Bomber Ski Jacket

By bri2570352 Ranked #191 - Men's Synthetic Insulation Jackets December 15, 2011

I've been wearing mine for 2 seasons now and thought I'd give my long term review. I'm quite happy with it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a jacket in this price point.

Pros: the fit, the fabric, perfect amount of insulation, best wrist gaiters ever, good fit for climbing
Cons: Their old color schemes were terrible, the snow skirt was a bummer, hood is pretty snug with a ski helmet.

The fit may be my favorite part. As a thin 5'9" 155 lbs (i wear the M), it's hard to find a jacket with a good athletic fit that's not the $500 Arc'teryx ones. Like most Stoic gear, the fit is good for trim folks and gives really good range of motion, it actually worked well for cool weather climbing as well as skiing since it doesn't limit your motion at all. The trim fit does make it a bit harder to stuff multiple layers underneath. When I'm bundling up for sub 0 degree days, I end up looking like stuffed sausage, but the range of motion is still good comfortable (you just look silly).

The fabric is good. I haven't had it in a bad rainstorm, but it's shed 2 seasons of snow from the Wasatch without a problems and has be fine in 20 minutes bursts of light rain. The fabric is soft and quiet and is way more comfortable fhan one of those traditional Gore-Tex hardshells. It's not stretchy at all, but the cut allows it to move like it is. The durability has been pretty good so far. It's held up with minimal wear after I've spent 2 full seasons riding in it every weekend, but I babied it when I took it climbing and camping (I was terrified what the Moab sand would do to the water-proofness). I got a 1/2" cut from a tree, but the slice has not grown since the incident.

The wrist gaiters are the best of any jacket I've tried on. The thumb hole isn't all the comfortable, but the gaiters wrap perfectly around your wrist and keeps the sleeves in place.

The insulation is great for resorts, but is a bit much for really aerobic activities. I had to shed it every time I'd skin up in the backcountry, but that was fine when layered with a windshirt underneath. For resorts, it's perfect all day when layered with a fleece (i use the Patagonia R2).

The hood is a bit small. I have a relatively standard ski helmet and it's a snug fit with the hood and the body pulls up when you look over your shoulder. Without the helment, the hood is perfect. It fits comfortably over my Petzl Elios climbing hemlet.

The snowskirt isn't so good. It sits a bit high, so does more to pull up my layers to my lower back and gives the snow more bare skin to touch. I now leave it zipped in, but never actually zip the snowskirt up.

Their color schemes have gotten a bit better than mine, I have the old black with lime green trim. I didn't think it'd be too bright, but the all the zippers and the liner is super bright and stands out more than I expected. Great for camping and technical use, but not so good for wearing to work and looking like a professional cubical worker. Being able to wear it to work

View Details: Stoic Bombshell Insulated Jacket - Men's

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