Great Anorak From Common Folk Self Reliance

I have had the pleasure of camping with Jeffy Geer of Common Folk Self Reliance twice now and plan on many camps with him in the future, Jeffy has trained at Karamat Wilderness Ways with Mors Kochanski and although humble is a wealth of knowledge. At most of the camps I host I encourage trade blankets (there are rarley blankets involved but quite a few tarps with gear laid out on them). My past camp was The Huron Deep Freeze and Jeffy had brought two Anoraks that he and his wife Bridget  make. Ive always wanted to try a wool anorak but never could bring myself to pull the trigger on one and am ill equipped to make one of my own so this gave me a great chance to look at one. Well as soon as i put one on i was sold. Wool was soft and very thick and the stitching was expertly done.

The Anoraks features include Buttons on the cuff for tightening

A wonderful Deep front pouch. I see alot of Anoraks with a front pouch that doest drop down at all. Jeffy and Bridget's Anorak has plenty of "drop" to ensure items placed in the pouch stay in the pouch. I keep my thick wool gloves, My saw, a ferro rod and few odds and ends in the pouch and have plenty of room for more.

In the above picture you can see the antler toggle and tightening snap on the 550 cord that is used for all the tightening on the anorak. You can synch the hood, V-neck, and bottom of the Anorak to get a better fit and less exposure to the elements.

One of the best features of wool in my mind is its quiet no sound of synthetics rubbing against itself and your going to be hard pressed to find a better insulator thats as durable as wool.

I wore this Anorak for the Majority of the Deep freeze that temps stayed around 5 degrees during the day with a -15 degree wind chill and at night got down to -5. I wore this anorak with a thin long sleeve merino wool shirt and a synthetic base layer and i was never cold. I even slept in it and had to remove one of my sleeping bags because I was beginning to sweat. Ive worn this on a few day hikes since this winter and its holding up great, and I don't see any chance of it getting beat up anytime soon, rock solid construction. (oh and they make you look cool a very important factor when out in the woods with no one around)

As of right now Jeffy and Bridget are not taking any orders they both work full time and make these in their spare time. If your interested in getting one keep a eye out of Common folk Self Reliance's facebook page. Ill have more on this and how it holds up in the future thanks for looking!

                                                         -Lain