Excellent belay jacket

By pmoney Ranked #1182 - Men's Synthetic Insulation Jackets April 29, 2010

I am primarily a backpacker but was looking for a jack of all trades winter jacket which would work well around town as well during snowy and/or cold days without breaking the bank. I already have a hardshell which i would throw over for extremely inclement weather so the windbreaker type fabric would be fine.

When I received it I realized it was warm. Very warm, the insulation differs in the arms, hood, and sleeves. The windbreaker material works 100% in stopping wind, I realized its marketed by gore as windstopper laminate. The jacket is a bit heavy considering its synthetic but not that heavy and packs down to an acceptable size for winter backpacking - the primaloft sport was tested by BPL to have a rating of .78, primaloft one ~.90 and 550 fill down at .55 - higher is better. Granted extremely high quality down of 850+ is 1.68 which makes it the lightest and most compressible requiring less loft to acheive warmth but with this sythenthetic you can get it wet and it still works to a degree and dries relatively quickly.

The sizing, it is sized a bit larger than normal for layering. The sleeves fit perfect and the hood is big but shrinks down very well with the pull cords. WIth the HIGH collar it really really helps in cold windy conditions. The body is larger, perhaps a bit more than i had hoped - i would ding it .5 star if i could - but acceptable since this is a jacket i will throw on when i reach my campsite over my hiking inner layers.

As a belay jacket it is not designed to be used while hiking and getting sweaty (except in emergency situations) - so no pit zips are fine. I am very pleased with the warmth to weight ratio, sure it could be a hair slimmer and maybe use primaloft one which is a little warmer for the same loft but it was a great purchase at $120 on SAC.

View Details: Outdoor Research Chaos Insulated Jacket - Men's

Helpful Votes: 0 Yes