I received this just in time for a trip to Lake Placid and boy! did it come in handy. An early season frost and cold rain would have really put a damper on our golf trip were it not for this versatile coat. I wore the shell only for the rainy day, wore the inner fleece in teh morning during the really cold hours and that night I wore both to go walking about the village with friends to a couple of night-time spots. While it could have used another pocket or two, its' function and fit is excellent.
I bought this jacket for my husband in January and it still looks new after 3-4 washes (no fabric softner). It still beads water and the fleece hasn't pilled at all.
The jacket runs true to size, but is a bit short so I ordered both the regular and tall, but kept tall (my husband is 6'1" and the tall hits the bottom of his belt-loops). Make sure you check the back length before ordering.
The sleeves do bunch up or catch on the fleece, but that is to be expected for unlined sleeves. The loops and snaps on the sleeve help keep them in place when using the fleece and sheel toether. The fleece is warm and not too bulky and looks nice on it's own and has zipped pockets, but no real internal pocket, although the zipped pockets form 2 usable pocket on the inside.
The shell has zip pockets on the outside and a velcro cell phone pocket in the inside. A zipper pocket or mp3 player pocket would have been nice.
The hood is thin and uninsulated and not that impressive. It does not zip out and when rolled into the collar creates a life perserver around your neck making it hard to zip the jacket up all the way. The hood can be tightened with and locke in place, but seems a litte shallow for large headed men.
This jacket is pretty warm, not as warm as down, but it gets the job done in Texas where it's not that cold and the versatility gives extended wear time.
Overall good value for a 3 in 1 system, which normally ranges in the $100 or more category. 4.5 rating
ideal for travel. So the fleece sleeves bunch up once in a while. Get a clue.. the idea behind this jacket is convenience. I only wish I had this jacket during our last trip [to Scandinavia], where the weather ranged from moderately warm to cold and blustery.
