66° Norður

According to their adverts, 66° Norður has been "Keeping Iceland warm since 1926." We'd seen these all over, mostly featuring stern-looking people standing in rugged Icelandic settings, wearing snazzy outdoor wear. They are also official outfitter to the staff of the BSÍ bus company.

Their heavyweight Polartec fleece vests and jackets are certainly very, very nice, but also come with price tags well into five figures (in krónur), or north of $200 CAD.

A couple of months earlier, at the Columbia Sportswear Company flagship store in downtown Portland, Oregon (glorious land of 0% sales tax), I'd walked away from a similar type of jacket. It was warm (especially in June), comfortable, and fit well, and could be combined with an outer shell which I certainly couldn't afford. Compared to the Icelandic equivalent, $90 USD would have been a bargain...

I always find it very difficult to buy souvenirs when travelling. Generally, it's the same schlock everywhere, all made in China, but with a different name stamped on it. However, a 66° Norður jacket would be distinctive, tasteful, and very practical too. There was just that matter of price, which would be even higher in the hotel gift shop and tourist stores, of course.

I could almost rationalize buying one - it would have been so easy to just pull out the Eurocard and worry about the bill next month. I mean, the number on the tag already includes the 24.5% VAT, and I could get 15% of that refunded back if I spend enough...

I would surely have succumbed, if not for two things:

1. I couldn't find anything with the Icelandic "66° Norður" logo, as found on the domestic product, worn by the bus people. Everything in the stores was obviously labelled "66° North" for tourists and international export.

2. "Made in Latvia" on the label.

So, I resigned myself to walking out of the Geysir tourist shop empty-handed. As I did so, one of the American families from the tour came in:

"Do you like it? Daddy will buy you one, if you like it."

Grrr.