A few months ago I scored up a free jacket from Chappy at Porter’s Tahoe. It was slick. The Volcom Iceman jacket. Certainly a solid piece. I wore that thing a lot this winter. With a little bit of layering underneath, it was plenty warm for the Wisco nighttime shrad sessions. Kind of changed my mind about Volcom gear too. But the most important part is that I got it for free. Big thanks to Chappy.
It also added to my harem of jackets, which was pushing 10 coats at that time. Perhaps my priorities were a touch off.
Fast forward to last Friday night, I was out doing some shradding at the almost-local ski hill. It was the end of the evening, and as most people in the Midwest know, pretty much the end of the season. We were taking advantage of the one of the last nights and just screwing about. Then I see some kid out riding and pushing the best looking pair of pants to come out this year.
Naturally I’s like “Those is some sick pantaloons you’re wearing, senor.” 
Turns out kid was a lady.
So she’s going off about how she dropped a load on the pants and now she has nothing to match up with them. She was going to have to drop a whole other dump of cash to get the matching jacket. And I was thinking two things. First off, sistah soldier, you don’t want to be rolling in a same print top and bottom. Secondly, I understand where you are coming from as I have been in such a predicament. Big B is going to kill you with a print like this then leave you with limited pairing options. That’s how they get you!
And somewhere in that conversation karma kicked in and I said, “Kid you need this coat. I will trade you straight up for that filth rag you are trying to match to the proper pants.” She was all hesitant at first but I assured her I got the coat for free and it was really not a big loss for me. The catch was I got to take her beat, old jacket for bloggerman purposes. Because I knew I would have to document this to get approval from the bloggermanreadership out there.
I only wish there was a way you could feel through the screen because this jacket is disgusting. The shell is like hazmat protection thick and, well, it’s really dirty too.
I’m pretty sure the girl was hyped on getting a coat handed to her for free. And I was pleased knowing that I have cut down the parka stable by one and passed on the goodwill I was lucky enough to have handed to me. I guess the moral of the story is as snowboarders we’re a pretty fortunate bunch. If you get something for free, pass on the good karma.
As for this coat, I’m going tie a brick in the sleeve and toss it in the lake.
2011 product preview
It seems Burton has finally perfected those magnetic bindings, as evidenced by this photo:
Can’t wait to kickflip the shit out of boards.
Also for those not in the know, you probably won’t be getting that jacket from Sierra Ski and Patio Superstore.
Tags: free shit, karma, Mason Aguirre, Porter's Tahoe, snowboardering