For those of you who like to wear massive jackets miles away from any mountains, belaying means standing beneath your climber mate whilst holding their rope so that they’ll just dangle like a human puppet rather than fall straight to their death if they lose their footing. Which is both an important job and quite often a very chilly one as you have to keep relatively still most of the time. Hence a belay jacket being usually being a big comfy, warm, down number that will stop you freezing to death whilst watching your mate’s arse get smaller and smaller (or vice versa if they fall off).
Establsihed in 1941 Nanga are a Japanese brand named after ‘Nanga Parbat’ mountain in the Himalayas whose sleeping bags and down jackets are somewhat legendary within the outdoor industry. Suffice to say that this turquoise Belay Parka is a very special piece of kit that’s been made with hanging around mountains in mind though cool enough to cut a dash in whilst hanging around the most urban of environments. The attention to detail here is matched only by the pocket count, head over to Oi Polloi to get down with Nanga here.
