I had read the reviews on this coat and was aware that some customers felt the cuffs and writbands were too tight, but honestly figured the complaints were isolated and perhaps overly critical. I now have to agree with the complaints about the extremely narrow and tight writbands. My 11-yr. son is slim and actually quite skinny and he literally had to jam his arms through the openings to get the coat on (and that was with my help). I guess it goes without saying that I will be returning the coat today. I still love LL Bean though; I know that they will make the purchase "right." It just seems like this coat needs a little re-design work.
Arkansas just recently experienced snow & ice giving the kids, including the grown ones, some great outdoor fun. I bought my granddaughter a 3-in-one last year on sale for use this winter. She had not worn it much until "the winter weather event". As we were bundling her up we found the zipper pull was missing. A zipper without a pull. Had we unwrapped the jacket last summer,when it arrived, and inspected it we would have sent it back for a replacement but, here in the South, you don't try to get new for something you've had a while no matter if it has been worn much or not. The jacket is nice but I wasn't particularly fond of the way the hood rolled up into the collar. It made the collar stiff and lumpy. I would leave the hood out and use it to cover a cap when needed.
Its warm, and washes up really well. I love it as a ski jacket. Only problem is the arm holes are small. The jacket fits well and looks great, its just hard to get their arms in when wearing a bulky sweater. Which is kind of odd, since I see a lot of these jackets on the ski slopes near our home.
