Contributions by ~~~~~~~~ (3)

I did a lot of resesarch. This is an amazing jacket. The warmth / weight / packability / cost ratio is pretty ideal. As a rock climber, I needed a technical belay jacket to keep my girlfriend toasty warm. I picked it up for her in red - her favorite color. She now wears this jacket everywhere; from the city to the camp to the crags. Once in a while she gets poked with a feather on the inside; that's 'cause the jacket is so nice and warm, in town she wears it with only a t-shirt. It seems MHardwear(and my girlfriend) both run a half size small. I bought it in XS; my gfriend is 5 foot 1 / 107 lbs. This is the one.

Good news: Decent weight (versus competing alpine / climbing backpacks); Decent fit (for climbing / hiking / traveling); Handles a lot of gear. Bad news: Experienced durability issues (had to return to store); Color is subjective. As a rock climber / alpinist / traveler, I research gear before purchasing. I thought the Osprey Exposure 50 might be a wise pick for my new alpine / climbing / travel pack, even though (at the time) there were no internet product reviews. I didn’t think the lack of reviews would matter, seeing how Osprey has a great reputation, the pack’s feature-to-weight ratio, and the categorization as a climbing pack. This pack treated me well for a climbing trip to Indian Creek, UT (this Osprey 50L pack handled the biggest rack of gear a trad-climber will most likely ever require) plus a trip to Costa Rica. HOWEVER, after only a few months, I experienced three different flaws (top pull-string blew out; beginning of a major hole in the bottom stitching, and tears/punctures in the bottom). I returned this pack, seeing how my previous pack (Gregory Reality) put up with years (not months) of weekly abuse. In Osprey’s defense, I am considering buying it again, based on the feature-to-weight ratio and Osprey’s overall reputation. We shall see.

I am about to buy my second Epic jacket. I've used this jacket for Sierra alpine climbing, longer free climbs, walls and ice climbing. Only 11 oz (there was mistake on this site, stating it as 13 oz); packable in its own pocket; relatively breathable; waterproof; conduit silk is smooth to touch; excellent climbing cut/fit. Highly recommendable; great price is an added bonus. You might want the longer parka version if you need more waterproofness, like on a wall or something. However, it is a couple more ounces. Also, I am sure there are more bomber jackets for getting soaked in ice climbing.