nwbackpacker

I bought these gloves for snowshoeing, snowboarding and potentially snow camping in the future. I've worn the outer shells a few times, but have always found them way too warm for the activities I've taken part in. When snowshoeing I've always found the inner liners to give just the right amount of insulation and wind chill prevention. Sometimes, when taking a break in the wind I'll put in the outer shells and it's nice to know that I have them in my pack in case of emergency or it gets really cold. As another reviewer mentioned, the soft shell liners really are much better than fleece as it's much harder for snow to stick to it. In addition, the leather grips really do help me with the poles when I'm snowshoeing. Also, they do indeed feel a little long-fingered for a medium when I compared them to other gloves I've had. OR, take note! All in all, great gloves.

One thing I've noticed about Mountain Hardwear is that it's designed for a certain body type: slim, athletic, skinny, whatever you want to call it. So keep that in mind as if you're bulkier then their stuff may be a little tight on you. These pants are GREAT. They're not "hard shell" in the classic sense so while they're waterproof (in the laminate) they will get damp in prolonged storms, but you'll stay dry inside. The water repellent is really good though so this will rarely happen if you're using these in snow, or they're old and you need to reapply the DWR. I've been snow shoeing in these with a medium weight baselayer in temperatures of 25-35F and they were perfect. The soft lining of the pant gives additional insulation so in slightly warmer temps I doubt you'd need any baselayer at all. You don't need gaiters and you can sit right on the snow. Perfect for this activity. If I wasn't out in the snow I'm not sure I'd take them unless I knew it was going to be below 35 degrees and raining a lot. For non-snow and generally cool temperatures (35-50F) I'd probably wear a thin/medium base layer, some sturdy nylon pants, and take a light-weight hard shell in case it rains. There is a slight lack of mobility in these pants that might annoy on a rough trail with a backpack, and articulated pants would probably serve you a bit better. But these pants would suffice for this activity too - they're good all-rounders. Breathability is excellent, but these are waterproof pants and so you have to expect certain limitations. However, the pants have a soft fleecy lining inside and it's pretty darn hard to feel clammy inside that. And if you're wearing a baselayer then the pants will probably draw the moisture from them. All in all, I think you're likely to be too hot rather than clammy. The side zips are awesome for cool down - I love the low profile zippers. All in all, I absolutely love these pants. While others consider whether conditions will require their noisy hard shells, I just put these pants on and don't worry about it. Mountain Hardwear, thank you.

As other reviewers have mentioned, it can get clammy and a little uncomfortable next-to-skin when it's raining. I think the Conduit laminate is at the limit when in a rain-storm in the northwest, it's 60 degrees, and I'm backpacking uphill and sweating! I'm honestly not sure if another jacket would perform better in these conditions unless it had additional elements to the lining that would also increase its weight. I use this jacket as a rain jacket for 3 season backpacking in the northwest. In summer I wear a convertible (sleeves) thin shirt so that I can roll the sleeves down before putting this jacket on. This increases the comfort significantly and I highly recommend that to others. For the weight, the jacket is very durable, and at the price it's a very decent backup rain jacket that stuffs inside my backpack very nicely. If I'm out in the winter, or I *know* I'm going to be wearing a jacket most of the time I will instead take my 3 layer Goretex jacket with more "comfort" features. But that's almost double the weight so it's not a fair comparison to this jacket, which in my opinion is absolutely ideal when it's *probably* not going to rain, but you're sensible and you're taking a rain jacket with you anyway.

In my opinion, this is not a rain jacket, and that should be obvious to anyone. It doesn't have a hood (although they make a version with a hood if you want that) and the lack of hard-shelliness will eventually make it get damp although *you* won't get damp because of the internal laminate. So don't buy this if you're looking for a traditional "rain jacket". However, this is damn near the perfect spring/fall jacket to wear out around town, quick hike, dog park, and anywhere that it *might* rain and you won't be stuck out in a downpour for 2 days.

This jacket is ideal for when you don't want to get a thin down jacket because you're afraid it will get a little wet and the down will be useless. I use this jacket around town on chilly evenings when it's not raining hard and I love it. I also take it when I go mountain biking and it's raining as it doesn't matter what you do - your mid layer will get damp in places. As a backpacking warmup jacket (for camp, not actually backpacking) I recommend down instead purely because a slightly lighter down jacket (800 fill or more) will be significantly warmer than this jacket. Check out the Patagonia Down Sweater (not "Jacket") for the ultimate in lightweight, compressible, make-me-warm technology.

This is the most amazing jacket I have ever owned. For the weight, it is the warmest thing in the world. Warmer than the sun! Maybe not that warm, but you get the idea. I also have the Mountain Hardwear Compressor jacket, which is Primaloft, and this jacket is much warmer and quite a bit lighter. It also compresses more. Just don't buy it and wear it in the rain like all those idiots I see in downtown Seattle wearing their The North Face down jackets, OK?