Gear advice you can actually verify

Blue Parka exists because most cold-weather advice online is either vague (“dress in layers!”) or gear-brand marketing in disguise. We publish the numbers instead: fill power and fill weight, insulation in grams, waterproofing in millimetres, and what to change when you're still cold.

Every guide is field-tested through real winters before it's published. When advice depends on specific gear, we name it — and when the cheap option does the job, we say so.

How the site works

The entire library is searchable from the home page, powered by Google Programmable Search. There are no accounts, no pop-ups and no newsletter interstitials. Ads, where present, are served by Google AdSense and are clearly distinguishable from editorial content — see our privacy policy for details.

About the author

Blue Parka is written by Andy Anderson. Andy was born in the Canadian Rockies, where −30 °C mornings and metres of snow every winter made warm clothing a survival skill long before it became a profession. Growing up in the mountains turned into a lifelong passion for skiing, ski touring (randonnée) and just about every other winter sport — and into decades of wearing, breaking and comparing the gear those sports depend on.

That background shapes how this site is written: advice starts from what actually happens to fabric, insulation and skin in real cold, not from a press release. If a guide recommends something, it's because it has survived real storms and real seasons first.

Editorial standards

• We don't publish advice we haven't tested ourselves.
• We don't accept payment for coverage or rankings.
• Corrections are made in place and dated.

Questions, corrections or guide requests? Get in touch.