Parkas & Winter Coats - Hiking & Backpacking
The Hiking Parka, Ideal for Discovering New Icy Territories
If the hiking parka is so popular, and so many people choose it as a waterproof hiking jacket, it’s because the hiking parka has many qualities. Often waterproof and breathable, featuring a hood and a long cut that provides complete protection, the hiking parka, ultra versatile, allows you to traverse the coldest and iciest territories on the planet.
How to Choose Your Hiking Parka?
A hiking parka should be chosen based on several criteria. A characteristic often overlooked, yet essential: the number of pockets! Your hiking parka should indeed be optimized for your sporting practice. If you like the idea of having your most personal items close to your heart, a hiking parka with plenty of pockets might satisfy you.
Next, you should pay particular attention to the waterproofness and breathability of your hiking parka. If it is very warm but not breathable, you will quickly feel like you’re swimming in your hiking parka, especially when the effort becomes intense. Thus, particularly if you enjoy ski touring or another sport that extends over time and requires significant energy mobilization, you must ensure the good breathability of your hiking parka.
The Windspeed Jacket by Patagonia is a good example of a hiking parka that combines performance and breathability. Its 100% waterproof and breathable membrane, along with its water-repellent treatment, blocks rain or snow while ensuring optimal sweat evacuation. With it, the Haute-Route Chamonix-Zermatt on ski touring becomes feasible!
However, breathability cannot be mentioned without discussing the waterproofness of your hiking parka. That’s why you should also monitor the Schmerber rating, also known as the "Schmerber index", of your future hiking parka. This index will indeed provide you with a good indication of the waterproofness of your hiking parka. As a guideline, a hiking parka with a rating of 10,000 mm can be used for a multi-day mountain hike. If conditions are expected to be catastrophic, you should then prefer a hiking parka with a rating above 10,000 mm.
On Hardloop.co.uk, Discover All the Hiking Parkas That Will Keep You Warm This Winter Season
If hiking parkas make you dream, if outdoor sports brands inspire you to head towards the Côtes-d'Armor, then Hardloop will silence all your doubts. On Hardloop.co.uk, you will indeed find a wide selection of hiking parkas that will allow you to discover snowshoeing in the Ecrins, snowboarding in Savoie, or even ski touring in the Dolomites.