Which Zipper Should I Use To Replace A Broken Zipper On A Winter Jacket?

We get a lot of questions about specific zipper situations. While it is helpful to give one-on-one advice, we thought it could be even better to publicly share the answers. This way, people working on similar zipper repairs or zipper replacements can learn from them. So today we’re introducing a new feature where we answer customer questions on the blog. We hope this will be the first of many posts that give some insight into actual zipper questions.

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Question:

I have a Salomon winter jacket with a broken zipper. Here is a picture of one of the pocket zippers (same zipper). Do you have something like this? The zipper is 28” long and has a stopper at the bottom (is that called an open end?) The jacket is navy blue.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

Have a good day.

Hi there!

Thank you for this great zipper question. I’m sorry your coat needs its zipper replaced, but you’ve come to the right place. I’ll try to break it down for you so you can have your jacket back in good working order soon!

First of all, a zipper that goes down the front of a jacket that you open and close put the jacket on is called a separating zipper. Sometimes these zippers are also referred to as open-ended, as you mentioned.

From the photo, I can tell this pocket zipper is a nylon coil zipper. Assuming the main zipper matches, you will be looking for a nylon coil zipper.

From the information you provided, I am going to assume the following information:

Length: 28” as measured from the bottom of the zipper to the top stop

Color: Navy blue

Teeth style: Nylon coil

I would need one more piece of information to determine the exact replacement:

What is the gauge?

In other words, how wide is the zipper? A #5 gauge zipper would have teeth that measure 5 mm wide when zipped. A #10 gauge zipper has teeth that measure 10 mm when zipped, and so on (or should I say sew on? Ha! Just a little sewing humor there).

Most likely the zipper is a #5, or close to it. A #5 is a medium weight zipper. If the jacket was very big and bulky, then it might be a #10. For almost all ladies’ coats, and many men’s coats, a #5 or similar gauge is appropriate.

We carry #5 nylon coil separating jacket zippers in navy, in lengths of 30”. These zippers can be shortened to 28”.

Please see here if you’d like to order this type of zipper:

https://www.zippershipper.com/5-nylon-coil-separating-zipper

If you need a #10 gauge, that would not be something we currently stock with nylon coil zipper teeth, however, we do have a version with molded plastic zipper teeth available here:

https://www.zippershipper.com/10-molded-plastic-heavy-duty-separating-jacket-zipper

Remember, if we don’t stock the exact length you need for your zipper replacement, you can have the zipper shortened.

Thank you for the question and have a great day!