Customer Reviews L.L.Bean Rugged Ridge Parka

I love everything about this parka as to warmth and style. The reason for my review is the zipper which is difficult to use.

I bought a size large. It was VERY large but might have been tolerable except for the sleeves. They came to nearly the ends of my fingers. They seemed to be designed for a Gorilla. I had to return it. I'm not a big fan of the extra long back either but the sleeves were the deal breaker. Otherwise seemed like a good product.

Great jacket, but the zipper is not as easy to use as it should be. Mainly because its a double and the two must be aligned just right. Don't recall the description stating a double zipper, and dont see why it would be necessary on this jacket. A larger zipper may have helped. Since the zipper is the primary "working part" of the jacket I can not give a high rating.

I bought this jacket after having a similar one for several years, which I liked. The last jacket was still good except the zipper broke. I only gave this jacket 3 stars because the zipper on this brand new one has issues. It frequently takes several frustrating attempts to get the zipper to engage before you can zip it up. Also the former jacket had four pockets for your hands, two on each side, this one has just two, one on each side. The pockets don't have much of a lip either. You hands can fit in them OK, but I am afraid that things I put in them, like keys can fall out since they do not have much of a lip. The jacket does feel warm and fits well (TXL, I am 6'4" and 220lbs), but the zipper thing, not sure if I would buy it if I had know the zipper was such a problem.

Warm jacket with totally useless velcro closures that don't work.Nedds snaps!

Jacket isn't that warm and the Zippered failed after awhile of use. after nearly 2 years the Jacket ripped on the inside

First off, I am a woman. This coat was purchased because of LL.Bean's known quality. This was advertised as one of their warmest coats. It is not. Luckily I bought it large enough to layer underneath because it is not as warm as I expected at all. Already worn in a sprinkling rain, coat beads water very well. I expect the water resistance will be awesome. If you're cold natured & looking for REAL warmth, look elsewhere. Quality looks good. I expect overall performance will be ok as long as I can layer under it.

Coat is much thinner than I thought it would be. Draw string in the middle doesn't really pull the coat in tight on the outer layer. Its like the inner and outer layer are not stitched together. very Warm thou.

I recently bought this parka for my husband. The first time he wore was to walk outside with me to look at Christmas lights, and he got cold. It wasn't even that cold outside. Such a bummer! That was actually the second problem. The first problem is that the double zipper is hard to zip because it's a real challenge to line it up right to connect it at the bottom. It's not a very substantial zipper either. So, on the plus side it is a lightweight coat with nice features. But we will be returning it. Tonight's trial run was frustrating when it came time to leave a restaurant and he couldn't just quickly zip it up. So he just held it closed around him and said, "I'm returning this one!"

Not as heavy or warm as my last Rugged Ridge Parka. Having issue with zipper already.

My husband was very disappointed in this product. He stated he doesn't know how this coat will keep him warm in sub zero weather it isnt keeping him warm on the cool fall mornings.

It's tighter than it "true size". I could wear it with a t-shirt OK but once you add a sweater, it's too tight. Also not as warm as rated.

Warm and comfortable. But the zipper has broken twice and I was told it can't be fixed under warranty. It doesn't matter how good the coat is if the zipper won't zip.

The coat looks nice and is very light. It however is not great for really cold temps. It is not as warm as I expected. It was a little snug. I wear 2XL in every other shirt and coat, but this is a little snug around my midsection compared to my other coats. I suspect the lack of space inside is the reason it is not as warm as I would expect. Buy up 1 size. I do like it just too tight.

I am 5'9, 197lbs. I wear a 44R and 16 1/2-17 shirt w 34 sleeves, 34 waist(32inseam). Average height and weight. Things i like about the coat are: The lightweight but substantial lining that I'm sure will keep me warm during Chicago winters. The double zipper really helps when you what to open from the bottom while sitting or driving. Always a plus to have the mid-body cinch cord for a more comfortable fit around the waist. Outside pocket for my phone is a plus. My dislikes, the coats overall fit in the body and sleeves is too relaxed and fits too loose. The body(per my wife) "hangs" on me, and the sleeves are bulky and too long. I do like that the tail hangs down further giving better coverage down to the mid thigh. I am contemplating ordering the size medium, if it will be too small, but this large has a lot of extra room that a sweater will not account for. I think a semi-fitted instead of this relaxed fit would be better for me. I like the extras with this coat, but it may be a return. I can't justify the cost and not be satisfied.

Zipper sucks. Exchanged for another and that zipper does not work correctly either

I loved this model that I bought a few years ago, unfortunately they removed the upper set of pockets! The lower ones are too low and feel awkward. I'm not sure why this change was made other than to save a few bucks. I will probably return this item. Long term LL Bean fan, but I have seen a difference in quality lately - with other products as well. The items that have held their quality have increased drastically in price. Thinking about moving to a different credit card as well.

While we live in Maryland where we don't always need this warm a coat, there are periods when it is necessary. This jacket is perfect for windy below freezing weather, except for the zipper. My husband has worn this jacket 3 times and has needed help getting it unzipped twice! I am sorry to say I had not read the reviews when I ordered it for him.

The jacket is fine in every respect but one: the zipper requires lots of fiddling to get to zip. This is inexcusable. Bad nylon zippers are the usual cause for outer garments to become unusable. Since I routinely buy from LL Bean that means LL Bean zippers. A garment is only as good as its weakest point. In this day of high tech, LL Bean could pay attention to customer service, rather than sell defective garments and consider that returning them one after another until one gets one that is not defective is quality performance. There is never time to do things right, there is always time to do things again. Currently, my wife only partially unzips her long coat from LL Bean, again because of zipper issues.

I wish I had read the reviews first. I purchased this parka to ease a beat-up but still-usable 23-year-old version of the same parka into retirement. Many buyers have commented on the main zipper. I can't agree with some commenters that the zipper it is cheap plastic - the zippers on both the old and new parkas are good-quality YKK Vislon zippers with metal sliders. The tooth pitch of the old zipper is 6 per inch, of the new one 7.5 per inch. However, the zipper sliders on the new parka are almost comically-small, less than half the size of the zipper sliders of the old parka. This makes the main zipper very difficult to see and difficult to engage. It would be better if I had three hands, two to engage the zipper, and one to hold the magnifying glass to make it possible to engage it. Not sure whether to keep this parka or not.

The coat is pretty warm and fit well, but there were a couple of aspects I didn't like, so I ended up returning it: The coat was noisy when moving, presumably due to the type of waterproof layer in the hard shell. The main zipper was too small, and not easy to close wearing gloves. Velcro patches on the main storm flap make it hard to unzip quickly; they catch on sweaters; and the edges of the velcro strips are not bonded to the coat fabric, so they scratch and catch on skin.

I bought this about two years ago, but can't recall if it was a M or L, because the size is not listed on the coat. The zipper was always a bit funky as today it jammed halfway up and I had to slide the coat down off my legs to take it off. I can't fix the zipper, as it's really jammed. I realize there are no returns after a year but I'm going to the store on Thursday and plead my case. I've been a loyal customer since 1949 so I hope that helps.

I bought this jacket 2 years ago (lasting 2 winters including this one (2018-19). On the plus side the jacket is indeed warm. On the negative side, the Velcro straps on the jacket are made of very cheap quality and have already started to wear out. I expected better quality product from LL Bean. With their change in warranty policy, not sure if they will take back a 2 year old jacket. I just expected this jacket to last a lot longer.

I bought this coat four years ago and have worn it occasionally during that time. It is very warm and I like the pocket placements. However, the biggest pain is the zipper. I like having the lower zipper so the coat does not bind when sitting in the car, but the lower zipper binds about every time I put it on. The last time I put it on to go out into -1 degree temperatures, the lower zipper bound and when working it loose, I found that three of the zipper teeth had come off. The zipper sliders fell off and the coat cannot now be zipped. I called LLBean and they said that I have to either send the coat back to them to be repaired, of take it to one of their stores, the nearest which is an two hours away. So I will be without a warm coat for the remainder of this season. I'm not happy.

Construction is very good and works well in 30 degree weather with some light layering. But I have to say the hood is very disappointing in terms of adjustability. One string to tighten around face, that's it. That's unfortunate because the hood is well made but it's basically a large sack on my head. Maybe it has something to due with me ordering a size up to account for layering, but it should be adjustable enough to compensate.