This jacket is fantastic. It has a somewhat loose fit, but not baggy. If you have tried last year's version, this one is longer in the arms and the body and wider across the torso. I know some said last year that they needed to size up, but this year's is very true-to-size. It is aesthetically really striking. I got the black/deep/deep colorway and the "deep" color is not nearly as bright as it looks in the photo. It's a more subdued color, I'd call it a dark-ish blue turquoise. It's a very great looking color, but not one that screams "Pay attention to me!" If I had known what the deep looked like, I might gotten the deep/black/metal colorway. It's very light and packable, however the warmth-to-weight ratio is pretty incredible. I've worn this down to -12 degree F with windchill (0 degree F base temp) in Minneapolis with a midweight merino baselayer underneath and been perfectly fine (or as fine as you can be in those sort of temperatures). It's also quite versatile, I wore last year's version in 60-65 degree weather with a t-shirt on and was not overheating. I wear this pretty much every day that I step outside in the winter, either as a primary jacket going out or as a insulating mid-layer under a shell while snowboarding.

Unfortunately, I have one complaint that keeps me from giving it five stars: I have had it about two weeks, worn it to school quite a lot, and the area where my backpack sits has small bits of insulation seeping out through the stitching holes. It's VERY minute quantities and mostly a cosmetic issue, but it's still quite annoying because this jacket has a lot of stitching (check out the close-ups of the back) and it's happening all over the place. This was a problem with last year's jacket as well and I hoped that they had addressed the issue, but two weeks in this one is suffering the same fate. The annoying thing is almost all of the stitching is decorative. Very few seams actually hold panels together, most of it is just for show.

Ultimately though, it's my favorite jacket. I wear it every day and the complaint is pretty minor, especially with Backcountry backing it up with a lifetime warranty. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could.

Me: intermediate-advanced, riding 5 years, ~20-30 days per year. Prefer charging steeps, trees, and open bowls, but opening it up in the park and expanding the skill set lately, mostly on account of moving from the Bay Area to Minneapolis (steeps and Midwest do not get along). I have been between 190-200 this season and ride the 156W. I put about six days on this thing, mostly in hardpack conditions.I've been a fan of the standard Destroyer for the a couple seasons, so I decided to give this badboy a shot. The Destroyer Chilly is a really fun, versatile board. I have ridden a Banana and owned a TRS BTX and hands down prefer the Destroyer Chilly. Compared to the BTX, the continuous chilly rocker seems to give a bit more power and bite closer to the contact points. It's pretty burly in the middle, but softer in the tips, so it holds a surprisingly solid edge at speed but is still plenty playful in the tips for butters and presses. At my size, I was pretty impressed at how well it held up at speed when I took it out to Snowbird and the Canyons in Utah, both in softer snow and hardpack/ice. It is an absolute BLAST in bumps at speed. The base is pretty fast and I was pretty impressed at how it held edge without any sort of help from magnetration or similar sidecut gimmicks. I (unfortunately) haven't had the chance to ride it in powder, but being reverse camber I have little doubt that it'd perform well relative to size.The biggest weakness, like a lot of rockered sticks, is pop. It's better than a lot of reverse camber boards I've ridden, but nowhere close to a solid cambered stick. On the plus side, it's easier to kind snap an ollie since you don't have to fight the flex of the board as you would on a cambered stick.I enjoy it and was very surprised at how well-rounded it was. I bought it with the intention of having a board that would be a bit jibbier than anything in my quiver, but still be able to handle the mountain, and it actually turned out to be quite a lot more aggressive than I had expected. As the other review says, if you're looking for a versatility, cannot afford multiple snowboards, and want some rocker, this is a great option.

As the title references, these don't fit my face quite well. 95% of the days they are perfectly fine, but my nose is just a hair too narrow/small to fill out the nose piece and occasionally on windy days I get a terribly jet stream into my eyes at speed.However, if they do fit, you're in for a treat. They have fantastic field of vision, great optics, great aesthetics, and a fantastic assortment of lenses. My favorite lens is Ignitor Mirror, which is great in pretty much every condition except for blizzards and night riding. I love that they are lower profile, very sleek and simple, yet Smith always finds a way to kill it with spiffy graphics year after year.The lenses can also take a beating. I ride through trees quite often, so my helmet/goggle are always taking swipes from branches, and these have held up quite well. They are nicked for sure, but nothing that bothers me while I'm riding. And even if they get beat up, Smith's replacement lenses are readily available and quite reasonably priced compared to the competition. You can get a regular lens at $24 and a fully mirrored lens for under $45 retail, which is ver nice if you do happen to beat one to hell.As I said, they don't fit my face, so I'm unfortunately no longer using them as my primary goggle. But I wish I could, and if I can ever get my hands on the Asian fit at a good price, I'll be right back on them.

I'd give it a 4.5 if I had the option. I ride with Smoke Grey Chrome most days and have a Nightstalker Blue lens I haven't tried yet. These are extremely comfortable, provide excellent visual acuity, and great field of vision. Pretty much everything you could ask for in a goggle as far as that stuff goes. The star/half-star gets knocked off because the lenses have been fragile in my experience. I have owned two pairs with Smoke Grey chromes and both times have gotten visually noticeable scuffs within 10 days of riding without any major faceplant falls, dropping them on concrete, or anything like that.

Keep in mind, I do NOT baby my goggles (I pop through trees quite a lot and don't always bag immediately), but I have been similarly harsh on a couple pairs of Smith Phenoms and a pair of IS Design Formas, which have held up much better. It might be pure coincidence, twice having hit the goggles JUST right, but it having happened twice already, I'm a little wary. Replacement lens don't come cheap. All in all, though, these goggles fit my face the best amongst those I've tried, so they are my go-to set.

At various points I've owned Green Superfeet, Orange Superfeet, Standard SOLE footbeds, and Alines. Alines are the most expensive, but blow the others out of the water for my particular feet. They give me the best support, are the lowest profile, and they have a slight grippiness to the topsheet that keeps my feet from subtle slipping. I have tried them snowboarding and they're great (although not better than my custom insoles). I wear them in my cross trainers for weight lifting and also recreational basketball/football. I absolutely will not do squats unless I have these on me. I used to run with them, however my current shoes have enough built in arch support.

Aline has made huge strides with this new model in terms of durability. I had a pair of the older blue ones and had to warranty them after about three months. The replacement pair died on me after four months. I've had these since the beginning of last year and they're still going strong.

I really have no complaints. If you are VERY anal-retentive, than the ink dye from the foam forefoot can stain the inside of shoes when they get hot/sweaty, but I can't imagine who would actually care about that.

Word of warning: if you're in an borderline size or if you know you have a funky arch, don't blindly trust the sizing chart. My foot is barely a 10.5 fully weighted, but I have a slightly long arch so almost every footbed I've ever used, I've had to size up. My suggestion would be to buy both multiple sizes and see which works for you.

When I first got these things, I was pretty excited. They fit nice and low profile, they have solid (but well articulated) padding on the side of the thighs and hips. The patch of VPD seemed small, but it covered the tailbone so it let it go. I was stoked to use it. After a couple days with it on the mountain, I'm less stoked.

First, there is a function issue. There's not nearly enough padding coverage on the backside. If all you're concerned about is coccyx protection they're fine, but if you've ever slipped on on a rail, you know soft tissue impacts on a hard, sharp surface hurt plenty. At least a little bit more padding (not even the VPD) would have helped. Lame.

Second, no fly. I knew this coming in, but this drives me batty about impact shorts. Why would you not give them a fly? Guy lame.

Third, and most importantly, the spandex material surrounding the "pocket" where the VPD piece rests is tearing in two different places. I could stitch it up, but based on where it is, I think it's likely to get worse. SUPER lame.

It's sad because the VPD is really an incredible material. It's comfortable and pliable (much more so than D3O), while CE-2 certified for motorcycling. POC just hasn't found a way to make it work yet. I also bought the VPD vest, which I also had problems with. POC has a lot of great ideas with this incredible material, but they need to execute better.

This jacket is great... however they have a very annoying stitching issue. As referenced in other review, a lot of threads are coming loose and the synthetic insulation material is seeping out. That happened within the first month, but it never got any worse strangely and I have owned the jacket for about a year. I expected some seams to burst, but they never did. I wear it almost daily in the late-fall and winter in Minneapolis but have had no further issues.

I wear it almost daily because it's my favorite jacket. I have a pretty athletic build (currently 190 lbs, roughly 40" chest, 32" waist) and this fits me PERFECTLY. One of the few jackets I tried on that fit the way I wanted to, and it is reasonably priced to boot. Tapered with just enough room for adequate mobility. Plenty warm too. I've worn it down to around zero (below with windchill) and been fine as long as I have gloves and head protection.

I picked up this item in both a medium and a large since I fall exactly at the break off between the two (I'm 5'11", cut-off is at "71 inches"). Unfortunately, I found the sizing to be very awkward. The medium came up a little short (didn't cover my lowest lumbar vertebrae) and was too tight in the chest and shoulders. The large seemed to fit fine when I tried it on around the house, but once I took it out, it would ride up after a few runs, leaving my lower back unprotected and pushing the padded material above the level of my shoulders. I have pretty normal dimensions (5'11", 190 lb, broad shoulders, about a 32-34" waist), so it's a little disappointing not only that I fell between sizes, but that there is so little adjustability in these things.Beyond the sizing issue, I'm noticing a bit of fraying in the mesh material and loose threads, despite the fact I've only used it twice for three hour sessions, once beneath a softshell and another time beneath a technical shell. I feel like at the pricepoint, it should hold up better to such mild usage.That having been said, the VPD material POC uses is excellent. In playing around with it, I punched it a few times and actually ended put hurting my hand as it stiffened up. But when you slowly apply pressure to it, it collapses and bends quite easily. I thankfully haven't had to use test its limits on the hill, but it seems like if the damn thing stayed in place, it'd be extremely protective and be much more comfortable and flexible than the various hard shell back protectors I've tried on. I'm going to make a few more tweaks and hope that I can get it to stay in place, but if not I'm going to have to return it and look elsewhere.In a nutshell, despite the less than stellar construction, I would still recommend it if it fits you. If not, look elsewhere.Edit: I found a different item that I had infinitely better experiences with: the Tpro Forcefield Extreme Flite Harness. More adjustable, lower profile, more comfortable, same certified protection, AND it was cheaper. The tech is used by the British ski and snowboard teams. Here's hoping that Backcountry picks them up.

Not bad. I'm sending these back because I prefer another option I picked up (the POC VPD Hip Shorts) but these are solid. The coverage zones are large, the placement is good, and the fit is comfortable but not so loose that things start to slip.

The one thing that put the POC shorts over them is the fact that because of the placement of the hip pads on these, they kind of bunch up at the waist, especially under pants. The POC shorts have 2 separate pieces at each waist with a small break in between, so they articulate better. It's a nitpicky detail and otherwise I would have no problem rocking these.

Unimpressed. I was curious when I picked these up to order them why they were so much more expensive than the similar Burton shorts or the POC VPD Hip Shorts (which use a similar soft material that stiffens upon impact). Now that I've worn and compared, I'm even more curious.

The D3O zones are thinner and provide less coverage than either of the cheaper options. They do have solid frontal thigh protection, but that strikes me as something that'd be more important for biking than for snowboarding, so keep it in mind.

These are definitely going back.

The other two reviewers are on point. I can't even imagine what Oakley was thinking when they made this jacket. It does indeed look like a garbage bag and there is no way I would ever go snowboarding in it as a primary outerwear piece. It lacks a powder skirt, hood, and the material seems very flimsy. However, it is very comfortable, compressible, and warm. It would work great as a about-town jacket or as a layering piece. I'd give it three stars if not for the fact that mine already has some fraying just wearing it the past couple days. Most likely going to be returned, but if I replace it and it holds up, could be an intriguing option (just not as snowboarding outerwear).

I own two other Sessions jackets (a 05-06 GT Surveillance Jacket and a 07-08 Firefly Crosshatch), and have tried on a bunch of their stuff at their headquarters near Santa Cruz, so I feel comfortable reviewing this without having tried it.

The good:
- It holds up to Session's generally solid build quality.
- It looks absolutely sick.
- It seems to provide fairly good warmth without too much weight.

The fit is Sessions... I'm not sure what they call it. It is not fitted, but it is not their baggiest fit. It's comparable to the Burton sig fit (baggy, but not stupid baggy). If you prefer a slimmer fit, size down one.

Sessions generally makes sick stuff, and I really wanted to keep this jacket, but there was one major flaw that I KNEW would bug me once I got onto the mountain. The flap that covers the zipper on this jacket is held in place by buttons rivets. This is done by velcro on most other jackets, including the Session ones I've owned. This would get to be a pain in the ass buttoning and unbuttoning those rivets in the cold with gloves on.

The inconvenience factor would only cut one star in most circumstances. If you want, you can always leave them unbuttoned and not worry about it. However, if you hit your chest on anything remotely hard, it would HURT like a mother. As someone who has seen iPhone-shaped welts on the chests of buddies who've taken bad falls, button rivets are the last thing you want near your sternum and solar plexus.

If you're just cruising around or just looking for a cold weather jacket, this is a phenomenal jacket and at the price I'd jump on it. However if you're a more aggressive rider who could potentially take a high impact hit to the chest (either in the trees or charging on an icy day), I'd look elsewhere.

Comfortable, non-stink, and does not restrict movement. Way better than any synthetic I've ever used... keeps you drier, warmer, and doesn't stink as much. I use these as my general snowboard baselayer, as well as when I'm cold at work or running. Super versatile and well worth the cash if you have it.

Even with the hefty price tag, if you are in a position to use base layers often, you will actually SAVE money as you will not need to wash these as often thanks to Merino wool's inherent antibacterial nature. A lot of synthetics have something similar, but it will wash out eventually. With these, it's a part of the fiber and will last for the life of the garment.

Terribly designed. Ideally, you want your snowboard wrist guards to be long, somewhat flexible, and have support on the back of your hand. These things fail on all three counts. Check out http://www.ski-injury.com/wrist.htm to see what can potentially happen with these; the guards in those photos and next to the x-rays are this same guard, just an earlier model. These may be worthwhile for absolute beginners, but even then I would go with another company. RED, Protec, and Seirus make way better models, don't waste your time with these.

I personally prefer independent layering over thickly insulated jackets, so I prefer a relatively lightweight jacket. This isn't the most lightweight jacket in the world (that would probably go to something in the Burton AK line), but it's about as compact as you can get without getting a minimalist shell. I tried lugging it around in the pack I wear and no issues whatsoever with the size or weight of it. At the same time, it feels hefty enough to hold up under the stress of snowboarding.

It looks very good, the fit is baggy but not excessively so, and it has a ton of great little features like magnetic clasps, audio routing, and ALS lining. One of the things I really like about it is the powder skirt, which has clasps to wrap around belt loops on your pants. I have Bonfire pants, and these provide a more secure, better connection that Bonfire's own proprietary "snaptite" system!

I only have a couple complaints:

1.) The thumb hole wrist cuffs are a nice idea, but too hefty to be used as intended. When you slip them on under the glove, it puts a ton of pressure on the area between your thumb and hand. However, they're easy enough to move past and just use as a cuff at the wrist.

2.) When zipped all the way up, it's quite tight at the chin. This might be by design, as I found that compared to the other jacket I own, which has a looser fit at the chin, you don't have to worry as much about the hood obscuring your vision with your neck turned. This one is up to your personal preferences.

Both very minor concerns.

I haven't tried this thing out on snow (one of the problems with buying gear in the summer), but it passed a shower test with flying colors. If it holds up durability-wise, it should be awesome... and even if it doesn't, life time warranty! Great value, great pick-up with the current late-August sale. The only real concern I have about it is that backcountry/dogfunk had so many of them, I might see too many of them on the mountain!

These provide decent protection, but allow for a fair amount of dexterity as well. However, they do have some significant flaws. If you look in the picture, you'll see below the knuckles on the back of the hand, there's a pretty sizeable piece. This piece of material does nothing. It goes over the adjustable strap for the palm and adds unnecessary bulk. I would remove it, except that piece also requires a piece of "hook and loop" which I found sticks to the liner of many gloves. So unfortunately, that pieces adds little protection or function, but adds a considerable amount of bulk. If Burton had slightly switched up the design, they could have gotten rid of that with less functionality (plus likely fewer construction costs).

That having been said, I don't like super rigid wrist guards, so these are the best option for me functionally. Just keep in mind that you may need to upsize your glove size to account for them.