Gear Review: Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody
This insulated hoody keeps performing, even when conditions are at their worst.
[lighthweight Synthetic]
This jacket endured some nasty weather last winter: One skier wore it as her outer layer while doing laps on a cruddy, drizzly day on Mt. Mansfield in Vermont. “Although it eventually wetted out, I never got chilled, as long as I kept moving,” she says. Credit the PrimaLoft Sport insulation (which traps heat even when wet) and the windproof polyester shell fabric treated with Patagonia’s better-than-average Deluge DWR. The roomy, active fit with articulated elbows and the self-sealing rubber cuff gaskets were a hit with our climbers. But the hood, while able to cinch securely around a hat, only fits over the most low-profile helmets. Packs down to cantaloupe size in its included sack. $189; 1 lb.; m’s XS-XXL, w’s XS-XL; patagonia.com