I have had a Maine Warden's Parka for more years than I can remember and thought this would be a nice compliment, perhaps to be worn just for rain with a longer length over a suit.
The Parka was great, but the zipper was just too frustrating. It was impossible to work while seated in a car, and difficult under the best of circumstances.
I don't know if it's all plastic zippers, or just this one, but the decade's old metal zipper in the Maine Parka just continues to work.
I really love this coat. It is warm, yet light weight. My only complaint is the claim tahat it falls below the knee. It hits the top of my knee and I am of average build. An extra 2-3 inches would be really great. The coat would also be improved with more pockets. Two breast pockets, and two lower pockets, plus the current handwarmer pockets, similar to the configuration of the Maine Warden's Parka, would add a lot more usefulness.
I bought this coat for my husband and loved it so much that I bought one for myself. They were supposed to be our spring, summer, and fall travel coats in case we had rainy and/or cold weather during our vacations. They have served this function perfectly. We wore them almost every day on our last vacation and they kept us warm and dry. They are nice and light and I prefer the carbon color to black. The only problem is that I want to wear it all the time because it is so comfortable.. I wish Bean offered this coat in more colors so that I could have one for travel and one for the rest of the year.
I purchased this gore-tex parka for my husband. He loves the coat, except for the zipper. Very frustrating. You need to align it perfectly for it to work. Usually have to jiggle it. Sounds as if Bean has had plenty of time to work on replacing this zipper as I see complaints about it that go back at least a year. Hopefully the replacement for this parka has a much more forgiving zipper. Other than the zipper, the coat is perfect, IMO. Totally waterproof, yet breathable. True to size. His is cement. If he can't get over the zipper issue, he may return the coat tho. Bummer.
