It 's 41 degrees Fahrenheit in my back yard right now. I am writing this from the deck of my house wearing my shinny (literally) and new Shimmer Me Timbers jacket from Columbia. I am going to be wear and abusing this jacket until summer at least, longer if it earns a spot in my gear closet and becomes a trusted piece. I received this jacket directly from Columbia for the purpose of field testing, reporting back and writing about it via social media and blogs. Along with the jacket I received a letter asking me to be honest and truthful in my impressions of this jacket. I am your average blue collar working stiff, when I buy gear I research it carefully because I can't afford to spend big money on underperforming items. There is nothing better than being in the outdoors, but the gear to do so comfortably and safely is not cheap. It is my goal on this blog to only recommend gear that I feel is worth the money and worth its weight in your pack when you head into the back country. If I wouldn't pack it, I wont recommend you do regardless of how much gear a company sends me. This is the first piece I have ever gotten for free from a company to review, hopefully it's not the last.
I have a bit of history with Columbia products, growing up in Wisconsin Columbia jackets were the thing to have come winter time. They were what all the cool kids at my high school were wearing. There aren't a lot of places where winter jackets are a fashion item, but given the length and severity of Wisconsin winters, we are a little different. I had a trusty 3 in 1 shell with fleece jacket that could zip into the shell as a liner. It served me well for a couple of winters of snow shoveling, skiing and snowmobiling in Wisconsin. When I left home for Seattle and the Cascades I took it with me and almost died wearing it. I read a ton of stuff on trips, outdoor survival and rescues. Every time I read a story I always wonder how they made the mistakes that got them in their situation and I never understand it. Until I almost needed rescue myself. My first winter in Washington myself and a friend were snowshoeing up a trail just west of Stevens Pass in February. It was snowing as we drove to the trailhead, it was snowing as we hiked up the mountain, it snowed as we made camp, it snowed all night while we slept, It was still snowing the next morning. In the 36 hours our trip took, it snowed over a foot of light powder which soaked every piece of our gear that was made of cloth from the tent, to our sleeping bags to the Columbia shell I was wearing whose waterproofing had worn out well before this trip. Between the fresh snow and the extra water weight our trip back to the truck took twice as long going down hill as the up hill trip took the day before. We were post holing 2 foot deep holes wearing snowshoes. A mile from the truck I tripped and fell face first into the snow for the hundredth time that day. The thought that came into my mind as I lay there with my pack on top of me was that I could just lie there, fall asleep and die and it would be ok. I have never been so physically exhausted in my life. Thankfully it struck that thinking its ok to lay down and die was ok was a very, very bad thing and I scared myself into getting up and continuing. A lot of little things went wrong on that trip, taking the wrong jacket was just one of them. That was the last time I wore a Columbia product. Since then I have never looked to Columbia as a true technical outerwear company, thinking their products are find for average use, resort skiing, snow play, staying warm and dry on trips to the store, but not much beyond. Last month I read this article from the Gear Junkie on Outside Magazine's blog about Columbia relaunching its self as a leading outdoor clothing maker. I am always skeptical about gadgets and gizmos on outdoor gear, usually simple is the best, but some of the ideas are pretty interesting. My favorite new Columbia technology is the one used in the jacket I am wearing. Omni-Heat Thermal Reflective. Basically they line the item with a bunch of reflective little dots (see below) to reflect body heat back to you. Its a novel idea and now I get to test it.
My $120 test jacket came in a very shinny greenish brown called Breen. It looks great, it looks like a high quality puffy. The outer shell fabric feels a little thicker and tougher than the fabric on other high end puffy jackets I own, which is a good thing. It also some how feels cheaper, feeling less like a high end shell and more like the fabric from a mid level sleeping back shell. I have run into this problem a couple of times with this jacket, I cannot tell you one thing that is wrong with this jacket, one thing that makes it look or feel cheap, but there are a few things that for whatever reason, give me that impression and I can't figure out why. This jacket is filled with Columbia's proprietary synthetic insulation from their Omni-Heat line. It is their version of the popular Primaloft. All synthetic insulations are trying to top down for weight and warmth and none have pulled it off yet, but Primaloft is close. The advantage of synthetic insulation is that it still insulates when wet, unlike down. This is very important when you live someplace like Washington and spend most of your days out on the wet side of the Cascades. I have both down and synthetic puffy jackets, but I only grab the down when I am positive I wont get get. Wet down is useless. According to info from a Columbia representative on Backcountry.com, Omni-Heat synthetic 50% recycled insulation is "Ounce for ounce the most effective insulator out there." The front hand pockets are lined with fleece, something I think all pockets should be lined with, there is nothing better than sticking cold hands in soft warm pockets. The inside of the zipper is also covered in fleece by your chin to avoid chaffing. The hood fits well and is adjustable. I'm not sure it if would fit over a helmet though. The interior is covered in little shinny dots, really shinny little dots. You might be able to use the inside of this jacket as a signaling mirror if you need to signal a rescue aircraft. I'm not kidding. I was most surprised by the fit of this jacket. Columbia products have been known to fit poorly and boxy. I am 6'1" and an athletically built 190lbs and this jacket fits me well. It seems to be cut to fit closer and athletically. It is also long enough to cover my lower back when bent down, something that is a pet peeve. It feels light weight, it moves well, it feels good. As I have written this I have stayed warm despite the sun setting and the temperature going down with it. I can see my breath in the porch light but I am still toasty. This weekend I will be going skiing and I am taking this jacket. I think it might be too warm to ski in but I will rock it around the base area to test its ability to keep me warm while sitting in the snow doing nothing. Stay tuned for updates on this jacket as winter wears on.
Dave
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