States water proof rating is water restistant. Word from Marmot is it is totally waterproof. Does anybody know if it is bomb proof?

Tried out the neoshell finally. Normally I would sweat and this kept me seriously dry. Pretty awesome. No heat build up at all!!! Fits awesome but the sleeves are a tad long. no biggy!

Tried out the neoshell finally. Normally I would sweat and this kept me seriously dry. Pretty awesome. No heat build up at all!!! Fits awesome but the sleeves are a tad long. no biggy!

You'll feel the wind if you're exposed to gusts. I have not yet worn Neoshell, but I've worn my Rab eVent jacket on Mount Washington in 85mph gusts with sustained 60mph winds, and I could feel the chill from the penetrating wind. Yes, it was cold. Neoshell is more permeable than eVent. From a functional perspective, I can't imagine Neoshell being much superior to eVent when used with a hardshell face fabric. The beauty of Neoshell is that it can be mated to a stretchy softshell face fabric.

hob, I bought this jacket about a month ago and can testify to its reliability. Though I have yet to experience wearing it in a full on blizzard at high altitudes, I did have the experience of wearing it while biking on a snowy and windy day. It was incredible on the up hill keeping me warm and sweat free, and on the down, when I was reaching speeds of 30mph with the wind and snow blowing all around me, not once did ever feel the slightest gust of wind or the tiniest drop of water. As of right now I would easily give this jacket 5 stars, but I do feel it a bit preemptive to give my full rating until its been through an entire winter season first.

NeoShell isn't 98% windproof, it's more like 99.8% windproof. The fabric is rated at 2 CFM, which is a stupid measurement system but it's apparently 4 times as much as eVent, so 4 times more air permeable, but not enough to create windchill in blustery conditions. This is what I've read anyway, I haven't actually tried NeoShell yet (soon though). As far as waterproof-ness goes, it's rated to 10,000mm water column hydrostatic head, which is a fairly sensible standard. It mean the material will not leak under the pressure of 10 metres of water, which is quite a bit. Not as much as Gore-tex or eVent but Polartec say it's more than enough to keep you dry and I tend to agree. As a comparison most "bombproof" tent floors and flies (i.e. bibler bomb shelter) are rated to no more than 10,000mm as well.

Neo shell is supposed to have a high breatheability, and apparently waterproof. It only cuts out 98% of the wind so a trace amount of air permeates the shell. This same property allows it to breathe extremely well. EVENT and Gore active shell are much better comparisons to this new fabric. If you bought the Beta AR you are better off spending your money on a different shell such as a neo shell jacket or softshell. It will give your gear closet more versatility.

So then how does it compare to an alpha sv ot beta ar? Just purchased a beta ar on sale for $269 and was eying an alpha sv for $369. Going to use for hiking 3 maybe 4 season and around town.

Hey there, yeah its totally waterproof... its a new fabric to compete with Goretex, eVent, etc...