Re: Soft shells

[Ben]

Re: Soft shells

I am looking for some advice on soft shells. I am looking to purchase one for use in winter mountaineering and ice climbing. I generally do not get cold, but am looking for something that will stay relatively dry in wet snow or ice conditions. I have heard that Marmot is a good brand for soft shells. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[NYBRAD]

Ben, I bought the Apollo Jacket from RaggedMountain last year, and have nothing but great things to say about it. Unless it's raining really hard or the water is really flowing on the ice, my hardshell stays in the pack. I looked at a bunch of other soft shells, but Ragged's seemed to be the best quality. The thumb loops are what sealed the deal for me. It also breathes extremely well.
http://www.raggedmountain.com/products.php?id=6

 

[John H Swanson]

Lots of them out there without hoods. I had a hard time believing that a hoodless jacket would be comfortale bashing thru snow laden branches up on the ridge. All that snow going down the neck. So, I bought an Ice Flow from Cloud Veil. I like it.

 

[AMF]

Lots of them out there without hoods....

Thats one thing I find puzzling about soft shells, the lack of a hood on most ot them. I have pretty much abandoned my hard shell for winter use, but have found it hard to effectively seal out snow drift at the neck line.

 

[Johnnycakes]

Outdoor Research Seattle Sombrero

AMF,
Have you tried wearing an OR Seattle Sombrero? It does a pretty good job at keeping the snow out of the collar.
John

 

[Tom H]

I bought an Arcteryx softshell last winter. Can't give you a side-by-side comparison with other brands, but IMO it has paid for itself in successful ascents where I might have turned back due to extreme conditions. No hood, but I have always preferred using an OR Sahale Sombrero (lighter weight cousin of the Seattle Sombrero) along with a lightweight silk balaclava anyways. I do carry a Marmot Precip for those occasional brief times when a hood and 99.8% weather protection is absolutely necessary.
One observation - I was surprised by how much moisture gets trapped in the softshell. The thing is considerably heavier at the end of the day, but it still does a much better job of keeping me warm than any other soaking wet garment I've tried yet. And it's the best armor I've found yet for bushwhacks...still looks like new.

 

[kurcam]

i've been using a mtn hardwear one forget the name. it has trango, which i think is a mtn hardwear laminate and gore windstopper. pretty warm, very durable, not as stretchy as some of the other softshells seem to be (the ones that have schoeller) but it moves well enough.

it can be a bit heavy and there are limited venting options - the best remains to unzip it down the torso. i haven't used it for ice climbing, which i think is the target use, but i could see the benefits. the sleeves have a nice fleece collar to limit h20 seepage up the arms and the collar has a nice pull tab to snug close to the neck to keep out the weather.

over all, a pretty useful article for all around hiking/climbing/mountaineering though sometimes i think for the price a good layering system of a wicking t-neck, fleece vest or jacket and a hardshell are just as efficient.

sometimes the advantage to the softshell is that you can get away without the others, but i usually find i pack them anyway so the softshell can sometimes give you a false sense of comfort and you may end up overwhelmed if you don't pack more protection (i.e. the hardshell for really wet weather/snow/long exposure).

 

[Warren]

sometimes the advantage to the softshell is that you can get away without the others, but i usually find i pack them anyway so the softshell can sometimes give you a false sense of comfort and you may end up overwhelmed if you don't pack more protection (i.e. the hardshell for really wet weather/snow/long exposure).

I've found the combination of a the marmot windshirt and a dryskin jacket to be more flexible and to be warm enough to replace a fleece jacket. In the winter, I'll use one or the other to replace and expedition weight underwear layer.

Yeah I guess it's heavier, but more useful and about the same bulk.