I bought an Arcteryx Sidewidewinder TR jacket in January of 2002 to replace my old Marmot alpinist jacket which is yellow and red but still in great condition after several seasons of hard ski bummin. The arcteryx jacket has impeccible fit and looks great. However all accolades end there. First, the powder skirt doesn't work. Snow is always getting up through it on powder days, so it forces you to have to wear bibs because pants will allow snow to wet up your stomach area. Also the skirt is made out of a non-breathable material, so that takes away from the breathability. The gaitors on their pants have the same non-breathing problem. Secondly, the closures for the sleeves at the wrist are a total joke. Only get this jacket is you want cold air funneled into your gloves because of a nasty little crease that their stap at the wrist causes. Last but not least, the waterproof but not airproof zippers are flat out DANGEROUS. The waterproof zippers on the pockets and pit zips are ok. But the main zipper on the front has a tendency to be sticky and actually unzips from the bottom. The only reason I'm writing this is because yesterday the zipper on the front totally broke, and because there are no kind of backups, i.e. flaps with snaps, etc. When the zipper breaks, the jacket is entirely useless. Luckily this happened to me on a 5 inch powder day in a drought year at the resort (sarcasm) and not 3 days deep into the back country where only an entire roll of duct tape would have saved me from a jacket totally open to the elements. I expect to get more than one season out of a jacket that is one of the most expensive on the market. I did mail the jacket back to Arcteryx today, and I will report what kind of customer service I recieve from them. For now I will go back to the old school Marmot alpinist. It may not be stylish, but it beats the Arcteryx stuff hands down.

I saw two of these, sized large, XCR goretex, sitting on a rack at Sierra Trading Post Outlet and nailed one of them at a great price. Would I have paid full price for this? Hmmmm....Maybe. This jacket is designed for downhill sports, with re-inforcements along the back, sides, and arms. It's part of Arcteryx's "descent" line-up. I found it to be really light and efficient. I used it-- so far-- for snowboarding near Lake Tahoe. The snow was great, the weather miserable-- cold, driving ice-rain/snow, but the jacket was awesome, breathed well and kept me dry. The hood folds into a stand-up collar; it is interesting because it has one integrated drawcord at the back that was fairly easy to negotiate even with gloves on. Arcteryx jackets always seem to have great hoods that move when you turn your head. This design, while more ecomomic, seems to move a tad less, but it's still good. The jacket has no storm flap over the main front zipper-- it didn't need one. It has a "water-tight" front zipper, and it worked... it was... well...water-tight. The Minuteman doesn't come with a powder-skirt-- try another "descent" model if you want one of these-- but it has two nifty cinches at the waist that you just pull down on to tighten and squeeze the plastic pulls inside the hem to release. Very techy. It kept the snow out. There is an inside pocket that is great for a wallet, and a pocket on the arm that fits a small device such as a cell/radio phone, small GPS or disposable camera. The reinforced fabric on the jacket would, I think, stand up well for day-hiking through brushy areas. The jacket also makes for a low-key "around town" rain jacket. The cut of the jacket allowed for a thick fleece jacket underneath, and still permitted fine mobility of the arms with full range of motion. The bottom line: Arcteryx makes great jackets, and they are really well-designed for their specialized use and amazingly well-crafted. If you want a light, efficient, down-hill jacket for snow-sports and hiking, this is a good bet. If you need/want something for heavy pack-use, consider another Arcteryx "ascent" model jacket with reinforced shoulders. I might rank this as my favorite rain parka/jacket, because: * It's light-weight * I don't get caught in the rain, much, while back-packing, so I don't really need reinforced shoulders for packs; * it works great for down-hill snow sports and for any activity that uses fanny packs as opposed to heavy pack use; * it looks "casual" and is more subtle for around-town rain-wear * it lives up to Arcteryx's reputation for design, tailoring, and durability. Arcteryx makes amazing gore-tex jackets, and I'm not so sure they are priced that much more expensive than anybody else's; It's just a lot harder to find them on sale.

Customer Service

Sierra Trading Post has great customer service and wonderful warranties. I had another Arcteryx product that I tried to get help with directly from Arcteryx. I tried contacting them on their website and never got a response; I tried getting another store to get some joy from their field rep, but they both blew me off (the other store was a local high-end gear store). Sierra Trading Post, on the other hand, gives me a high level of confidence that if something goes wrong, they will do everything they can to make it right.

Similar Products Used:

other back-packing parkas including Marmot, Mountain Hardwear, Moonstone, and Arcteryx.

Again, another overpriced product from Arc'teryx. Luckily this one I only tested, I'd be pissed if I had blown hard-earned cash on this. Nice high-tech features, too bad they aren't worth the price.

Customer Service

Good luck getting past the switchboard

Similar Products Used:

TNF, Marmot, Cloudveil