Originally Posted by
charbucks
I find velcro fails the instant it gets a bit of snow or ice on it, which just ends up happening. My shell has velcro flaps over the zipper, but the zipper is the part that's actually doing the work. I've had good luck with Mountain Hardwear stuff, though I have friends that swear by Arc'Teryx. Both are pricey, but if you don't care about colour you can usually get some good sales (my soft shell and hard shell are pink and purple, respectively).
I tend to take my mittens off to do pretty much anything, and it's not really a big deal to expose your hands for a few seconds to do/undo a zip. That said, if you've been happy with velcro in the past then it makes sense for you to stick with it! I would think it'd be easier to buy a regular (zip) jacket and then add the velcro. I don't think velcro-only is all that common, and then you'd have the back-up zipper for when the velcro gets gummed up by ice.
Velcro only isn't common at all. I've only ever seen it on garments made for people who have difficulty dressing themselves. It's hard to get the sides matched up evenly, for one thing, which looks weird. It's also hard to adjust so it's half open the way you can with a zipper, as it wants to close itself. Velcro also has a much lower expected cycle count life than zippers do, and lower strength. And it's harder to replace. It'd take me 20 minutes to replace the zip on my parka, but a lot longer to do the velcro (Step 1 is do all the steps required to remove the zipper!) Using wide velcro -- were I making something like this, I'd use two inch wide or wider -- helps most of those problems, and the icing up problem. It also helps the "gets clogged with cat hair problem".
On the other hand, I'd just put a 2" split ring in the sliders pull, and call it a day. you can work that with mittens, because it's big enough to stike your thumb through.
Originally Posted by
scroca
Velcro and wool don't play nicely together.
no it doesn't, but smart design can help. Basic first step: make sure the hook side (that's the stiff one that's prone to grabbing wool and the like) is facing away from the body. That helps comfort, because it wont' poke you on hte underlap side, but also means it's less likely to touch the under garments.