Dustin Short

So I finally snagged this at a discount and absolutely love it. I'm 5'11" 145lbs with a 37ish chest. I went with the small just because I hate wearing potato sacks. The small seems tight but I can wear it over my small Arc'Teryx Gamma softshell or other mid layer and it doesn't restrict 95% of movement. If I cross my arms (think Chris Farley fat man in a little coat style) it does begin to tighten in the back but doesn't stress the seams enough to worry about tearing.

The biggest detriment is that it is short. Not terrible for just a windshirt but I have a short torso for my height and I feel a medium would have suited me better overall (assuming medium doesn't bump up a lot in girth like with many companies). Also no stretch to the fabric means the cuffs are a bit awkward to remove, especially pulling over the widest part of your hand.

The fabric has a small amount of air permeability so it is breathable a bit. I like the hood, snug without being confining and won't blow off. It stows into a pocket (not mentioned anywhere but really should be marketed) and it is true to spec on weight. My Small comes in at 2.1 oz!

Haven't tested DWR in a drizzle yet (mixed blessing of AZ living) but under a faucet it beads well, but I wouldn't trust it for too long in a storm.

For the price and weight, quibbles on sizing aside, it's phenomenal. It's great enough that if I had to buy another windshirt at full market price, I would buy a Stoic Wraith again, probably just in a medium.

I was really looking forward to getting a lightweight windshirt for UL backpacking and was excited about this product (and it's price). However, I have been severely disappointed.

As a windshirt it is functional. It's worked well above treeline and shed water in for an hour or so in a storm where I saw misty rain, hail, snow, and fat drops.

The reason I do not recommend this product though is that the specs are considerably misleading. This WS weighs 6oz in size Medium...a far cry from the 2.82 oz advertised. With so many windshirts available around 3-4 oz WITH hoods I would have been willing to spend the extra money for them. As is I ended up spending $60 on a product that fails to live up to its advertised performance. If I already had a WS I would have returned this immediately, I may still.

I would like to upgrade to the Stoic Wraith or a TNF Verto both of which are lighter and have hoods.

I've had this for about a year and a half now and find it perfect as a general use beater harness. It's very comfortable thanks to the abundant padding. I've never had any painful experiences taking falls in it. So far it's shown very little wear and tear. The leg and waist buckles are easy enough to operate, nothing special though.

For the amazing price it's a great value. It works well for all types of climbing so I highly recommend it for any beginner. You won't be disappointed.

Only gripe is that it is bulky and does not pack down small. You never forget you are wearing it even after a full day and it takes up a lot of pack space, but this is a tradeoff for the durable and comfortable construction.

There are several "improvements" that could be made but each of those would make it more of a specialized harness and ruin it's all-around quality. The harness is heavy, but lightening it would sacrifice comfort and make it more applicable to sport or mountaineering. Making it more easily adjustable or fancier technologies would just make it more expensive.

Definitely great as it is for the starting climber.

This biner is big and beefy. It has a noticeable heft to it and feels rock solid. It also has plenty of room and would probably be decent as a main point for big wall climbing (which I don't do, so that's speculation). I bought this after I had an auto-lock belay biner (Omega Pacific Jake) open on me while belaying a partner. Losing faith in auto-locks I feel very confident in the screw-lock version of this carabiner.

The red gate is great for reminding the user to twist the screwlock shut.

My major gripe is just how heavy it is especially since lighter 'biners in this size seem to be rated stronger. The attache is nearly a half oz lighter and big enough for most applications. I see this as maybe excelling in canyoneering, big wall, or rescue work where lots of ropes need to be tied into one spot, but for most it's overkill.

I want to like this 'biner. The offset creates a much larger gate opening which comes in handy. The auto-lock is very simple to operate one-handed and works smoothly, too easy and smooth in fact.

I used this biner as my belay locker for indoor climbs mostly. That was until one day as I went to lower my partner, I noticed the biner had unlocked itself and the grigri (which was on a rapide) had nearly come out of the carabiner. Luckily the rapide caught on the gate hook, had the Jake used a keylock design the grigri would have come completely loose.

I was anchored into a daisy chain, but not the end, a practice I no longer follow due to this incident. What happened was that the excess daisy chain must have caught the locking sleeve and rotated it so that the gate could open. Part of this was my poor technique, but it is also an issue with the auto-lock having no extra resistance to unlock (like a ball lock design or an auto-lock that needs to be pulled up/down before twisted).

After this incident I've switched over to a standard screw-lock design (petzl williams since that's what was at the gym that day) and have had no issues. I would not feel confident ever using this 'biner as a primary locker because I don't trust the auto-lock. I would say it's about halfway between a normal biner and a normal locker. As such, due to it's weight I never use it anymore but in a pinch would use it in a redundant setup with another biner (either locking or not).

I'm 5' 11", 145lbs, 36" chest. The size small fits very close but is not skin tight everywhere on my slim frame.

This shirt is amazingly light and cool. It wicks superbly, enough so that it's entertaining to watch a water spot quickly wick into a huge but slightly damp spot that dries soon after.

As for smell, I have not had any issues with it. Wearing this on overnight backpacking trips where I sweat a lot in the AZ warmth, I'm always surprised how little the shirt smells. When still wet from fresh sweat it will smell, but once the shirt dries it is virtually odorless in comparison.

I absolutely love these pants, enough so that my broke self bought a second pair (one in coffee bean which is really a dark green instead of brown, and carbide which is a khaki).

These pants weigh only 8.61oz in a size 30/32. They do have a small swish sound to them, but it should only be problem if you're sensitive to that specific noise.

Living in Arizona, I constantly encounter catclaw and other thorny pants that seem to shred anything not made of denim. These pants have held up very well over the last year of constant use. I have one TINY pinhole in the cargo pocket which is only noticeable on a blue moon when the stars align just right to shine on it. Otherwise the rest of the material has no signs of wear aside from an occasional stain on the khakis.

I ordered this through another retailer and was accidentally sent the wrong size. I had ordered a small and was sent a medium. I'm a 36" chest, 5' 11" and 145lbs for reference. I would have preferred the small for warmer weather and in city, it's cut would just be more trim and athletic. The medium is big and baggy (boxier cut torso) on me, but perfect if I'm wearing insulating layers underneath as in the photo (Arc Gamma MX and a 300wt fleece...it was cold in WY for this AZ native!). If it weren't for the fact that I was able to get the jacket for a steal (less than $300!!) I probably would have returned it for the small anyway.

Also for sizing info, if you have a gamma MX (or have tried one on) Arc'teryx responded to an email about sizing with the following which was incredibly helpful of them:

"The Alpha LT jacket will be approximately 7.5cm/3" wider in the chest, 9cm/3.5" in wider in the waist and 4cm/1.5" wider in the hem as well as 2cm/3/4" longer in sleeve length than a Gamma MX jacket of the same size. There are small 2cm tolerances +/- within each measurement that is why we can't say exactly. However, it should be enough room to layer a 300 weight fleece underneath. Most Gore-tex jackets will be looser fitting even though they state athletic fit on both if you are comparing it to a softshell or fleece jacket.

Arc'teryx Service Team
ARC'TERYX Equipment Inc."