Only good for a long torso.

By joh2463302 Ranked #595 - Women's Rain Jackets April 28, 2009

I did not have an opportunity to evaluate the jacket's performance since it did not fit well; but I hope my comments regarding fit will be useful. I was looking for a warmer and longer rain jacket for a trip to New Zealand during their winter. Or if not warmer, larger than my lightweight, form-fitting shell so that I could wear an extra layer. Based on the reviews, I thought Cohesion jacket would work. Unfortunately, it is not much more than a shell, though perhaps it would be warmer based on its ventilation. And I could have fit another layer beneath the jacket on my upper body. The problem was the snug closure around the widest part of my hips and the zipper going as low as my upper thighs. While the jacket fit, I had serious concerns about walking and stepping over things with a tight zipper that low. I have ripped the zipper on my old winter coat several times for similar reasons, and could imagine taking a large step onto a boat or over a log on the trail resulting in the bottom zipper of the Cohesion ripping. Note, I'm not saying that the construction of the zipper is poor; there's only so much force that a zipper should be expected to take, and due to the cut of the Cohesion, I would have been overloading the zipper too often. It's a nice jacket that would probably work well for someone taller or someone with narrower hips. For comparison, I am 5'5", wear either size 4 or 6 pants (and a 2 or 4 shirt) depending on the cut, and I ordered a small.

View Details: Mountain Hardwear Cohesion Jacket - Women's

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