$269 This is a low cost version of the AK 2L Jackets. Every Year Burton makes a non AK 2 Layer Gore-Tex jacket and this year it's called the Andover. The Burton Shelter Jacket is a solid choice for that rider who get's 100 days in a year or for someone who rides in areas that are wet but is on a budget. The price is hard to beat for a Gore-Tex Jacket As you can see the Shelter has a lot of pockets and many many things that a mountain rider needs. It's also ok if you are going to take the occasional hike on the mountain on a blue bird day. Remember this is a shell made to work with layers so don't be that stupid person to write about how it isn't warm. If you want almost everything that can be offered in terms of solid waterproofing and around the mountain functionality then the 2L Jacket is a a good choice if you can deal with the price. The more we play with this jacket the less we have something bad to say about it. This is one of those ideal jackets for the type of inbound riding that many of us at The Good Ride do. Burton is closing the disparity between skiing jackets and snowboarding jackets. Yeah the AK line is better but not everyone wants to blow the price of an average snowboard on a jacket.
Burton is huge. They have developed or acquired most of the technology that we use today. Burton is one of the only companies that can provide you with everything you need to snowboard from boards to beanies. Burton even owns arguably the best surfboard company Channel Islands because Jake likes to surf. They are like the Yankees of snowboarding because they can always outspend their competition to win.
The positives- Burton provides more products for each gear/clothing/accessory category than any other company. Burton has possibly the best customer service in the snowboarding industry. Burton continuously spends more money than almost any company to develop new tech or just make what they have better. Burton sponsors more pro’s and get’s more high level user feed back than any other company. They have some of the best boots, bindings and boards in the industry. They also have great clothing. The Negatives- Because Burton spends so much money on sponsorship and tech they have to pass this cost along to the products they sell. They relentlessly continue to jack up the prices every year. You are almost always going to get a good product from Burton’s higher end line but some mid to low level products don’t stack up to the competition in the same price range. Just remember it’s not always good because it hast the Burton label on it.
Everyday riders make sacrifices like living in a laundry room or sleeping in a converted school bus, but those lifties, dish dogs, and night janitors know GORE-TEX® is a necessity. The Burton 2L GORE-TEX® Andover Jacket is Burton's first GORE-TEX® shell designed around a local's budgetary constraints. Stocked with taped seams, Pit Zips™, ample storage and snow-free interfaces at the waist and cuffs—this is heli tech at t-bar prices. Guaranteed To Keep You Dry® and looking fly, the Andover Jacket is the best deal going in snowboarding.
