I have been wearing this jacket for years, my original one is still being worn by my stepbrother and is 9 years and 600+ days of use. It has faded a bit but that is all.

Great for touring, blocks wind, breathes, has a hood, will withstand amazing abuse. Not too warm.

It will always be a staple in my touring set up.

When I first opened the package I was a bit disappointed. How could this jacket be warm at such a small weight? I was stuned after I tested it. It blocks wind very well, but I haven't tried it in rain just yet. This jacket keeps me warm in temperatures down to ehhhhh......about 30 degrees (F). Any action under that temp. is easily solved with a fleece layer underneath.

The dimensions of this jacket (especially where the arm meets the shoulder) make it so easy to move without the entire jacket sliding up the torso. Every place on the jacket near any moving body part has a little extra space to compensate for full range of motion.

I can see how this jacket is so expensive, but the original price kinda sucks. I would not pay $379 (MSRP), but for the sale price, this jacket is a steal!

While it is billed as a highly versatile jacket, I think it has limited use. Firstly its very durable, but not warm. If you want something for skiing or the alpine environment, why not the Venta SV or the Fury SV. Both are slightly warmer and more waterproof. If you want warmth, go with the Gamma SV. I think this jacket is best for... actually Im not sure. Its definitely a sweet jacket, but there are better options for the same money.

I bought this jacket because of its great reviews. I have to say that I have not been disappointed. However, the price tag is a little over the top. I paid full retail for the green color because it is unique and does look much better than any other jacket I have ever seen. I do get a lot of compliments on the color.
Likes: form fitting, flexible and soft material, good water resistance (not waterproof), decent breathability (could be better), good tail coverage, nice hood with ability to tailor fit with the drawstring cord.
Dislikes: price tag, could breath better if you had some zip vents under the armpits, the left arm pocket is virtually useless due to its small size and the zipper is difficult to open unless your are holding down the arm cuff, the napolean chest pockets do not accommodate bulky items items due to the trim fit of the jacket against the chest.
Overall: was mostly an impulse buy, but don't regret it, as it will be my best outdoor jacket and get lots of use.

I've had this jacket for more than three years now. It bothers me that it is always listed as highly water resistant because it's pretty far from it. Rain will bead off during the first month or less but anyone caught in a lasting shower will know that it seeps through pretty fast. I bought it with intentions of replacing my GoreTex on day trips ski mountaineering and touring but because you can't rely on it as your only shell, I ended up carrying my Goretex with me anyway. Using it on the climb up it retains sweat from your body and can become quite wet. When on exposed ridges or at the summmit and the wind starts to pick up, the jacket chills you down quite fast since it is not entirely windproof, especially if a little wet. Same goes for resort skiing if you're pushing your body or get wet from the snow. Bone chilling if it gets wet. Hence I stopped using it for skiing. for climbing it is much better. Amazing abrasion resistance and windproof enough to climb in most conditions. Quality is good and there is only real sign of wear on the wrists and a couple of seams on one arm. The plastic chin guard is not so good as it curled up during the first few months and never really stays in place. The fit is athletic and XL fits me perfectly, although it could be slimmer(although I suspect they make it baggier in the XL). I'm 6'5 and 90 kg's whatever that is in pounds. Oh, and the hood of course is amazing. Fits perfectly with or without helmet.

I had another softshell jacket that wasn't working out because the cut was short and the arm length was also insufficient. This would cause problems, for instance when ice climbing. This jacket on the other hand is perfect! It's light but warm and the cut is perfect. The sizes run big (as is typical with N-American products) so I got a medium even though I'm over 6 feet tall. It still has room for a thick sweater/fleece underneath. The hood is well designed and can easily fit over a helmet. Honestly, I haven't found anything that I'm not stoked about in this jacket!

this is the perfect jacket for ski touring when you know the weather isn't going to destroy you. it's super-breathable, very comfortable and the pockets are the perfect size to hold skins. the hood fits helmets really well. i agree with eric; the wrists are a little tight.

I have this jacket for 3 years now and it still fits well and looks good. I washed it a few times. I have the blue color and its fading in some areas. The hood is huge. The inner zipper lining by the chin area is kinda annoying. Other than I like the jacket.

i went with this jacket over the torch simply because it was cut a little longer and fit me much better. I am 6'4" and lanky and 185 lbs and the L fits me wonderfully. This jacket lacks pit zips compared to the MHW torch and this powershield material seems a little thicker but other than that I love it. The hood design, and is the case on all other arc teryx jackets, is far and wide the best. Expensive but if you want an awesome versatile softshell this is it

I bought this jacket to use as my all-around outdoor jacket. Thus far is has been excellent in that capacity. It's comfortable with a pack on and it moves well when I use it for skiing.

I will agree with others that it isn't the best in nasty weather. It has to be paired with a warm midlayer when its cold and if it's pouring I would suggest a full gore-tex shell. Barring those kind of suggestions, I highly recommend this jacket.

As always, Arc'teryx brings it home with this jacket. Perfect fitting, warm, light, choice materials, everything you could ever want from a top of the line softshell. Look no further, the Gamma MX Hoody is where it's at.

I'm with a reviewer below. I like the quality of the jacket, however I don't think that it's what it once was, since they moved production to China. If you own a "before and after" version you can see differences. Nonetheless, I still vow Arcteryx quality and will continue to buy their gear till it fails me.
This jacket seems to fit a tad bit bigger than the hoodless one, not as fitted which means you can fit more layering underneath.

So the pros first. The material used is very flexible or "stretchy" the helmet compatible hood is very nice as it works very well with or without a helmet at retaining body heat. The jacket is also pretty warm for its weight. Like all high quality softshells is windproof and highly water resitant. Cons are price for the features its missing an interior pocket for the mp3 player it is to heavy for high aerobic cool weather activities making it only useful if it is colder out. What is most baffling about this shell is the lack of pit zips for almost $400 dollars making the jacket almost completley useless for anything really high aerobic. If you want a jacket that does it all go with the mtn hardware dragon.

The retail price is a little steep, but when it came up on Steep and Cheap, I was on it. Great all around spring/fall jacket that will protect you from the elements. I own the 1st generation Gamma SV (literally bought it 1 month after its release) and 5 years later it is still going. I anticipate this to do the same. But with a hood. Oh, and a snazzy green color.

Very nice Jacket my favorite color of the Gamma mx jacket is green bean color.

This is one cool jacket I use it most often for hiking.

I absolutely love my Gamma MX Hoody. I also have the non-hooded version, but the Hoody is by far my favorite. The cut of this jacket is absolutely perfect for me. The sleeves are pretty long and the body is the perfect length (the non-hooded version is cut a little shorter). I wear this thing trail running, backpacking, snowboarding, around town, at the office, and sometimes to bed. I really love the breathability, water-resistance, and stretchy Polartec material of the Gamma MX Hoody. Definitely recommend this one!

I recently bought the gamma mx hoody to replace my Lowe Alpine softshell. But although the jacket is great in many ways it is not actually very warm, nor is it windproof. It is not a shell jacket, it can't even keep the wind out when I bike to work in a cold september morning (around zero degrees celcius here in Norway). It is pretty cool, and the hood is great but I think there are several better softshells than the gamma mx around. I have a "new" Chinese jacket - perhaps the older ones were better.

The Gamma series used to be one of the best softshells jackets around. Until Arc'teryx in their crafty acts decided to move production to China (surprise, surprise?). They not only brought the overrall quality of this jacket down but by just looking at it, it just seems another piece of TNF branded jacket. The sewing and stitching lines are not as well done as before and from already comparing several different gammas I can tell that many of them don't have the quality consistency as before. The outer shell is softer and much more prone to snagging than the older models too. Thankfully, Arc'teryx didn't change one thing about this jacket. The Price. For that price either Arc'teryx brings production back to Canada or SIGNIFICANTLY lower the price to reflect their much lower production costs.

Pros:
Very Breathable
Good Stretch
Great Hood (for a helmet)
Great Pocket Space
Looks Cool (I guess)

Cons:
SUCKS IN THE WIND
NOT WARM
Wrist "collars" suck (they need to be adujustable velcro)
Overpriced... (I payed $170, but $375??? really???)

Alrighty then, well I'm not sure where some of you other reviewers have "tested" your gear, but this jacket does not qualify as "warm" or "highly wind resistant." I live in Breckenridge, CO and have skiied, hiked, and snowshoed in this jacket in a wide range of conditions. That said, this jacket is made for the Spring/Summer/Early fall. This is not a jacket to wear if the temps are below 30 or your getting some good wind (ie. every day for me...). Even with a couple layers and a fleece underneath, I still feel cold and feel the wind cutting through this thing.

My 800-fill Montbell down (which makes no attempts to be wind/water/anything resistant keeps me tons warmer with just a base layer underneath in the WORST winds at Breckenridge.

All that to say, if you're a fair-weather guy who wants something that breathes and stretches or if you want to look "cool" wit da ARKtarix, go for it (if you feel like shelling out cash). If you need something more functional in varied conditions, pick up a windstopper softshell with pit zips or something more burly like the Gamma SV.

I love this jacket. It stretches, breathes and it's much warmer than a full on hard shell, granted it's not waterproof but I've found that it's extremely water resistant. The green looks great and I get complemented on it all the time. In typical Arc'teryx fashion is overall a great jacket and definitely lives up to quality I expect from Arc'teryx. It is a bit spendy but it's definitely worth the money.

This Jacket is awesome! Fit is perfect and the fabric is breathable and essentially wind proof. With the DWR finish, the rain just beads up and rolls off. Great every day wear jacket. The only down side is that if the DWR wears off (due to abrasion in my case) the jacket doesn't dry very quickly and the water soaks through pretty rapidly. As far as soft shell jackets go, this is the one to have.