Climbing Apparel Reviews

Gear Review: The North Face Jammu Jacket

The North Face Jammu Jacket

Winter Shell
The North Face Jammu Jacket
$399, 1 lb. 9 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-L (women’s only available online; see bottom of review)
thenorthface.com

Temperatures well below freezing magnify the challenge of staying comfortable when you’re exerting hard for many hours in the backcountry, in activities like backcountry skiing and climbing. You sweat hard going uphill and get wet; then you lower your exertion level on gentler terrain, or to ski downhill or belay, and you get cold because you’re still wet. What’s needed is a winter jacket that delivers good warmth and protection from wind and flying snow, yet breathes so well that your base layer dries out before you get cold. Enter the Jammu Jacket.

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Gear Review: Westcomb Switch LT Hoody Jacket

Westcomb Switch LT Hoody

Four-Season Jacket
Westcomb Switch LT Hoody
$430, 15 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL
westcomb.com

A more breathable waterproof shell seems to be the holy grail of apparel manufacturers these days, and I’m all for that. Polartec says its NeoShell polyurethane membrane has the durability, ability to block wind, and waterproofing of a hard shell, and the breathability, stretch, and supple feel of a soft shell—while coming in lighter than competing technologies in both categories. If the Switch LT Hoody is an indication of where apparel makers can go with NeoShell, I think we’ll be seeing more and more jackets that can legitimately be called a four-season shell.

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