SeaGooner from United States, WA Public Profile

Its just what you'd expect from Arc'Teryx. Beautifully made, nice looking, and really well cut. I'm 6'2" & 190 lbs. and a medium fits me perfectly. As advertised, its very lightweight and much quieter than most shells. I haven't had the occasion to test it out yet in a downpour while hiking or exerting myself in some other way, so I can't comment on its breathability until later, but based on other reviews, and the quality & design level that you can expect from Arc'Teryx, I'm optimistic that this will be a great jacket.

I'd have given it 5 stars, but the one thing I haven't figured out is why they have you pull down on zippers for the hand pockets to close them. I've never had a technical jacket designed this way so I'm hoping there is a good reason for it that I'll figure out. If there isn't a good reason it would be a pretty big design faux-pas in my mind. Zipping down to open means when you need to get to something quickly you can always open the pocket one handed without worrying about the fabric bunching and stopping the zipper from sliding. Zipping down to close means you'll likely need two hands to open the pocket, and that if you accidentally don't close it all the way, or a branch snags your zipper pull and opens the pocket up by an inch or two, that any small items in your pocket are much more likely to fall out than with the conventional, zip down to open, configuration.

I'd give it 5 stars if it weren't for the effort required to distribute the down inside evenly on cold nights. If you're using it on nights above 25 degrees it's not likely an issue, but all the down in there is loose, so to prevent cold spots you need to backlight it with a bright flashlight and then shake/slap it around & hold it upright to move the insulation around and distribute it evenly. Sounds easier than it is if you're really trying to do a good job of it. Once it's set up right the pad is the shiznit.