The quality is just as good, in my opinion, and the price is much better.To better understand how your outdoor gear will perform, it is important to learn about different fabrics technologies. I'd recommend it for boarding or winter hiking, or as a more affordable version of a mountaineering jacket if you're not ready to spend the $350 to get a TNF or Mountain Hardwear one. No scuffs, loose threads, rips, or torn seams, though the primary front zipper has started sticking in the last month or so, making it sometimes take a few tries to get it zipped up. Mine has taken a real beating, between getting stuffed into packs for climbing, fallen on reapeatedly while snowboarding, and worn year round as my primary coat, but aside from the dirt it's no worse for wear.
Mine is white and gray, and the top of the back collar is white and gets dirty if you wear it all the time and never wash it, like I do. It's stylish enough to wear around town, if you take good care of it, and it has a little bit of that crinkly sound you get with high quality waterproof fabrics that says "I wear seroius outdoor gear, not cheap imitations." I've worn it in all kinds of rain and never had it leak, but when it's really windy the cinch cords on the hood are hard to get locked into the pinching mechanism unless you look carefully at what you're doing. I felt like a kite, but it kept the wind out. Cinched down properly trimmed, mine kept me toast in 70mph winds so strong I could barely stand up. The collar is high enough to provide excellent wind protection when zipped all the way up and used with the hood. It's a little heavier than I would like for backpacking, but for high altitude mountaineering I think it's worth the ounces to have really warm quality equipment. The inside liner breathes well and makes the jacket comfortable to wear even without the fleece, which is usually how I wear it. It's certainly warm enough (I wore it at 22,841 feet on Aconcagua last January) and the materials and quality are topa notch. The hood, though ample for wearing around town, doesn't fit comfortably over my climbing helmet without feeling tight at the neck. It has a strap on the back of the hood for you goggles, and the hood can be zipped off though I've never bothered.Īs a climbing shell, it could be improved a bit. The deep chest pocket zipper is waterproof, the fabric is tough, and I like the huge pit zips and multiple inside pockets (including one for an mp3 player). Freedom of movement is pretty good, even with the optional tech fleece zipped inside. The interior powder skirt is nicely adjustable, and the velcro cuffs and cinch cord on the bottom hem all work well to keep out snow, even though the jacket isn't quite as long at the butt as some others.
It serves all of these purposes well, but is probably best suited to the snowboarding. I've worn this jacket for two years now as my primary winter coat for walking to and from work, my hard shell for high altitude mountaineering, and my outer layer when snowboarding.
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