Disappointment

I've now been out for two small hikes with my new Arcteryx shell. It really is fantastic at cutting the cold wind. However, I'm also really disappointed that we ended up with the shorter cut of the Alpine styling. It really is wrong for what we're about to do and I feel we've probably wasted a fair chunk of change on these jackets (I think five of us bought into this deal). The jacket is cut short to allow for greater mobility when climbing up rock faces and such. The trip to Kili is more of a hike and so the hikers version of the jacket is what was needed. My jacket doesn't cover the bottom of any of my inner layer clothing and I find myself constantly tugging and pulling on the shell to cover over the inner layers. In a driving rain, the inner layers will get wet. No doubt about it. They'll probably wick the rain water further up under the shell. It is totally impractical to tuck the inner layers into the rain pants as this will limit mobility. We would have been better off to take the money and buy the lesser brand offered by MEC.

Just to further add to my disappointment list, I received an order I placed from a UK firm called Craighoppers. They had a post-Christmas sale of 40% off. Initially I was delighted to not only have the shirt and trousers arrive so quickly, but also at the apparent high quality of the items. Then I tried them on. Well, the shirt was too big and the trousers too small! How can this be? I followed their sizing charts exactly! I took out a measuring tape and discovered the problem: they can't measure. The size 36 trousers were, in fact, size 35. (Actually they were a 34 3/4".) The shirt was so huge that Mae West would have no problem with it. I rang them up and their answer is to return for a full credit - but not of my shipping. They no longer have stock of the sizes I really needed and I would have to re-order in February when new stock arrived AND I'd have to pay the full new stock price!! Hmmmm. Pissed-off is a good set of words to describe how I feel. For some reason I have to pay for their mistake. No apologies offered. I wrote them a firm email describing these feelings. We'll see what transpires.