Outdoor Research Axiom Jacket

The next jacket is the Outdoor Research Axiom.  This jacket won Gear of the Year awards from both Outside Magazine and National Geographic Adventure for 2012 and did so because it is a great, all around jacket.  I have not had the opportunity to use this jacket yet.  For a review from somebody who has used the jacket, check out:

http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/gear-closet-outdoor-research-axiom.html

I just hope to share my observations based on fit and features.  This can be dangerous because I have a few pieces of gear that did not impress me too much initially, but after using them, they have become some of my favorite pieces.  There are other pieces that I own that I was really excited about initially, but have become closet fillers only because in use, they're just not as good as I was expecting.

So, use this post to get an idea of what the jacket offers for features, and get a slightly better idea of how it fits, and then check some other reviews for an idea of how the material breathes and the jacket functions.  From everything I've read, the jacket works great in real-mountain applications.

Specs and Features

• Made with Gore-tex Active Shell membrane and 20d nylon stretch face fabric
• One zippered external chest pocket, backed with mesh, with a headphone port
• Two zippered handwarmer pockets that are just high enough to stay out of the way of a harness and backed with mesh for additional breathability
• Single-pull adjustable hood
• Velcro cuff closures
• Single-pull hem drawcord
• 13.5 oz

Pictures

The Outdoor Research Axiom Jacket in Black/Lemongrass Color

Has one chest zippered pocket that is backed with mesh.  The pocket is actually larger than the yellow outline. 

Two zippered handwarmer pockets that are high enough that they mostly stay out of the way of a harness and hipbelt.  These too are backed with mesh, which would allow one to dry damp items like gloves, or vent a little when working up a sweat.

A single drawcord around the hem seals out the elements.

It's hard to see in this picture, but there is a lot of mesh on the inside.  There are no pit zips in this jacket (apparently because Active Shell is breathable enough that they're not absolutely necessary), so the mesh-backed pockets do allow for a little bit of venting if one is really working hard.  Gore-tex has put a weight limit on any item that uses Active Shell.  So, OR decided to go with handwarmer pockets instead of pit zips.  Doing both would have put them above the weight limit.

A better look at the mesh next to the Gore-tex membrane.

This is the back of the chest pocket with a headphone port.

Fleece-lined storm flap at the chin

Single hood pull battens down the hatches surprisingly well.  The drawcord extends around the back of the head and partially around the opening of the hood.

I am 6'2" and about 185lbs and this jacket in a size Medium fits me nicely.  There is just enough room for a light midlayer, but it doesn't feel big and baggy over just a baselayer.  My father-in-law, who is the same height and weight as me, wears a large because he has broader shoulders than I do.  So, if you have broad shoulders, I would size up one size from what works for me.  The sleeves are cut on the long side.  Short sleeves are occasionally a problem for me, especially when I start reaching above my head with the jacket tucked in my harness.

The hood cinched with the since drawcord on the back.  It cinches well enough to keep the hood on in nasty conditions, with and without a helmet, but a couple drawcords around the opening of the hood would be nice to really seal it off.  But, OR's goal was to keep this light and simple.  I think the single drawcord is effective.

The hood is a nice fit with a helmet.  Again, the single drawcord is enough to keep the hood on in nasty conditions, but it doesn't necessarily seal out everything.

The cut isn't perfect for climbing, but it's pretty darn good.  This jacket pulls up more than the Rab jackets I checked out, but quite a bit less than the La Sportiva Stormfighter.  When I tried it on under a harness (which I didn't get any pictures of), it didn't pull out of the harness when I raised my arms.

OR Axiom in Lemongrass color.

The Verdict

The OR Axiom, of the jackets I tried on, is now the jacket I am most interested in using in the field.  The fit is a little more of an all around fit than the Sportiva Stormfighter (the Stormfighter is definitely a backcountry skiing-specific fit, not a climbing fit), and active shell has gotten great reviews so far.  This jacket uses a 20 denier face fabric, which feels soft and supple, but could lack the durability of the heavier fabric found in the Rab Stretch Neo.  Again, I haven't used this jacket in the mountains, but I would be very surprised if it didn't live up to the hype it has received.    

Lightweight Hardshells - La Sportiva Stormfighter Jacket

I decided to start this round of jacket inspection with the La Sportiva Stormfighter jacket.  Out of all the jackets I chose, it was the one that grabbed my attention first.  Maybe it was the bright yellow color or maybe it is all the great press it has been receiving lately, but I couldn't wait to check it out.

When my business partners and I got to see this jacket when it first arrived, everybody thought it was such a good looking jacket.  Words like "beautiful" and "gorgeous" are not words that we tough guys use on a regular basis, but when this jacket was passed around, those words went flying out of multiple people's mouths.  Upon closer inspection, it was obvious that the quality of materials and manufacturing are both top-notch.

When I put the jacket on, it felt like it was tailored to me.  With my arms to my side, the sleeves were long enough, the jacket was long enough in the body, and the body was trim, but not too tight.  It was a really nice fit . . . I thought.  As soon as I started moving, I was a little disappointed.  I will explain further in the pictures.

Here are a few stats about the jacket:

• 11oz according to La Sportiva, 12 oz according to my scale
• Made of a lightweight nylon (approximately 20 denier) face fabric with Gore-tex Active Shell membrane
• Reflective details on right shoulder, chest zipper, "La Sportiva" logo on chest and "Gore-tex Active" logo on back
• One-way adjustable hood (it works better than it sounds) and single pull hem drawcord
• Non-adjustable stretchy cuffs 
• Storm flap over front zip with single magnet at bottom to hold it in place

The Pictures

La Sportiva Stormfighter hardshell

The jacket is made with Gore-tex Active Shell.  Both of these logos reflect light

This is the zipper detail on the single chest pocket.  The zipper is a top-notch, waterproof YKK vislon zipper.  They tend to zip easier and are more waterproof than a metal coil zipper, but are usually not as durable.  This zipper is burly enough for years of use though.

The front zip is a two-way zipper.  The two circles in this picture are magnets that hold the zipper flap closed.

The cuffs.  The black is a stretch section.  The cuffs feel really nice and fit nicely under a glove, but don't allow many options for sealing the cuff if you use under-cuff gloves.

The interior of the cuff is lined in a loose, soft, slick nylon. 

The single chest pocket is mesh lined allowing for additional venting, assuming you leave the pocket unzipped.  It could also be used for drying small, wet items like some gloves.

The interior pocket with a little hole for headphones.

Fleece lining at the chin.

The hood has a single pull adjustment.  I thought that wouldn't be enough, but it does a surprisingly good job at snugging down the hood over a helmet and without a helmet.  Notice the reflective detail on the right shoulder.  When the light isn't reflecting off it, it is a dark grey pattern that matches the hood.

The plastic cinch is glued to the fabric of the hood for a very clean design that is simple to adjust.

The same plastic cinch that is used on the hood is used on the hem.  

Horribly focused detail of the cinch.

Sportiva uses Gore tiny seam tape on the seams (it's 13mm wide instead of the standard 20mm or so) which allows for a little more breathability.

The Fit

I really like the fit of the jacket.  It felt like it was tailored to my body.  I'm 6'2", 185ish lbs, and a size Medium fit trim but loose enough to wear a couple layers underneath.  It really felt nice.

Trim fit.  Loose enough for layers but not boxy.  The sleeves are the right length, at least with my arms down.

The hood without a helmet.  The only adjustment on the hood is a pull from the back. 

With the single pull, the hood is able to be cinched securely on the head, with or without a helmet.

The hood is just right with a helmet.

And now for the few problems that I noticed:

Arms down

Arms up.

If I keep my arms below shoulder level, everything is fine.  But, when I raise my hands all the way up, either the sleeves are too short and my wrists aren't covered or my wrists are covered and the hem pulls up about 8 inches.  There is no way, at least in a size Medium, to keep my wrists covered AND the jacket tucked into a harness while climbing.  It's one or the other.

This is the culprit.  When I raise my arm, the material under the arm catches when my arms are raised to about shoulder level.  From there, either the hem is too short and would pull out of a harness or the sleeves are too short and my wrists would be bare.   A few extra inches of material under the arm and a slightly different cut would solve the problem, I think.

The second fit issue I found is that when I reach forward with both arms, the back of the jacket pulls tight and it feels a little restricting.  This wasn't as problematic for me as the other fit issue, especially because there is a slight stretch to the fabric.

I don't see either of these issues being a problem while skiing, touring, backpacking, or wearing around town.  I really only see the fit being a problem when used for climbing.  If you aren't much of a climber (or already have a good climbing shell), this would be a great backcountry skiing or backpacking jacket.  

Everybody I have talked to has been really impressed with the styling, which is so important while touring in the backcountry.  It really is all about who looks best once the pictures are posted on somebody's blog for the world to see.  But seriously, it's nice to look stylish.

The Verdict

I really like this jacket and would love to test it out in the mountains while skiing this winter.  We'll see if the budget allows for that.  I don't think it would work for me for climbing, however.  The fit just isn't quite right.  I think Outside Magazine's Gear of the Year award for 2013 is valid for the average, non-climbing outdoor enthusiast, because this really is a slick jacket.  I was surprised that, coming from a climbing and ski mountaineering brand, it wouldn't have a more climbing-friendly fit.

I would love to hear others' thoughts, especially from those who have had the opportunity to use the jacket.

A Quick Update: In talking to some people from La Sportiva and asking them why they screwed up the fit (at least for climbers), they said that this jacket was designed specifically as a backcountry skiing/ski mountaineering jacket, not a climbing jacket.  They said that they'll be debuting climbing-specific clothing in the future, but their first round of clothing was ski mountaineering specific.  So, even though occasionally you have to raise your arms to climb while backcountry skiing, I guess they felt it was more important to have a trim, dialed fit with arms down (while skinning and skiing).

Lightweight Hardshells introduction

Early this morning, about 4am, I got dressed to go climbing before I had to go to work.  It was raining quite hard and the temperature was hovering around 35 degrees.  We decided to go drytooling instead of rock climbing, figuring we may get more purchase with picks in cracks than rubber on wet rock.  Not only that, drytooling would allow us to wear warm boots and gloves.  Instead of being bummed as is normally the case when rain thwarts our rock climbing plans, I got excited knowing that colder temperatures and wetter weather is a good sign that ice season is approaching.  But drytooling in the rain and sleet meant I needed a jacket that would keep me dry from the elements, but breathe well while I was pulling hard.

Last year I did most of my ice climbing in a softshell.  Only one or two times did I ever wear a hardshell while climbing, and only when it was snowing really wet snow and I'd be out in it for a long time.  In fact, I generally only wear hardshells in really wet and nasty conditions. This morning was a hardshell morning.

In years past, I avoided wearing hardshells except in the worst conditions because I would generally overheat, oversweat, eventually get cold and clammy, and would be uncomfortable.  But, with the progress that has been made with waterproof/breathable membrane technology over the last 3 or 4 years, and especially in the last year or two, I have started working hardshells into my clothing systems again.

This morning I was surprised at how comfortable I was able to stay while climbing hard in a hardshell.  I stayed dry from the outside, even though it was dumping rain/wet snow, and I didn't work up a sweat like usual on the inside.  I was climbing in the Rab Stretch Neo jacket, made of Polartec Neoshell.  My friend was wearing a Mountain Hardwear Drystein jacket made with Mountain Hardwear's proprietary Dry Q membrane.  He stayed pretty dry too, only complaining once that he started to work up a bit of a sweat while pulling the crux of one route while being totally pumped.  We both agree that hardshell technology has come a long way.

So, while it rained hard on us while we were climbing and it continued to rain all day, I thought about the important role that hardshells play.  It has been said, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing."  With that in mind, there are certain types of weather that require a hardshell to be considered good weather.

There are a lot of great, new hardshells on the market.  I have the good fortune of inspecting a few of the better ones (in my opinion) that we will be selling at our shop, GEAR:30 in Ogden, Utah.  Because I haven't used most of these jackets yet, I will not be writing reviews on these jackets based on performance.  I will simply try to show the fit, features, and details in a useful way for those that are interested in any of these jackets, but maybe haven't had the opportunity to use or see them in person. For the jackets that I decide to buy and use, I will update the posts with performance information based on my own experience after a few months of use.

The jackets that I will be highlighting are as follows:

• Rab Stretch Neo Jacket - Neoshell - (I actually have used this one, but it's still relatively new and I don't have a lot of mileage in it yet)
• Rab Latok Alpine Jacket - eVent
• Outdoor Research Axiom Jacket - Gore-tex Active Shell - (Outside Gear of the Year 2012)
• La Sportiva Stormfighter - Gore-tex Active Shell - (Outside Gear of the Year 2013)

I will try to highlight one jacket each day, but depending on how busy work is, I may switch to one every other day.  If other jackets become available that fit the category of 'lightweight hardshells,' I will add them to the mix