The outer shell is the pits. I once wore it without the inner shell and the inner arm lining soon became saturated with my sweat. It does not breathe! Last week, with the inner lining in place, I was out hiking up a hill for an hour and again the inner part of the shell was saturated. Not worth the purchase...
I have had this jacket for a year and I have used it in the fall, winter and spring. I walk with my dogs everyday in the New Hampshire woods I'm out for at least hour in the morning and an hour (or more) in the afternoon in whatever weather Mother Nature has for the day. I got the Cayenne/Squash jacket because it affords visibility during hunting season and it's good for other seasons as well. I wanted a weatherproof jacket so that I wasn't sopping wet when walking in the rain or wet snow. It is NOT weatherproof. My arms and the front lower part of the jacket get wet all the way through. I shop at LL Bean all of the time. I should probably bring it back, but the color is perfect and I can't find another LL Bean jacket in orange that is weatherproof and 3 in 1. I like the 3 in 1, but agree with another reviewer, the fleece jacket is worthless as it is difficult to get on without the sleeves being lined, and it bunches up all of the time. I actually took a liner from another jacket and use that instead. It works much better. I will probably give the fleece away as I find I don’t wear it. It is a great color- I wish LL Bean had more like that. The other problem with jacket is the zipper. It’s just a nylon zipper not a large metal one and it splits from the bottom up at least two or three times a month – sometimes more. It is easy to fix – thank God, but annoying. A larger zipper would work better, or a two way zipper would be great. I can’t say that I hate it as I am not returning it. However it is not as stated. When I find a weatherproof 3 in 1 jacket in orange I’ll buy that, until then I’ll stick with this one and get wet when it rains. It’s too bad as it’s a great idea. I’m not sure what all of the people are writing about that give it 5 stars. Are they thinking of a different jacket? Do they only wear it from the house to the car? In that application it will probably work. However if you really USE this jacket to walk in the weather, don’t count on it to keep you dry. I purchase about 90% to 95% of my clothing and household items from LL Bean. I LOVE their stuff. I have been shopping at LL Bean for more than 30 years. I usually like everything they have. This is just not what it says in the description. I’m not bashing LL Bean I really like them. I just found this item to be cumbersome to put on, and not weatherproof – something that every buyer should know if they are going to use this jacket for more than 5 minutes worth of walking.
Contrary to the star status bestowed on this coat due to its prominence on TWC, I have found it lacking.
The liner. As it has no lining in the sleeves, all material worn on the arms, long or short-sleeved, gets pushed up, constricted and heavily wrinkled when the arms are slid in. The collar is stiff and refuses to conform or lay down.
The nylon shell. It is not waterproof. Water resistant, yes. Nor does it provide any significant amount of wind resistance. The hood is worthless.
As a combo: Once the temp drops below 35(F), this shell/liner combo is over matched.
This jacket was perfect ! My daughter teaches at a pre school for special needs children and spends alot of time outside with the kiddos. So the convenience of having just the fleece liner on milder days but the flexibility of adding the outer shell on colder days is terrific, plus the outer shell is perfect in the rain. She loves it so much that I just went and purchased one for my 85 year old mother that lives with me.
