skiing apparel reviews

Review: L.L. Bean PrimaLoft Mountain Pro Hoodie

by
L.L. Bean Primaloft Mountain Pro Hoodie
L.L. Bean Primaloft Mountain Pro Hoodie

Hybrid Insulated Jacket
L.L. Bean PrimaLoft Mountain Pro Hoodie
$129, 1 lb. 6 oz. (medium regular)
Sizes: men’s S-XL
llbean.com

Frigid blasts of wind hit us periodically as we climbed in hot alpine sunshine in a snow-filled couloir on the Mountaineers Route on 14,505-foot Mount Whitney, in California’s High Sierra in mid-April. Those are challenging conditions in which to stay warm without rapidly overheating—a common challenge in a variety of weather circumstances when you’re outside in winter or in the mountains in shoulder seasons. Fortunately for me, Bean’s hybrid-insulation PrimaLoft Mountain Pro Hoodie handles wide-ranging conditions with aplomb, so I never got cold or sweated much.

Read on

Review: Outdoor Research Uberlayer Hooded Jacket

by
Outdoor Research Uberlayer Hooded Jacket
Outdoor Research Uberlayer Hooded Jacket

Breathable Insulated Jacket
Outdoor Research Uberlayer Hooded Jacket
$299, 1 lb. 2 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
moosejaw.com

The explosion in breathable-insulation garments has changed the way we think about insulation in the backcountry. But in an increasingly crowded field, some jackets still rise above. I wore OR’s new Uberlayer Hooded Jacket for numerous days of backcountry skiing—including, at times, as an outer layer while skinning uphill—and as a middle layer skiing downhill both in the backcountry and for hours at a resort And I wore it in temperatures ranging from around freezing to wind chills below zero Fahrenheit, and came away convinced this is a jacket you could legitimately use into the backcountry every month of the year.

Read on

Review: Patagonia Dual Aspect Hoody

by
Patagonia Dual Aspect Hoody
Patagonia Dual Aspect Hoody

Hybrid Jacket
Patagonia Dual Aspect Hoody
$249, 16 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XS-XL
patagonia.com

What if you could find one jacket that serves as on-the-go insulation in cool to cold temperatures, functions as both a middle layer and an outer layer that sheds snow and light rain like a soft-shell jacket, but breathes better than most soft shells, so that you rarely take it off? Patagonia’s Dual Aspect Hoody does all of that—and this hybrid jacket has design elements that raise it above even many of the cutting-edge, breathable-insulation apparel pieces out there, I decided after numerous days of backcountry skiing in it.

Read on

Review: Patagonia Nano-Air Vest

by
Patagonia Nano-Air Vest
Patagonia Nano-Air Vest

Breathable Insulated Vest
Patagonia Nano-Air Vest
$199, 8 oz./227g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XS-XL
backcountry.com

If I had a buck for every day I’ve worn a vest outdoors over the years, well, I might not have to rely on a blog as the source of my wealth. But with the recent advent of breathable insulation, the classic vest, in its various iterations, faces serious competition. Curious to see whether a new-tech vest with breathable insulation could still measure up among today’s diverse array of versatile insulation pieces, I wore the Nano-Air Vest on Idaho adventures from July through October, including dayhikes and backpacking trips in the Sawtooth and White Cloud mountains and a five-day whitewater rafting and kayaking trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. It may speak volumes about this vest to say that I wore it a lot.

Read on

Review: Outdoor Research Deviator Hoody

by

Outdoor Research Deviator Hoody
Outdoor Research Deviator Hoody

Hybrid Insulation Jacket
Outdoor Research Deviator Hoody
$185, 10 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XL, women’s XS-XL
moosejaw.com

On cool mornings in May while backpacking the Grand Canyon’s Royal Arch Loop, and in late March on a five-day, family backpacking trip down Paria Canyon on the Utah-Arizona border, I did something unusual: I started the day’s hiking wearing the same jacket I had worn while in camp, OR’s new Deviator Hoody. From cool-weather hiking to skate-skiing in winter, I liked the Deviator as a next-generation, hybrid insulation piece whose versatility is limited only by your creativity in thinking about your layering system.

Read on