First off, I am 5'11, 250 with a fairly athletic build plus a bit of a belly; the XL fit pretty good, maybe a little snug but the XXL would have been too big.

I picked up the Synchro after I returned the Backcountry.com Shift Welder softshell becuase I wanted pitzips. This jacket is just not what I was looking for. I wanted a softshell for a stretchy and completely comfortable wind barrier that is mostly waterproof. Maybe even use the softshell as a midlayer under my gore-tex hard shell. The Conduit fabric makes this jacket too much like my mountian hardwear hardshell. As a result the jacket just didn't breathe as well as the BC Shift. I went hiking on a windy 30 deg day and wore the synchro to block the wind; It did a good job of that but when I took the jacket off at the end of the day it was soaked with sweat inside. I will note that there was sweat on the outside too so it was breathing, just not enough. As a comparison I put a full day of hard skiing in 40 deg temps wearing the Shift softshell and never felt too hot, too cold, or damp. The moral of my long story is I sent the Synchro back and picked up another Shift jacket when it come up on Steapandcheap for half price. I guess pit zips aren't needed with the right jacket.

Just got this hoody from SAC. I agree with the rest of the reviewers, I would never pay full price for it. This thing is incredibly comortable. I usually avoid cotton at all costs, this thing is not cotton but feels like your old favorite hoody that's been washed a million times. I am 5'11", 250LBS, I ordered the XXL based on my experience with BC's shift softshell. This runs a little bigger. If I inteded to layer with it I would definitely go down to the XL. The arms feel pretty long but are pretty much just right if you use the thumb holes. I love the high chin for when you need the extra warmth. Bottom line, stalk this hoody on SAC and buy it!

Originally I bought the regular shift jacket with no hood on SAC. The fabric is awesome. It's just plain comfortable, blocks a good amount of wind and when I was walking in the rain (without the hoody) the water just shed right off. I'm 5-11ish, 250lb with a 49" chest and bought the shift in an XL. The shoulders and chest were just about roomy enough but the torso was snug on my belly. When I decided to return it I also went for this hoody. The picture for the Tahoe/Carbon two tone jacket is just plain wrong. Instead of a dark navy blue and black two tone I got a teal and light grey two tone... SHould have known better looking at the other two available colors... I am going to wear this to the mountain this weekend but if I can't get over the color it's going back. I might look around for a similar jacket with pit zips as well. I'll take any suggestions of an equally awesome softshell with pit zips and color options that don't make me feel immasculated. Seriously, white zippers?