I've had my Halcyon Paramo waterproof jacket for 21 years and I now need to get a new one and it's sad. It's like having to say goodbye to a well loved pair of favourite jeans - Oh the times we've spent together!!.
My Jacket was brought in 1999 in an end of year sale at Paramo's HQ in Durgates, Kent, UK. I'd spent the previous few months researching the best breathable waterproofs on the market by reading magazines and looking on the internet and Paramo came up the best.
It was the reports of the high quality of the garment and the technology behind the a Parameter P material that was being used that caught my attention. There is a city in Norway that has a weather festival as they have the record of being the wetest part of their country and Europe and they like to celebrate the fact. I had watched a documentary on the television about it and its the first time I heard the saying: There is no such thing as bad weather; only bad clothing. I've loved this mantra and have used it as a guide many times including when making the decision to buy the jacket.
Paramo's marketing material spoke of the analogy between how their jackets kept you dry and how lions and tigers and bears and other furry animals kept dry or got dry after getting wet. The idea of utilising this method in manufacturing waterproof clothing is just a great piece of out of the box thinking by whoever it was that made the connection. Have you ever looked at your pet after they've been for a dip or been caught in the rain. They have that cute look where their fur has gathered together in little tufts. Those tufts dont just look good they are the reason why felix or Fido remain dry underneath like they have hundred of
The jacket I purchased was a green and blue Halcyon Jacket and the first thing that I noticed about it when I first put it on was how unbeleivably soft the material was. One of its qualities that some of the reviews I read spoke of was how quiet it was; that it didn't rustle or make a rubbing sound when you moved in it and I realised that this was why. Parameter P which is what this fabric is called feels a lot like a silk but with out the shine. That first evening I slept in the jacket it was so comfortable; I kid you not. In defence it was because I was going to be wearing the jacket for a solid 3 nights and 4 days walking and backpacking in Ashdown Forest hunting for Winnie the Pooh ;) and I needed to know that it was going to be comfortable sleeping in it. The jacket performed fabulously over the four days keeping me comfortable while carrying a full bergen, including a complete day of continouse rain. A few weeks later it was put to a test again. A storm arrived and I'm rather partial to watching some stormy seas. I lived in Brighton in the UK at the time and visited the Marina where waves were crashing against the outside sending sheets of sea sparay over the very high walls so that it then came down at a 45s with some force, requiring me to each time face my back to it and keep my head down. Despite repeated episodes of thsi I reamained warm and dry. Since then I have relied on the Jacket to keep me comfortable and safe from the elements in many similar events including one very recently during Storm Ophelia