Marmot Super Mica Jacket
This jacket hits a backpacking trifecta sweet spot: ultralight, ultracompact, and ultrawaterproof.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
The Super Mica is a durable, waterproof/breathable jacket that doesn’t even hit nine ounces on the scale. It’s loaded with features you’d expect from burlier jackets, but it’s so light that you won’t even think twice about tossing it in your pack.
It’s also ultracompact. This jacket rolled up so small that I could even stuff it in my back pocket for quick jaunts up to a windy ridgeline.
Breathability is superb. Despite pounding uphill in the Ritter Range, I didn’t even need the pit zips. The mesh-lined front pockets, which thankfully are reachable with a pack on, also double as vents should things get especially heated up.
In addition to being breathable, the proprietary MemBrain Strata material passed our waterproof tests with flying colors, even when faced with an onslaught of 10 gallons per minute.
Ultralight doesn’t mean ultrawimpy. In addition to the 100% nylon ripstop that survived icy self-arrests and numerous scrapes across talus, Marmot put abrasion resistant patches on key friction points between the jacket and a pack.
The Specs
$200
8.5 oz (men’s M, on BACKPACKER scales)
Sizes: Men’s S-XXL
Marmot.com
Photos and text by Will Rochfort