Hi Jan, The best temporary repair for your jacket would be a repair tape such as Tenacious Tape.http://www.mcnett.com/Tenacious-Tape-Clean-Tape-Sealing-Repair-Tape-for-Instant-Repairs-P139.aspx This tape is so sticky and durable it can last for years. It is available at most outdoor shops like REI. You can also return it to us and we can do a more permanent repair. To return to us for repair, just follow the instructions here: http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=5175 Most repairs like this we do for free. Please be aware that repairs are currently taking about a month. Hope this helps! -OS

Hi Penny, here's a blog post I wrote on that exact subject: http://www.thecleanestline.com/2008/08/the-care-feedin.html -OS

Hi Thylaxene, I just checked in with our web folks and it appears that you were able to obtain this book. If, in the future you are unable to locate a Patagonia item in Australia, please either call us (1(775)747-1992)or email us and we will be happy to help you get it.

Awesome story Kevin! Allan Bard was one of my early ski heroes as well.

Mike, today should have been your 37th birthday, we all miss you! Skeena says woof woof in agreement.

Hi Pedros, One of the most surprising things we found during the research to produce the Footprint Chronicles was that transportation accounts for less than 2% of the total CO2 produced by a garment. Domestically produced products can have a higher carbon footprint than a product made in China. This is because trucks, which carry virtually all freight in the U.S., generate almost ten times more CO2 per ton of freight than do large container ships. Our calculations showed that just shipping a product from the port in Los Angeles to our Reno warehouse, a distance of about 500 miles, produces about twice the amount of CO2 that a 6000 mile container ship trip from China to L.A. will produce. For more information on how we come up up with our calculations go here: http://www.patagonia.com/pdf/en_US/method_for_cost5.pdf. Of course there is more to overseas manufacturing than just the carbon footprint. For a more thorough discussion of why we have products made around the world, see this post: http://www.thecleanestline.com/2009/05/your-thoughts-on-the-footprint-chronicles-why-dont-you-make-more-of-your-goods-in-the-usa.html

I've never used them myself but a few folks here use them and say they work really well, even better than tennis balls on down jackets. I'll have to try them. -OS

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks Howard looks like John Muir. Last night I watched "John Muir in the New World" (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/john-muir-in-the-new-world/about-the-film/1789/ ) part of the American Masters series on PBS and I couldn't get over how much the actor portraying the 'old' John Muir looked like Howard. Sure enough once the credits rolled, I was right, it was indeed Howard portraying Mr. Muir. Great job Howard! If you missed the show, you can watch the whole show at at the link above.

Hi Dan, The Torrentshell will continue to use H2NO fabric. We plan to offer other lightweight Gore options in the future. -OS

We plan our sales many months in advance, starting before the holidays even get under way. Our holiday season ended up being far busier than expected and we sold a lot of the inventory that might have otherwise ended up in the sale. As a side note, if there's something you really want and can't find, give us a call in mail order; quite often we can find products that are sold out online. -Old School

Hi Maria, The primary reason we have chosen to use Gore-Tex again is to offer our customers another option for waterproof/breathable jackets and pants. We've had great results from Gore products in the past and we fully expect our new products to perform similarly. Most notably, GoreTex has earned very high marks with bluesign® technologies, the independent Swiss certifying energy that we've partnered with to reduce resource consumption and screen our raw materials and determine the extent of their environmental impacts. Bluesign® technologies audits the energy, water and chemical usage of its members and helps them achieve continuous, long-term environmental improvement. Gore has earned some of bluesign's highest marks, making them an ideal partner as we try to reduce the enviromental impact of producing technical outerwear. You can find more info about bluesign here: http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=57495 We will continue to offer H2NO products as well but the Stretch Element will not be offered this fall.

The Ranger Smiths in peanut are not being made this season. They were replaced by the Ranger Smith Waterproof Mid. This is a waterproof version of the same shoe. I just checked inventory and we have good inventory in size 10.5 in Velvet Brown. Here's a link: http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/patagonia-footwear-mens-ranger-smith-waterproof-mid-shoe?p=79663-0 Hope this helps, -OS

Aaron, We don't give numbers because different tests can give wildly different results for the same fabric. Since we test our own fabrics (and our competitor's as well) on our own machine, the results will be different than results from other tests. We believe our test to be highly accurate but they're just not comparable to tests performed using other methods. For a comparison to be helpful we would have to also publish the results we get from testing competitor's fabrics as well. And this is something we'd prefer not to get involved in.

Hi Roxanne, You are correct that starting in Fall 2011 we will be using Gore-tex in many of our technical products. We are doing this to offer our customer additional choices in fabric technology, not because of the environmental impacts of H2NO. We will continue to offer products using H2NO technology. And by the way, Gore is not the only fabric that uses PTFE, eVent uses it as well. You are also correct that solvents are used in the construction of the polyurethane membrane our H2NO fabric. However, Toray, the company that makes the fabric is able to recover and recycle over 99% of the solvents used in this process. As for durability, the vast majority of product returns involve delamination and DWR failures. We have found H2NO to be at least as reliable as other competing fabrics. And while certain chemicals like DEET can affect polyurethane, they can also affect the DWR, adhesive and face fabric of any waterproof/ breathable shell. So for best performance and durability keep any such chemicals away from your shell, regardless of what material it’s made out of. As you may know, no waterproof/breathable fabric is breathable enough to completely eliminate moisture build up under high exertion activities. We have thoroughly tested virtually every waterproof/breathable fabric on the market and have yet to find one that is measurably better than H2NO. However if you are not satisfied with the performance of your jacket you can always take advantage of our "Iron Clad Warranty" and return to us for exchange, replacement or refund.

Hi Beth, We too saw that video and it forced us to re-evaluate our down sourcing. We went to Hungary and visited many of the slaughterhouses and farms that supply our down. We found no evidence that the birds were being mistreated. Our down is certified as being from only non-live plucked geese and from what we could observe this seems to be the case. As I said in my original post (above), healthy birds provide the best down and meat so the farmers have a vested interest in keeping customers of both happy. In the end though can we guarantee humane treatment throughout the entire life of the goose? Are we positive we too weren't fooled by the down suppliers? Unfortunately no, at least not yet. We hope that by continuing to work with our suppliers we will be able to effect change by stressing the importance of transparency, sustainability and humane treatment of animals. -OS

Hi Tomas, You're absolutely right that publishing a table of results should be pretty straightforward. The key word here is "should." Unfortunately, it's not. One of the more compelling reasons not to publish such a list has to do with the potential legal mess of reporting performance ratings on competitors' fabrics on a test we designed for our own use in our own lab. "OK, then, how about just publishing rates for your fabrics?" you might ask. That's a reasonable question. While our MVTR test gives us reliable lab results, a user's sensation of breathability is highly subjective. You might notice we don't give temperature rating on any of our jackets. This is because individual perceptions of "hot" vs. "cold" vary widely. Breathability is like that - it depends on everything from individual metabolism, personal comfort at different temperatures, ambient humidity, favorite sports, exertion level, preferred layering system, etc.etc. The techiest of our tech weenies agree that the right jacket is the one that feels right when you wear it, not the one with the best lab numbers. That's why we have that Ironclad Guarantee. If you get a jacket and it doesn't perform as you wish, we'll gladly help you find one that does or give you a refund. We can only hope that's enough, but don't blame you if it isn't.

And Adam is definitely not a twit. -os

Hendrik, Cool site! I completely agree with you, there are still lots of cottage manufacturers out there, especially for the ultralight backpacking market. Indeed I think the lightweight revolution now is very similar to what happened in the 70's. As I struggle to get my baseweight down to a more manageable weight I continue to be amazed at how light people like Adam (http://www.thecleanestline.com/2009/09/patagonia-employee-sets-new-record-on-the-pacific-crest-trail.html) can go. Happy Trails! -OS

Hi Tony, Thanks for the comments, should you decide to replace that old Dimension, here are a couple new soft shells to take a look at. Our new Skinnard Jacket has an optipull hood with no dangling cords at all plus it has a coated zipper and a flap to keeps the winds at bay. It has a great soft feel and is quite breathable as well. The other jacket to take a look at is the Ascensionist, while designed as a climbing piece, it has lots of backcountry skiing fans. It's pretty minimalist but its functionally wind proof, breathable and water resistant enough to repel all but the wettest snow. The hood does have internal cords but no pocket routing and the zipper has an internal flap and is coated as well. Happy skiing! -OS

Eric, I did a bit of research on Modal and it sounds like it's another variety of rayon, using the same viscous rayon process. -OS

Hi Talean, If you plan on wearing the jacket by itself, I think I'd opt for the micropuff jacket, especially if you get wet snow. The fabric is a bit more durable and the primaloft dries much faster if it gets wet. If you're planning on wearing a shell with the jacket, the down sweater would work well too, but if you're wearing it alone the micropuff will be a safer bet. -OS

Hi Judy, Heres's another solution passed on from our head of returns...and I quote... "I went to my hairdresser the other day, he is also a ski patrol dude, he has found the answer to get the smell out of your capilene. Use Tide with Febreeze, put your undies in with a capful of tide and some cold water in the washer. In the morning run it through a cold water wash. He swears that it will come out fresh as a daisy." Give that a go and please let us know how it works. -OS

Hi Josh, Everything for fall is now online, so the Backcountry Guides are the only true ski soft shells we're making this season. Actually the fabric we use on these is heavier than the fabric on the white smoke flash pants (8.6-oz vs 7.8-oz). If you're interested we still have some white smoke flash pants left from last season in gravel (or black if you're sz 30) for $165. Well except for sz 34. If you're interested, give us a call. -OS