Caving to L.L.Bean temptation

I broke down over the weekend and ordered an L.L.Bean Explorer jacket.

I resisted several days, but the L.L.Bean catalog that came early last week just wouldn't let me alone.

It's a replacement for my venerable Willis & Geiger Hemingway jacket that I bought more than 10 years ago when the bean counters at Land's End were in the process of blowing out the remaining W&G stock, having decided it wasn't profitable. That was a tragically stupid decision. Willis & Geiger outfitted Teddy Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Roald Amundsen, Charles Lindbergh, Sir Edmund Hillary, any number of high profile expeditions and, not incidentally, Ernest Hemingway. The Hemingway jacket was made to Papa Hemingway's specs and was a real man's jacket.

Mine is frayed at the cuffs and has little holes where the pocket flaps attach to the torso. I'd buy another, but they no longer exist.

So when I saw the Explorer jacket in the Bean catalog, it caught my eye immediately. It lacks some of the exquisite detailing that made the Hemingway jacket unique, but it does boast 16 pockets - six outside and 10 inside. A guy can never have enough pockets, you know.

I ordered mine in Eucalyptus, eschewing the Dark Khaki and Peat Green, but it was a difficult choice.

I placed my order on Saturday and the L.L.Bean web site confirms that it shipped today via UPS.

Other than my natural impatience, there's no real rush because it will be several weeks before it's cool enough to wear even a light jacket.

But I'll be ready.