Technical Gear For Skinny People

mattm wrote: I consider myself a medium large framed guy O

I am willing to bet my lunch (albeit a small one) that you do not need your jacket to be fit for a beer belly, while every jacket I bought recently could be used as maternity clothing.

I had this problem once.
It's nothing a few extra cheeseburgers won't fix.

Marek Sapkovski wrote: I am willing to bet my lunch (albeit a small one) that you do not need your jacket to be fit for a beer belly, while every jacket I bought recently could be used as maternity clothing.

Ha! No - you got me there. I am packing an extra 10 or so of "I have young children that take a lot of time and I like beer" weight though so while I often could go Medium in T-Shirts these days a Large feels a bit better!

My wife (also athletic) has complained about women's sizing changing to be more fat friendly as well. She hasn't noticed it in Patagonia stuff but has been forced to go with Eddie Bauer a lot more (They do tall sizes) because reg sizes run to wide vs the height.

On the subject of size creep, I borrowed this old Latok sweater from a friend. The fit was surprisingly snug and high performance. I was even more surprised that it was a size medium! It's possible that it shrunk over the years, but it fits like a modern XS.

Latok sweater

I am 6'4" tall and 195 lbs, so definately not as skinny as you (I'm betting you crush!!!), but I have a hard time fitting most american climbing clothing companies, if the sleeves fit then the body is overly baggy, especially with Patagonia.

I LOVE RAB! Unfortunately their sizing is incosistent, sometimes I'm a Large and sometimes an XL. If you can find an online store that has their gear then it would be in your best interest to pay the $5-$10 to order two sizes and ship back the wrong size, better than buying stuff you'll never wear!

The other company I've found that fits really well is Norrona, but they are rediculously expensive.

For "dress/work" Clothes I buy a lot of Lands End stuff because noone else makes a shirt that fits both my neck and arms, they always have 30-40% off sales.

This definitely interests me. Given the money I spend on a good piece of gear, I wish the fit was reasonable. I'm 6'2 and 175lbs and have ridiculously narrow shoulders. Still, I find that the chest and arms of most brands are too tight. Once I size up for a good range of motion up top, I have enough room around the gut to smuggle a large family into the country. Since when did outdoor companies decide that outdoor athletes were shaped like upside down pyramids with spindly stick figure arms? How do athletic guys with broad shoulders deal with this? I'll have to try OR. Maybe I should give into their design and sell my Arc'teryx jackets to Boulderites as recycled, reusable, performance engineered trash bags.

The outdoor industry's target demographic.

+1 for montbell

5'9, 134lbs, 28" (barely) waistline.

I find that technical clothes are the only ones that fit me. I usually have to check 4-5 stores to find a single pair of jeans. Patagonia fits best but really, most companies do fine.

With a 31" waistline, I'd imagine fit would be easy. Is it the length that you're struggling with?

6'2", 145lbs, 31" waist, 34" inseam, ~6' wingspan (1.0 ape index). I find deadbird still fits me well enough. To specifically address your jacket search, have you looked at the Atom LT? I find mine fits me very snugly. Or, if you don't want the venting, I know a man with a body much like mine who has a Nuclei that he likes quite a lot.

I wouldn't be surprised if deadbird's casual clothing has gotten trash-bag-esque, but the high end technical stuff still seems to fit right.

Joe B.S. wrote:This definitely interests me. Given the money I spend on a good piece of gear, I wish the fit was reasonable. I'm 6'2 and 175lbs and have ridiculously narrow shoulders. Still, I find that the chest and arms of most brands are too tight. Once I size up for a good range of motion up top, I have enough room around the gut to smuggle a large family into the country. Since when did outdoor companies decide that outdoor athletes were shaped like upside down pyramids with spindly stick figure arms? How do athletic guys with broad shoulders deal with this? I'll have to try OR.

I've got the big shoulders Joe, and pretty big trapezius muscles. Finding short sleeve shirts where the sleeve doesn't stick out at a goofy angle is next to impossible. Ringer T's and raglan sleeves help, and my mom has tailored a few of my button-up shirts quite nicely. I've also heard good things about OR's Astroman shirt.

At an only somewhat slim 6'4", most shirts are also too baggy if they're long enough or too short (and even narrower in the shoulder) if they fit well girth-wise. Any time I reach overhead I expose my midriff, which looked great on the girls when I was in junior high, but is distinctly unappealing on a man in his 30s.

I wish the high end companies (looking squarely at you, Arc'teryx) would make their sizing more like the cycling apparel brand Assos, where the fit is more tuned to the athletic people who use it than the general public; in other words, slimmer (except for the shoulders!) and getting gradually longer throughout the usual S-M-L-XL sizes, and a wider size at the top of the range (Assos uses the abbreviation "TIR"). Why should the target demographic of these companies suffer in ill-fitting clothing that better fits the slovenly masses whose performance (or maybe even their life) will never depend on how well their clothing insulates, repels water, or expels moisture?

Apologies for getting into Rant Mode, but I know I'm far from alone on this.

6', 180lbs, broad shoulders, 32" waist, 34" inseam.

Arc used to fit well (10'ish yrs ago?) but have since become too "Americanized". I now wear Mammut (my Gripfelgrat shell and Ultimate Hoodie are both go to pieces), RAB, And Icebreaker for insulating layers.

My Montbell ultralight puffy is too big around the stomach, but works for city wear. Surprisingly, I tried on an Arc'Teryx Thorium AR puffy in a large and it's a MUCH better fit than the Montbell. Really nice piece, too.