Orage Flora Insulated Jacket - Women's - 2008 BCS

This jacket has kept me warm every time I have used it. I get comments wherever I go on this design and haven't seen anyone else wearing it.

However, the material used for the shell could be a little more ballistic. I snowboard so I have to carry my board under my arm. The material by the bottom of the pit zipper and down by the side pocket is already wearing away from where the board edge rubs. This is unacceptable.

I've only had one other jacket in 20 years that did this and had to take it to Mountain Mend to have some custom work done in that area. Basically remedied by placing tougher material patches in these areas.

In my opinion, when you shell out $300 bones for this product you should at least get a jacket that has a bulletproof shell and can handle wear and tear for more than 3 months. Quite disappointing. I have dropped my rating down to 3 stars. Please improve this flaw Orage.

It's still toasty warm after a few more uses. We just got 4 feet of fresh over the holidays. Exceptionally good in the wind. It's nice not to have to wear a ton of layers. Also no binding or tightness when you sit on the lift. I like the fact that you can loosen it from the bottom if you have to layer or just want more room. One more small downside that could be easily remedied is that the opening on the goggle pocket on the inside of the jacket is too small. Actually the whole pocket could be a bit bigger. I'm afraid if I'm not careful I'll rip it. No regrets in buying this jacket

I purchased this jacket a few weeks ago and have worm it 4 times while Snowboarding. So far it's been great. The coldest day was 19 degrees with 0-5 wind and no sun. I get cold very easily but all I had on was a Patagonia zip up fleece underwear and a t-shirt! There are only two downsides to this jacket but they are minor. Orage follows suit with many companies that places pockets in the chest area one on top of the other. (one inside, one outside.) on the same side. I've never understood this philosophy. Why not use both sides? This forces me to carry my ipod and my camera on top of each other. Not very convenient and can be uncomfortable. Also the ipod pocket doesn't have an opening to stick the earphones through but it does have a red piece of cord sewn in as a guide. Lucky for me I decided to go bluetooth and now control everything from my headphones. Hopefully everything will be bluetooth soon so this won't even be an issue.

Back to the good stuff, If you're a fashonista,this jacket gets noticed!! It's not loud like so many ski and snowboard jackets and pants but the compliments roll from every direction. The most important is that it's functional. So many womens jacket and pants are designed with fashion in mind and not function. I'm not a tiny woman any more. Have gained 20 pounds or more since my competition days. It's nice to see that this company makes gear in xlarge sizes. Large sizes aren't what they used to be any more and most clothing is designed for little girls. I'm 5'2 and 150 pounds. I ride hard and mostly do steeps and deeps. It has a powder skirt and the pass holder is located between the powder skirt and the jacket. I kind of like this design but am concerned about the plastic mechanism used to secure the pass. The plastic is quite stiff and might break if its cold enough or possibly hit. Time will tell. This jacket also provides plenty of room to layer as well. You can zip it up all the way if you have to wear more insulation.

All in all, thumbs up!

This is one gorgeous jacket! I have skiied in shells and layers for the last several years and felt a lot more flexible and less like a snowperson in this coat. I was very warm (unusual for me) and comfortable. I agree with the two pockets being on one side being a problem. At Alta UT they use ski cards that are incompatible with being near a cell phone. They do not attach to your gear, rather go in a pocket. The upper pocket was the most convenient for the pass, but that left me with the cell phone (which is also my iPod) in my lower pockets, not as safe if I fell, and awkward with a cord. It worked, but it would have been much better to have two upper pockets. But as the other commenters say, it is still a wonderful jacket. Love the red!