No sponsored content. It is a multifunctional jacket, well-suited to all-day alpine adventures, long trail runs, exposed free climbs, and evening mountain bike laps. As a trade-off for leaping improvements in breathability, a stiff wind easily cuts through the thin, single-layer nylon. All of the jackets pack into their own pockets in one way or another many have zippered pockets that double as stuff sacks. Every jacket tested manages to stuff into one of their own pockets for easy portability. Buy used, trade in and fix your gear through Worn Wear. Sign up for exclusive offers, original stories, activism awareness, events and more from Patagonia. Scan this code to download the Catch app. It is also important to recognize that all of the jackets we chose to include in this review are among some of the best products available today. A little bit of water protection is necessary from time to time, so most of these jackets come with a durable water-resistant (DWR) coating applied to the shell. To test this in the field, we braved the elements and wore each jacket on a 12,000-foot summit in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains with gusts up to 35 mph and wind chill temperatures as low as zero degrees Fahrenheit. We considered whether it was designed to be used as a single layer in which case we expected it to fit sleeker and closer to the body for optimal performance. The super soft and warm high pile Sherpa inner in All Rights Reserved. No cherry-picked units sent by manufacturers. Our goal was to build it light but strong, so we went with a plain-weave ripstop construction that stands up to rips and tears (and wont blow out at the elbow after a single season). cuffs for a secure fit. Our Editors independently research, test, and rate the best products. Slightly heavier weight jackets like The North Face Flyweight Hoodie are great options for mountain biking, where you need a jacket to cut out the wind on downhills, but still need them to be breathable for pedaling back uphill. this Etamin, keep you dry, as well as, hook and loop tape adjustable sleeve With all of the benefits of the Houdini Air, there have to be a few sacrifices. Material on GearLab is copyrighted. An inscription on the flip-side of the storage pocket of the Merino Sport UL. Here, he is wearing the highly breathable Patagonia Houdini Air as a mid-layer under the more substantial Black Diamond Alpine Start Hoody, which is essentially an ultralight softshell. This is subject to Need it sooner? Catch.com.au Pty Ltd Liquor Licence No. We also find that the fit is more athletically cut than the original, both more flattering to wear out on the town and more comfortable to layer underneath a harness. But, if you value features and pockets over breathability and water-repellency, then the Vital is one of the best options in this review. Just ask him, and he will happily tell you that "weather is his jam" he even holds a bachelor's degree in atmospheric and climate science. It is important for any outdoor garment to fit well for its intended purpose and whether all of the features work as they were intended. A neck snap lets you completely unzip the jacket but still keep it in place, which helps quickly dump heat or adjust midlayers. Made of lightweight nylon or polyester, most of these jackets utilize an incredibly tight fabric weave to muster wind resistance. Immerse yourself in the outdoors with the latest Epiq, * Keep out the chills of winter with a new Sydney Swans, Protect yourself from the elements in this Swerve, Zip up and stay protected in Animal's Wilder, Step out and stay protected in Animal's Wilde, Style and functionality come together with Animal's Marin, Lightweight and ready for the trail, Animal's Vale, the product ID: TP4547 Front storm flap to keep out the elements. All along the way, we continually made notes on special features and nuanced differences in fit, evaluating and re-assessing each jacket's relative strengths and weaknesses. The Arc'teryx Squamish Hoody, the Patagonia Houdini, and the Houdini Air are slightly heavier than the Distance, but all pack into their own chest pocket to relatively the same size. To fairly balance out this question, we rated each product based upon its weight but then adjusted the score slightly based on how small and easily the jacket packs up. The Patagonia Houdini is an iconic windbreaker jacket, and as a repeat winner at the top of our podium, continues to set the standard for all other jackets in this category. If you are using a screen reader and having difficulty please call us at 1-800-638-6464. Then we sealed every seam and treated it so its 100% waterproof; added features like a lightweight mesh lining, hip pockets for all your gear, a vertically adjustable hood, and elasticized cuffs; and finally, we made it packable. Choosing the right wind jacket for your needs might not be Best Windbreaker Jacket For Women of 2022. If you're in the market for a different type of men's jacket, we've tested everything from stormworthy hardshells and rain jackets to winter and down jackets, putting each through the paces of real-world use to find the best models on the market. Still, it doesn't apply to every situation. If it was meant to be worn more as an outer layer, we wanted to see if it could be layered underneath. These small design criticisms aside, the Houdini is still our favorite windbreaker. While it offers a top-notch blend of wind resistance and breathability, it is by no means weatherproof even a few minutes in a light rain will soak through the shoulders. Automated marketing messages will be sent to the phone number provided. We found that this mesh backing across your shoulders on the KUHL Parajax helped wick away perspiration and keep things a little more dry when wearing a backpack. Registered Office: Level 14, Brookfield Place Tower 2, 123 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, 6000. Share your opinions with other L.L.Bean customers. The lightweight package easily clips to a belt, climbing harness, or stashes into the smallest corner of your pack it even squeezes comfortably into the tiniest seat bags, making it a great companion for long bike rides. For example, we give greater weight to critical metrics like wind resistance and packability. For this update, we purchased 13 of the best jackets available for side-by-side testing. Balances wind resistance and breathability. Growing up on the Atlantic coastline, learning to ski in Vermont and Maine, and living up and down the Rocky Mountains for the past decade, he knows about all different types of wind and weather. Even though there are thoughtful additions to improve water resistance, like fully taped seams on the chest pocket, the DWR finish is not enough to stop anything more than a quick passing storm. We weighed this metric as 10 percent of a product's final score. The material although lightweight, ripstop nylon does not breathe well. Our head tester firmly believes windbreakers are the ideal layer for ski touring and mountaineering. Some chilly, mountaintop testing of wind resistance in the less-than-ideal Patagonia Houdini Air. Let us know! After all, a jacket with no breathability would trap all of your heat and sweat inside its shell leading to a horrible cycle of overheating, soaking, and then overcooling you. mid weight fleece. Quite the opposite. Not only is it our top overall scorer, but it is also relatively inexpensive and remarkably durable. Please note: All sizes are UK sizes (see size chart for conversion). Enjoy exclusive offers, the latest on products, and new ways to get outdoors. To analyze which jackets built up the most moisture or which helped us feel the coolest, we cranked up the heat in our gear room to 85-degrees Fahrenheit and put each jacket through a 15-minute workout. If you are biking, running, skiing downhill, or outside in any aggressive wind, the hood tends to catch air like a sail, uncomfortably stretching the collar against your neck. From long, casual hikes to more intense trail runs, The North Face Flyweight Hoodie is the near-ideal balance of wind resistance and breathability, all at a fraction of the cost of directly comparable jackets. With all of them weighing seemingly next to nothing, does it make sense to penalize the ones that are just slightly heavier but in the grand scheme of things still lightweight? Learn more about our environmental and social responsibility program. Track orders, save products, easy hassle-free returns & exchanges. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and we never accept free products from manufacturers. FREE SHIPPING with $50 Purchase - or - FREE with the L.L.Bean Mastercard Details. Others include underarm vents this is perfected by the Smartwool Merino Sport UL, which puts the naturally moisture-wicking power of Merino wool to use by incorporating it into its large, body-mapped ventilation system. While all of these windbreakers purport to be water resistant, none of them are meant to be waterproof. Of course, this level of savings does have some externalized costs associated with it. Super breathable as an outer or mid-layer. To test key criteria like wind resistance, we sought out windy mountaintops and coastlines to evaluate these jackets in the field. See our in-depth testing by female reviewers in our women's specific windbreaker review. 2022 Patagonia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Many of these stowable jackets feature carabiner loops, but not all are particularly designed to be hung from a climbing harness, including The North Face Flyweight Hoodie. In side-by-side bike climbs with other top-ranking windbreakers, we were much more swampy inside this jacket. The Rab Vital Windshell is packed with pockets, loaded with features, and still costs less than many jackets in this review, earning recognition for its excellent value. Aaron often finds himself in some questionably windy situations, whether in the high mountains or out in the desert. The lightest windbreakers weigh less than a quarter-pound. Wind resistance is understandably one of the most important features these jackets can offer we weighted this metric as 30 percent of a product's final score. Through research and our own personal experience, we developed a series of comprehensive and mutually exclusive tests. MODEL WEARS A SIZE M AND IS 182CM TALL FEATURES: * Polo Ralph Lauren apparel * For, Built to provide trademark Rainbird durability and comfort, the, casual comfort in this great Msg frequency may vary. Our experts test thousands of products each year using thoughtful test plans that bring out key performance differences between competing products. The Ortovox Merino Windbreaker is special in this case, utilizing a proprietary weave that incorporates Merino wool and nylon into a single layer, resulting in an exceptionally wind-resistant jacket. Jackets like the KUHL Parajax and Flyweight Hoodie breathe well by effectively wicking moisture from sweat away from the body with a mesh liner. And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves. Our in-depth analysis combines objective, laboratory-style testing with real-world experience to break down each of these jackets based on key criteria: which are the lightest, which are the most wind- and weather-resistant, and which present the best overall value. We also recognize that your specific needs may differ from how heavily we scored each metric. Copyright. However, the size they pack down to is not equal, nor is the ease of stuffing them or transporting them afterward. By providing your email address, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The interlocking yarns significantly increase wind resistance without adding any weight. Read review: The North Face Flyweight Hoodie. Orders are shipped within 1-2 business days and arrive within 3-10 business days. It performed just behind the front runners - built with significantly more material - in our hose test. Windbreakers are a nearly perfect companion for bike commuting, especially during the fall or spring shoulder seasons. Lightweight, packable and waterproof for hiking, biking, camping and everyday casual wear. To effectively test these products, we identified key metrics that help define a truly great windbreaker jacket: wind resistance, breathability and venting; weight and packability; fit and functionality; and water resistance. Catching wind above 12,000 feet in New Mexico. The Patagonia Houdini represents an exceptional value in this category. Once the DWR coating is gone, these jackets will no longer be water-resistant, and you will get wet. Got feedback? Comfortable when worn over a short sleeve jersey, and just enough wind protection to keep us warm on overcast days. Some were better suited to water resistance, while others were much more lightweight. However, the jacket still employs many of these key features half-elastic cuffs, a drawcord on the hem, a storm flap behind the front zipper, and an elastic hood that can be locked down to further enhance its wind resistance. The combination of these methods gives us an idea of how easy it is for air to pass through the fabric of each model. That's substantially less than your average, lightweight rain jacket. Catch supports the Responsible Service of Alcohol. Our comprehensive review helps you find the best option to fit your needs and budget. We couldn't sum up the need for a windbreaker jacket better ourselves GearLab is reader-supported. Create a free Patagonia account. All of these jackets give bias towards protecting you from the wind, so none of them breathe that well. The entire jacket stuffs into its chest pocket the resulting package is only about the size of a small banana. availability and can be searched on Catch using the product ID: AB454 *. It simply means that it didn't perform as well relative to the competition. Our windbreaker jacket expert is Aaron Rice. We recognize that price is a factor affecting every gear budget and that sometimes even a few dollars can make or break the bank. We have yet to find such a unicorn of a jacket. Over the past 8 years, our experts have reviewed over 30 of the best windbreakers on the market. If you don't quite know what we're talking about, go and visit New Mexico in the spring, and you'll understand. Often point deductions came from features that annoyed us: hard to manipulate zippers; hood stowing systems that don't hold; drawcords that are hard to pull or release with one hand; or elastic cuffs and hood liners that aren't tight enough to keep the weather out. FIT! Since these jackets are most often used as an alternative, lightweight outer layer for high-intensity activities, we chose to weigh breathability and venting as 30 percent of a product's final score. An essential aspect of any purchase is the value it offers. Recycled ripstop polyester shell resists abrasion and blocks wind and rain. The new standard for breathability, the Houdini Air kept us completely dry long after our legs gave out on this training run. In the few ways we have to criticize the award-winning Houdini, the Patagonia Houdini Air makes up for when it comes to fast-and-light performance. To supply alcohol to a person under the age of 18 years (Penalty exceeds $17,000); For a person under the age of 18 years to purchase OUR A windbreaker offers a lightweight, breathable alternative for all your active pursuits, and is suitable to pack as a backup layer for all but the worst weather. Sign up for exclusive offers, original stories, activism awareness, events and more. The Outdoor Research Helium Wind Hoodie is a shell featuring Pertex Diamond Fuse technology. While other jackets may weigh fractions of an ounce less, the Vital has an advantage when it comes to additional features. This windbreaker jacket should continue to perform well for years across a variety of activities. With a similar slew of features but more zippered pockets than any other jacket, the Vital is our choice when you don't want added features to compromise weight savings. Every single windbreaker in our review tips the scales at less than eight ounces. 36117384. >, An alpine-inspired design is suitably minimalist for fast-and-light objectives. Regardless, we wouldn't choose any of these jackets if we knew we were walking out the door on a rainy day. Concerned about the environmental impact? But they wear off especially if you wear a pack over the jacket or it is subject to lots of abrasion or scuffing. The high desert of the American Southwest provides a perfect testing ground for our field research in one day, we can easily travel from chilly alpine ridges down to sun-soaked desert landscapes. Check out our. Details, (Most orders will arrive in 2-5 business days), L.L.Bean is a registered trademark of L.L.Bean Inc. But this quality has been perfected by the Patagonia Houdini Air, which earned a nod for those uphill athletes looking for maximum breathability. We offer various windbreakers in this review to accommodate all situations but be sure to carefully consider your own preferences before settling on a particular jacket. Designed for the harsh climbing conditions of the Scottish highlands and loaded with pockets, the Rab Vital is more than capable in a variety of environments. Besides the notes we acquired from field testing, we wanted to judge each jacket side-by-side in a situation that would not incorporate the sun's heat a major factor here in the Southwest. We use cookies to provide you with the best possible experience. JavaScript settings can usually be found in your browser's Tools or Preferences menu. Because we know prioritizing durability results in consuming less energy, wasting less water and creating less trash. All funds donated are collected by Catch in Bentleigh East, Victoria and will be given to the nominated fundraiser. Overall, we weighted this metric as 20 percent of a product's final score. Privacy | Cookies | Terms, We tested the best men's windbreaker jackets from Patagonia, The North Face, Smartwool, and others to find the best options. The tighter the fabric is woven together, the less space between individual fibers, and the less air-permeable the fabric becomes. Without any features to improve ventilation, you can only push up the sleeves to cool off without full-elastic wrist cuffs, this can cut off circulation for those with muscular forearms. GearLab is founded on the principle of honest, objective, reviews. These are easy entry points where the wind can circumvent your carefully woven nylon barrier. However, some jackets performed better than the rest, but often for different reasons. Otherwise, this windbreaker would have easily taken the top spot in our review. When it comes down to the core value of a windbreaker, it may be obvious that wind resistance is the focus feature. Wind resistance and breathability are often contrasting ideas in terms of fabric weave and performance. Fit is critical, and windbreakers work better when they fit close to the body. You can contact us on 1300 222 824. Please upgrade to one of the following for a smoother, safer shopping experience with us: Perfect for everyday and the unexpected our light, packable windbreaker is also fully waterproof so you can stay comfortable and dry whatever the day brings. Since our scoring is based on direct, side-by-side comparisons, a low score doesn't mean that a jacket isn't worth your while. Once you have enabled JavaScript, please refresh (or "reload") this page. No purchase necessary. Find a complete list of retail store locations, departments and store hours. We compared our previous findings with how each jacket felt in the strong, cold winds we experienced. Not our favorite for running due to a lack of vents, but did a solid job if temperatures were lower and we stuck to shady slopes. The Houdini has a burly DWR coating that gives it impressive water resistance despite its light weight. Copyright 2006-2022 Catch.com.au Pty Ltd (ABN 22 149 779 939). That doesnt mean its flimsy, though. No ads. WARNING: Under the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 it is an offence: But for fair-weather activity, the performance and price point of the Flyweight Hoodie will appeal to casual recreationists and dirtbag athletes alike. It performs exactly as a windbreaker should, packing down and stowing away until you need to break it out to protect you from wind or light rain. All of the products we reviewed here certainly did a good job of protecting us from the wind. Water resistance is a nice feature in a windbreaker but is certainly not what these jackets are designed for. Features that help seal out the wind, like elastic on the sleeve cuffs and drawcords on the hem and hood, make a huge difference if you are battling a strong, sustained wind. * MANUFACTURER: Weatherproof * SIZE ORIGIN: US * MANUFACTURER COLOR: Grey * STYLE TYPE: * MANUFACTURER: Nautica * SIZE ORIGIN: US * MANUFACTURER COLOR: Dark Gray * STYLE TYPE: OUR We're split on the hood brim it does provide extra rain deflection, but it looks goofy and makes it harder to fit under a bike helmet. This windbreaker is built with a texturized nylon 51% of which is post-consumer recycled material that is soft to the touch and airy to wear. The Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell is the lightest jacket in the entire review, and it stuffs down to a tiny package. A 100% recycled polyester face fabric is much more comfortable when worn next-to-skin, and is mesh-backed in key spots for enhanced breathability and an extra touch of warmth. Aside from sporting these windbreaker jackets practically every day for months and assessing how we felt, we conducted a wind resistance test. Your current browser is no longer supported on llbean.com. But for other metrics, like water resistance, we conducted laboratory-style tests that could be easily recreated. We only weighted this metric as 10 percent of a product's final score. The Ortovox Merino windbreaker uses a revolutionary process to combine nylon and Merino wool into a single-layer piece of outerwear. An ideal choice for uphill athletes, but maybe not those climbers looking at a questionable forecast, considering the Houdini Air all comes down to what you are looking for in a windbreaker jacket.