Stylish and Functional

By Merebea Danforth x4236 January 7, 2010

I'm pretty impressed with the thoughtful design and construction of this jacket. My favorite part is the tall collar with a soft fleece finish on the inside, very cozy for chilly, windy lift rides. I think this Stoic Insulated Welder may have the best collar out of all of my jackets, and that's really saying something for a gear freak (one may even say gear slut) like me. The cuffs on the wrists are really nice and soft, and you can get them tight around your wrist. I would not say that the hood is ski helmet compatible. I have a small head and wear a size Small women's Smith Intrigue helmet which is pretty low profile. If I put the hood up over my helmet, I cannot zip the neck up all the way. It's probably about 1.5" short of zipping all the way up. This would be worse with a bigger helmet. I think the hood would be just fine with a lower profile climbing helmet. Personally I wish this jacket had a powder skirt as I'll mainly use it for skiing. Other than that I will mainly just use it for wearing around town on milder days.

I'm quite fond of the cut of this jacket. It has a more feminine look to the cut than many jackets, without being overly tight or fitted. I find the sizing to be pretty standard. I wear a medium in most jackets (and occasionally a small, especially in more recent Patagonia pieces). The medium in this jacket is a great fit for me for some room for layering underneath.

There seems to be a lot of discussion as to whether or not this jacket is "warm." There is definitely a noticeable difference between this and an uninsulated shell. Personally, I have to wear a mid to heavy weight mid layer with it for skiing lift accessed terrain in temperatures in the mid twenties, depending on the wind. I'd throw this on over just a base layer for temperatures in the upper twenties and above, but that's just what works for me personally. In teens and lower I still opt for my down puffy, but this would do well with a thick fleece or down sweater underneath, I think.

All in all, I'm impressed with this jacket for it's good looks, fit, and good construction.

View Details: Stoic Welder Insulated Softshell Jacket - Women's

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