The down jacket is not a new idea, but Columbia has added a twist to the Reach the Peak Hybrid Down Jacket. When you first see the jacket it looks a lot like other down jackets until you really start looking it over. There are a few main differences from your traditional down jacket.
First, Columbia has taken a lot of the good qualities that you find in traditional down jackets and then made a few improvements. This jacket has 700-fill down insulation, which helps this jacket to be super light and enables this jacket to be stuffed into a pack. This also gives great warmth to weight ratio so you don’t have to sacrifice warmth.
One of the great features that Columbia added to this jacket are the stretch panels under the arms and on the back. This enables you to move around more freely in the jacket and not feel so restrictive when reaching for something. Also these panels help the jacket have a lot more breathability when doing more physical activities.
The sleeve have what they call comfort cuffs with thumb holes. What these are and do is help keep the cold out. When using this jacket as a layering piece the cuffs with the thumb holes come in handy by helping the sleeves stay put and not ride up like other jackets. Also, when your thumbs are in the holes and then put on under gloves it makes a great barrier to keep the wind and cold out.
One of the biggest differences of this jacket than your traditional is Columbia’s Omni-Heat reflective technology. When you open the jacket up it looks like something that you would see on a space movie. Columbia has development the Omni-Heat technology to help increase the warm of a piece of clothing while decreasing the amount of insulation that is needed. This means that this puffy jacket doesn’t have to be as puffy in order to still be warm.
To top off this jacket, Columbia has added their Omni-Shield advanced repellency to the outer shell of the jacket to repel light rain or snow. I have only been in two light snow storms and one light rain and the jacket stayed dry and warm every time. Like everywhere else, here in Utah we haven’t had much snow and being able to test how water resistant the jacket really is has been hard. I would just trust Columbia and pack something to go over this jacket if you are planning on heavy snow or rain.
The one downside that I found with the jacket is the zipper. The outer shell material use on the jacket is light and strong but sometimes when zipping the jacket the zipper catches some of the material. Now that I have used this jacket repeatedly, I don’t seem to have this problem as I follow the zipper with my thumb to keep the fabric out of the way.
Overall, this is a great jacket and one that I have used for over two months and it has performed great at anything I have thrown at it. It has a great athletic cut and fits and looks good. If you are looking for a jacket that is less bulky but still warm, then check out the Reach the Peak Hybrid Down Jacket. You can see and read more about the jacket on Columbia’s website. Also I have listed the features off of their site below.
Features:
• Fabric: Shell: 100% Tactel® nylon ripstop, 96% polyester/4% elastane Heat Thermostretch™. Lining: 100% polyester, 100% polyester abrasion-resist fleece
• Omni-Heat thermal reflective
• Omni-Shield advanced repellency
• Hybrid for stretch and breathability
• 700 fill-power down insulation
• Comfort cuffs with thumb holes
• Interior security pocket
• Zip-closed pockets
• Packable
• Center back length: 28.5”
• MSRP: $180.00
• http://www.columbia.com/Men’s-Reach-The-Peak%E2%84%A2-Hybrid-Down-Jacket/WM3196,default,pd.html#
Product provided for free by the manufacturer for review purposes.