![]() ![]() I felt confined trying to layer it over a 300 weight polar fleece jacket, though.Īt the same time, there isn't much spare fabric here, and I would characterize the fit as quasi-athletic. It has a relatively lean fit on the torso, with enough room to accommodate a thick base layer or a medium insulating layer. It's only on one side, which functioned perfectly well. These two photos show the location and closer details for the hem adjustment. If you want to hang the jacket to dry it out, it has a nice unsnap-able loop on the inside. The hardwear at the center is the only adjustment for the hood. This shows the small pocket inside the jacket, in the chest area. ![]() Unsurprisingly for a jacket that claims to be waterproof and breathable, the nylon has little if any stretchiness to it, it is very light but basically a hard shell. The jacket is fully seam-taped on the inside. The wrists are elastic but not adjustable. The hem also has an elastic, adjustable via a single spring toggle on one side. I will address the hood in more detail below, because it has some slight limitations to be aware of. The hood has an elastic across the back and a single spring toggle, which means less adjustability than some options, but also less weight. The jacket has no other way to ventilate - no armpit zips, for example. The main zipper has a very small piece of nylon string as the 'pull' and is backed by a rain/draft flap. The full-zip front is a typical coil zipper, light but not ridiculously so, and it zipped and unzipped easily - not a "sticky" zipper. Note the Houdini has a nylon loop, suitable for latching it to your pack with a carabiner if needed. To highlight the point that this isn't much jacket to carry around, I compared it to a regular (blue) Patagonia Houdini, also stuffed into its own pocket, and a Patagonia Capilene liner glove. The jacket retails for $199, which is fairly expensive for something so light. In the photo below, I stuffed the jacket into the pocket and held it up against a windblock fleece glove. The pocket can carry small stuff, like a few energy bars, and it can be turned inside out and stuffed with the jacket. It has one very small interior pocket, adjacent to the zipper on the chest. That is a little heavier than the regular Houdini, which is 4 ounces in the same size. If it gets too hot in the sun and I don't feel like stopping to take them off, I can just pull them up to my knee and keep moving.My size XL in "folios green" weighed in at 6.4 ounces on a digital hand scale. The Pneumatics I can wear any time and not have to worry about get soaked in my own sweat. Full gore-tex pants don't make much sense to me because they cost so much and are only good when it's pouring. I wear them with a gore-tex parka to stay dry while backpacking through rain. They are not windproof, but in the winter/fall they'll be your second skin. Very comfortable next to the skin, excellent over long underwear (on colder days), smooth as silk under a shell and perfect as everyday winter/fall outerwear. I know it sounds like I work for Marmot, but the fact is, these garments are the ultimate base layers. I consider these items a must for everyday life as well as extreme life. I've been wearing my DriClime Side Zip Pants (and DriClime shirt) this winter as a base layer on hikes in the White Mountains of New of some of the world's worst weather! I just wore them in below zero temps with wind chills approaching minus 50, and together with a 300wt fleece jacket and pant on top, was warm, comfortable and DRY! I'll be bringing them to Alaska in May for sure. The first day, I wore my typical synthetic, warmish tights, and had a very cold posterior most of the day. I went hiking in the Adirondacks this past weekend, and the weather was sloppy and damp, chilly (about 33 degrees), and windy. The Montane Featherlite Pants are my new favorite thing in the world. Light-as-air fabric magically protects your legs from cold wind and light rain! Wonderful for hiking in the cold and damp when the wind kicks up. Fully windproof and highly breathable, GORE WINDSTOPPER fabric is water… Full review Features REI documents the following features, and I have provided my comments on each alongside, with more explanation in the appropriate section. Durable, comfortable, and can even pass for decent pants in town stops. Comfortable soft-shell hiking pants that do what they say-keep wind and even light rain and most snow off your legs and keep warm in cooler temps while also allowing venting in warmer (but not hot) weather. ![]()
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