I love this jacket. Picked it up at T.J. Maxx of all places for a steal. - Super lightweight winter shell - Short length allows access to gear on harness - Although it does look a bit dorky when the sleeves are dropped and your arms are poking out, it allows way better venting/cooling than pit zips alone - Large hood fits well over helmet, but can act a bit like blinders when you're crossing the street in town

Customer Service

No opinion

Just bought it so I haven''t spent much time in it. Initial thoughts, though: Cons 1. Retail was pretty expensive for a non-Gore-Tex coat. (~350 USD) 2. Pretty short length. I''m going to use it for snowboarding but I may come to regret that after the first real wipe-out in Cascade powder. 3. Zipper pulls come untied (this seems to happen with all Sierra Designs zipper pulls and can be easily fixed by *carefully* melting the two ends of the pull together with a match). 4. Full length arm zippers seem to take two hands to zip/un-zip most of the time and get caught in the fabric quite a bit. 5. No hand-warmer pockets. (Not that big of a deal to me, though...) Pros 1. Full length arm zippers. In my mind, this seemed to offset the fact that it wasn''t Gore-tex since it would vent pretty well. And although it looks pretty dorky to convert the jacket into a vest by unzipping the sleeves and tucking them into holders on the sides, it vents *really* well, and makes it an easy way to cool down significantly w/o having to take off a pack. 2. Good hood. Adjustable in four places and moves with your head really well. I recommend cutting off the extra 6" of cord they give you on the hood/face tightener cords. 3. Water tight zippers. 4. Chest pockets. The pocket openings are not very tall - 3-4" maybe - but the pockets themselves are about 12" deep. Perfect for holding a map without having to wad it up into a little ball. Helps on venting too. 5. Weight. Pretty light for a winter shell and the amount (and types) of zippers it has. Not something I''ll drag around on summer trips but it''s infinitely lighter than my TNF shell or any other winter jacket I''ve had. Had this not been on sale at REI for 240 USD, I probably would have held out for some season ending sales and tried to pick up an Arcteryx shell. But I couldn''t pass up the price, since I had been eye-balling this shell for quite a while.

Customer Service

Haven''t contacted SD. Bought at REI and always get good customer service from them!

Similar Products Used:

TNF, Sierra Designs, Red Ledge