Arc'teryx Gamma SV Vest - Men's - 2007 BCS

As stated - functional vest and the tailoring is exceptional. Quite rain repellent. The sizing is quite interesting. I have a 42" inch chest and am relatively brawny. I have a L/G which is quite roomy and the shoulder areas flare out in a slight Klingon manner. I imagine I can layer up when I do some exploring outdoors and the extra room and shoulders won't be as noticeable. Also, this vest is made in China, not N. America. Overall, nicer than the competition, but Arcteryx needs to examine the sizing market a tad more IMO.

Arc'teryx products provide a style and quality that I really appreciate. The vest looks great and fits great as well. I don't seem to have problems with the arm holes that some have mentioned. Backcountry's price sealed the deal for me.

HUGH arm holes that looked like some kinda costume. I bought this thinking surely the reviews are not that accurate! WRONG. They were. Good thing about backcountry.com is that there is no fuss no muss with returns. This puppy went back and I am trying to work out what to get instead.

I'm an Arc'teryx homer with 4 hard + 2 soft shells, 3 fleece, 1 pant, 1 bib. I really wanted to like this but I can't quite recommend it. Style, build, quality is there but it does not provide the protection from the wind provided by similar vests. The problem is the armhole design. It flares out so much on top that it allows cold biting wind to come in -- kind of like having wings that funnel the wind in. It's sacrilege but I'll stick with my ancient TNF Windstopper vest for now. Regards to sizing, I'm 5'11" 44R and a L fits perfectly except for the aforementioned armholes.

I've noticed several reviewers complain about this problem in regards to the flaring of the arm holes. I originally purchased this vest in medium and also had this problem. Luckily, I was able to fit into a small which totally eliminated the problem. Of course I can't layer much under it but it fits perfect over an icebreaker midweight or liteweight layer and fits perfect under a hardshell or another softshell jacket.