Soft shell jackets for skiing

[mca80]

OP asked about clothing. Stick to the topic.

I did. Your response has absolutely nothing to do with clothing. Look in a mirror, asshole.

[TheMusher]

Putin just announced truce. Why are we shooting intercontinental ballistic missiles here

[fisheater]

@mca80 i also enjoy wool, with the caveat that for deep snow and challenging terrain nylon shells are nice for when I invariably make a poof. Although the OP was requesting a shell (top) I wanted to comment that my most used ski pants are some East German surplus wool pants. They have been through numerous poofs over the years, rode up icy chairs, and never have been wet. They breath petty well too. On that note MCA, is Columbia still selling that wool shirt? I have a Columbia wool jacket, but it’s too thick and warm for my skiing. I would be very happy to find a similar product to my thick wool pants, which breath well, and keep me quite dry below freezing.

[エイダン.シダル]

OP asked about clothing. Stick to the topic.

I did. Your response has absolutely nothing to do with clothing. Look in a mirror, asshole.

Since you're the one who brought in name-calling:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?"
- Matthew 7:3-5

[mca80]

OP asked about clothing. Stick to the topic.

I did. Your response has absolutely nothing to do with clothing. Look in a mirror, asshole.

Since you're the one who brought in name-calling:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?"
- Matthew 7:3-5

Nothing about clothing. Stick to the topic.

Edit: Ironic, applies just as much to all of your posts as to those whom you criticise.

[mca80]

@fisheater I will look around the net for that shirt. I have a pair of german (east or west I dunno) wool pants I got from army surplus. Wayyy too warm for anything but chopping wood--any kinda lower body movement in warmer than 0f and I start sweating!

Edit: couldnt find that shirt online. I got it at an overstock/clearance site, probably sierratradingpost.com, years ago for like 40 bucks. I did find a Columbia "army sage" shirt on ebay for 50 bucks that looked pretty good. The pic is my shirt. I have fallen in that and wool pants and been covered in snow, brushed it off, not wet in the least bit, no compromise to warmth etc.

[Theme]

I’d like one that is very light, very packable, VERY breathable, preferably with a hood, and with some ability to keep me dry when it’s snowing.

That sounds like a windbreaker, not a soft-shell. I really like the Patagonia Houdini for skiing. With a long-sleeve shirt, it works well around -10°C.

Thanks. This looks really interesting.

FYI Patagonia Houdini breathes very little, if any. Not to say it wouldn't be good in some cirqumstances

As a general rule, if you cannot really breathe through the fabric, it does not breathe well - the so-called Darth Vader test is a method to somewhat tell differences. Place the fabric tightly against an open mouth and breathe in.

Patagonia Houdini Air is fine, but with high wind or speed can get too cool in winter. And the pocket does not even fit a phone.

Arcteryx Squamish hoody and BD Alpine Start are quite popular for hiking and BCX skiing in Finland, probably for a reason. More resembling a soft shell with relatively good breathability for cool and cold weather

[stilltryin]

...be bold and start cold...

Oh yeah.

[snow-mark]

Went down to Neptune, local gear shop, and grabbed a Rab Borealis. Seems like it should breathe OK. I’ll give a try and see if it adds anything to my layering mix. It certainly packs down much more than my other soft shells.

When I was in college I had a good ol’ LL Bean anorak, basically a tough wind breaker. I loved that thing, but lost it somewhere along the way. I see LL bean still sells them. Hmmm.

[snow-mark]

Yes, that’s my objective. I plan to buy the most stylish, trendy thing I can find.

You wouldn't be alone in that endeavor.

Just to close the loop on that frog tog jacket, it’s basically a hefty garbage bag with reportedly no durability. It’s cheap, but you get what you pay for. I could see using it as an emergency back-up, maybe leave it in my car. YMMV, but this clearly doesn’t come close to the criteria in my OP. Moving on.

https://sectionhiker.com/frogg-toggs-xt ... et-review/

“With that qualification, the Xtreme Lite has a breathability rating of 200-300 g/m2/24hr. Compare that to Gore-Tex PacLite @ 15,000+ g/m2/24hr (source: REI) or Gore-Tex Performance 3-layer @ 10,000-15,000 g/m2/24hr (source: REI) As you can see, the Xtreme Lite is far less breathable than DWR-based waterproof breathable fabrics, and effectively non-breathable.“

https://backpackers.com/outdoor-gear/re ... et-review/

“Durability

Nope. Just nope. As in, absolutely no durability. Remember when I said it was super cheap? Well it’s not made to last.

Avoid twigs and trim your fingernails. The fabric will shred as soon as it comes into contact with anything that can poke or snag.”