Worth the outlet price...

By Michael Gilbert Ranked #596 - Men's Rain Jackets February 26, 2010

Let me completely retract my previous review. I have last year's model in neon yellow (Gorton's Fisherman) that I purchased on Backcountry Outlet. It is light. And the both the breathable and waterproof ratings are through the roof at 30K a piece. As far as sizing goes, I'm 5'9 and 140lbs and the small fits perfectly, and has enough room to put a technical fleece, long shirt, and undershirt on. That combination seems to be good to about 28F for me. Anything colder I just put on a [heavier] hard shell.

Now the bad. I do courier work on my bicycle, so neon yellow was a good choice. Yet, for some reason, in the month I've infrequently used it, it's almost black. It attracts dirt like a day job. The pockets are a bit small, a trapezoid shape, and zip from the top down. The problem with this is that the space at the top is not adequate to get your hands in, only when the zipper is all the way down. So I have to unzip the entire 9" pocket to get my hands dry. This is the complete opposite of my MHW Technical Windstopper Fleece.

Now for the guaranteed / 30K waterproof rating. I don't know who the hell rated this jacket, but that is a blatant lie. I wanted something highly breathable and also waterproof so I can do deliveries in the spring and summer while staying dry without sweating 10 gallons. Yesterday I was caught in a fairly heavy shower, and I came out soaked! Since it was early in the morning, I hadn't worked up enough sweat for that to even be a possibility of how drenched I was. Lastly, while I certainly don't baby my gear, I'm not trying to destroy something I paid this much for. And the jacket already has a tear in it!

I thought getting this at 40% off was a good deal at BCO, but it's not even worth that... I don't know what these other gear heads are talking about, but in the real world this straight up sucks. Thank god for BC's return policy.

View Details: Norrøna Falketind Gore-Tex Paclite Jacket - Men's

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