Any good winter/tri-season jackets one would recommend?

How much are you willing to spend on your jacket? What are your uses? (outdoors stuff, skiing/boarding, just to keep warm...)
You can go for the "commercial" (cheaper) jackets found at the chain retailers or go all out and get a reallllllly nice "specialty" (expensive) jacket from an outfitter store. I live in Northern Ontario so I got a few jackets for each time of year.

Heres what I usually wear around:
- North face soft shell ($99) + sweater when needed -spring/fall weather
- Arc'teryx Sidewinder ($500 on sale) - when it's really cold or for boarding
- Unknown North Face tri-season jacket ($200 on sale) - "general purpose"

I personally find the Arc'teryx the best. Yes, it costs $500 but I think it is worth every penny. It is ACTUALLY waterproof, warm, has plenty of pockets, and the shell isn't noisy. Best of all, it is extremely light weight. Side note: Arc'teryx pants are the best, they weigh like 30g...

You get what you pay for With that in mind, don't buy those cheap Columbia jackets if you plan on wearing them for more than one year.
Edited by seaskimmer - 9/19/11 at 6:51pm

I agree that getting a quality coat or jacket is worth it. One of my jackets is around $400 and it is great and it looks classy too in a vintage kind of way with a great rugged build. Personally I don't like modern looking coats or jackets. However,  a good modern looking high end and high tech coat/jacket is certainly worth splurging on especially if it has good build quality and has the ability to last many years. I say it's worth the splurge especially if it fits really well and proper fit is important IMO. This is why I never shop online for coats. So I would spend the money.

 

That being said, an old fashioned standard but quality long wool coat can be great too and cheap if found used. One of my favorite coats is a $20 used thrift store USA made but mint condition vintage wool coat. It's old fashioned looking and probably more than 30 years old but in remarkable condition and totally clean. With a sweater and scarf, it can keep me perfectly warm in 20 degree weather and it looks elegant too. I love it and it is a great coat that I wear if I am walking around in a city. It's not ideal for rugged physical activity like hiking in the Rocky Mountains. 

 

Another great coat that I have is a Polo coat that I actually found somewhere (no I did not steal it). It looks like one of those Eskimo coats and does an outstanding job keeping me warm. I think it's worth around $100 but I rarely wear it because it is bulky and more suitable for rugged outdoor storms but I imagine a used one at a thrift store would probably be pretty cheap. It is well made though even though it's kind of ugly.

 

 

The favorite standby for Alaskan winters is Carhartts. I use Columbia Jackets for winter weather in Fairbanks, AK (-55 F in the dead of winter, with a fair bit of snow). But when I'm working in the field (Alaska - North Slope), and the temperatures dip to -50 F and then further drop to -75 due to windchill from 20-30+ MPH winds and snow is being hurled at you, and I have to walk outside to inspect my truck and make sure it is still running, I trust my Carhartt jacket with my life.

I've always bought winter/rain clothing from REI (www.rei.com). Their house brand is quite good and has held up for years for me. I've been buying from them since the mid-1980s, as well. REI's gear holds up.

Gore-Tex Pro or an eVent shell: http://www.departmentofgoods.com/sales/search.html?mv_session_id=GGEPhEM7&aff=1&q=goretex+pro#search=%26path%3Dq676f72657465782070726f%257E%257Ecdepartmentofgoodsc11%2523%25233%2523%2523m%257E%257Encdepartmentofgoodsc11s20%2523%25233%2523%2523d

 

eVent: http://www.departmentofgoods.com/sales/search.html?mv_session_id=GGEPhEM7&aff=1&q=event#search=%26path%3Dq6576656e74%257E%257Ecdepartmentofgoodsc11%2523%25232%2523%25237%257E%257Encdepartmentofgoodsc11s20%2523%25234%2523%25237

 

departmentofgoods.com is the backcountry.com outlet site. The Arc'teryx Theta is an excellent value at $375. The Beta if you want a shorter (climbing-length) shell.

Edited by audiogamma - 9/20/11 at 4:21am

I think some really well made thin coats are the industrial uniform jackets. For example, I know a Coca Cola delivery driver who gave me his Coca Cola spare jacket that the company issues to drivers and it is shockingly good! It is warm, relatively thin and built very tough. It is virtually tear resistant and has good wind and water resistance as well. I actually love it. And it works well in the 20 degree temperatures as long as I wear a sweater and hat. The only minor issue is that when I wear it, people think I'm the Coca Cola man who is making deliveries especially if I am walking into a convenient store or super market. (It has a big Coca Cola logo in the front and back)

 

I'm thinking other types of uniform jackets are probably great too like the kind of jackets the guys wear on the airport runways, military issue coats, police jackets, etc if you can find them.  

Edited by Spareribs - 9/20/11 at 9:20pm

Military issue jackets tend to be quite expensive unless you can get them from a surplus (just saying that cause they are less common in Canada).

I second the "standard issue" jackets though if you don't really care about style too much. Those jackets that construction workers wear are super warm but sometimes you kinda look like a bum in them... (ie. don't shave and pop on a stained tuque)

Yeah I agree, if you don't care about style, some of those jackets can be funny looking especially if it has bright yellow or orange colors or patterns. But I would grab one anyway (if I can find one for free or cheap) because they can be great if I am outside and shoveling the snow or taking a night walk in the deepest and darkest of the cold winter. I can be visible to traffic in a safer way. In an odd way, some of those glaring bright coats are so ugly and so unstylish that they can probably be industrial cool in an anti fashion way perhaps.