30 Years….and Still Going Strong: A Story of a Windcheater Jacket – Sheffield Made

13th December 2021

Our Sheffield team love customer reviews on kit – The adventures, the near misses, the epics, the memories they evoke we love to hear about. When Robert contacted our Sheffield team his love of Scottish Munro’s was clear – the legacy of his Windcheater Jkt was quickly to become apparent. Good kit should be made to last a lifetime and Robert’s story is a testament to our manufacturing philosophy.

 

Buffalo, 

Hello and I hope this little story may interest you.

On Saturday 11th January 1992 I reached the cairn on Carn Liath (above Blair Atholl). It was my 1,000th Scottish Munro.

Shortly afterwards I procured a Buffalo Windcheater and now nearly 30yrs on I am pleased to say I am still wearing it and it’s going strong. 

In one of his memorable songs George Formby sang about his “grandads flannelette nightshirt” describing it as  “old fashioned, tattered and torn”, and in some ways this describes my Windcheater. Old fashioned it may well be, but after all it was never intended as an item of fashion. Tattered, certainly not as I have looked after it too well to let that happen. Torn, well after 30yrs what can one expect? It bears a patch and is rather thin in places, especially the shoulders where rucksack straps live. However it is still the first item of kit into the sack for any mountain trip.

It’s a long while since 1992 and a couple of years ago I manage to complete my 10th Round of the  Scottish Munros, so you can imagine my Windcheater has seen a lot of action, endured a lot of weather of all sorts not to mention a fair number of rather unkind Scottish winter batterings. 

Just last Saturday I was with Diana, my long suffering girlfriend, at an art exhibition here in Rawtenstall. We were both wearing our Buffaloes. Another lady joined us, she asked about our jackets, and despite many years in the outdoors she had never heard of Buffalo. We wasted no time in expatiating on their virtue. It also set me to wondering if I would notice any difference if I renewed my faithful Windcheater for a present day version. Perhaps though at just a few days short of 82 looking for an item to last me another 30yrs is pushing my luck.

To all at Buffalo who made this wonderful item possible what more can I say, other than

THANK YOU. 

 

Sincerely, 

 

Robert H.MacDonald.