one and spoke to an assistant. She said they could get a few delivered overnight for her to try on next day, but they only ever have one in the store. Problem, the store is around 40 miles from where we live. If they had sufficient stock in store, there’s a fair chance she would have bought one. The store is massive, possibly one of their largest in the country.

I wanted a Barbour waxed jacket (or something similar) but was having trouble finding shops stocking them. They have their own stores in Manchester and Leeds, so I thought I would have to go one of them. Until we decided to go to Newcastle. Their factory is in South Shields, and they have a factory outlet store there. So, we went there on the way to Richmond. It was full of jackets, with lots on offer. Lots to try on.

I secured a £299 jacket for £199, it’s photographed above.

Before we went to the shop, we went to Marks & Spencer and John Lewis in the Newcastle city centre, not many coats stocked in these shops. Virtually none were suitable for me, a seventy-year-old elder.

A Fleece

I also want a new fleece, I know what I want, and I’ve been looking for around a year now, unsuccessful. I’m prepared to pay good money for one. Some time ago we were in Ilkley. There were three shops there selling outdoor clothing. None of them had one I fancied. One was a store for a big chain specialising in outdoor clothes. Their website had suitable fleeces, their shop just didn’t. Arrrgggghhhhh.

The first fleece I ever bought was a Rohan. They have a shop in Hebden Bridge, a nice town not far from where we live. So, I’m going to give it a try (and meet my 96-year-old mum and sister for a look around Hebden and coffee). If that fails, who knows.

A Backpack

And I want one of these, been looking for around a year now! It needs to carry my surface pro, camera, a couple of maps, a paperback, possibly a flash gun and other odds and ends. It would be nice to be able to attach my tripod to it. I need to see what I am buying and check I can fit everything in. The John Lewis website has loads and loads of backpacks. Their shop in Newcastle had just eight!

My friend John has a large rucksack he no longer needs, that I can have. I’ll check it out next week. Hopefully I’ll be lucky.

A Fountain Pen

I thought I wanted one of these for scribbling notes (a steel one that I will not chew, I cannot use pencils and biros because I chew them). What I really need is a Staedtler propelling pencil. These are easy to buy online.

I wanted to speak to a human to get proper advice about buying a fountain pen. I asked my friend John about possible shops in Liverpool, he named four or five (I knew them all), all now gone. I guess very few people use fountain pens these days.

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