Second-hand Columbia
45 pieces available, from XS to XXL, mostly in very good condition, between €15 and €69.
Columbia is an outdoor brand, and that is the right angle for judging its pieces second-hand: what counts is not the style but the state of the technical features. The brand's jackets rely on waterproof membranes, taped seams and water-repellent treatments, and it is these that age, not the outer fabric. A ten-year-old Columbia jacket can look perfect and have lost most of its waterproofing. The sizing is generous, designed to be layered over other clothes, and given in US sizes. Check first: the inside of the seams, where the heat-sealed tape comes away first; the state of the zips, often oversized and so expensive to replace; and the elastics on the hood and the hem. A water-repellent treatment can be looked after and reactivated; a delaminated membrane cannot.
