Great Jacket, big $$$.

By Matthew Agarwala Ranked #505 - Men's Rain Jackets April 20, 2010

I love Arc'teryx gear and this is no exception. It does all the things it's supposed to do and it does them well.

Pros:
1. SUPER adjustable hood. I can use this over a helmet or just over my hair without restricting range of motion or view in either case. You can cinch it down close to your face and the brim will minimize water dripping down your face. This is one of the best designed hoods I've ever seen.
2. packs down small
3. pockets work well with pack & harness.

Cons:
1. the cuffs seem to wick moisture up inside the sleeves
2. if you're just wearing a t-shirt under it your arms will feel wet and cold (they won't be wet, but they will feel wet). Mountain hardwear has developed a ceramic coating for the inside of their lightweight rain shells to combat this problem.
3. Even after proper DWR restoring treatments this jacket never seemed to bead water as well as my theta AR or alpha sv.

Beware: with the new paclite your jacket will look wet on the inside. It isn't. What you're actually seeing is the fabric breathing. I saw this and was initially very concerned, but when I used a piece of TP to soak up what I thought was water the paper was bone dry.

Pretty good jacket, I'm a loyal arc'teryx customer and am pretty content.

View Details: Arc'teryx Alpha SL Jacket - Men's

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes