SO i'd like to pick up a Mammut winter jacket, for the quality is unbelievable, but their website provides no information at all about how warm they are. Some i can tell are just shells, but thats just like a rain jacket. Has anyone purchased a jacket from them, or does anyone know of a store in the US where i can go look at them. I'm looking for one that is insulated so it's good for the winter/snowboarding/skiing/hiking.
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Mammut Winter Jacket??
- Thread starter silbeej
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How warm they are depends on the type of jacket, no? No website is going to just tell you "Your jacket is ____ warm".
Besides, there's no such thing as a jacket that's good for winter, skiing, snowboarding, and hiking unless your winters are mild (i.e. near 0 C (32 F) or -5 C (21 F, I think?) all the time). Good ski jackets are rarely, if ever, well insulated, which means you'll be cold on a cold day. A good everyday jacket is warmer, but also bad for skiing because they're not as breathable or waterproof. Then you'll sweat, and this moisture will build up inside your jacket, and eventually, this moisture will make you cold. So a warm jacket will eventually make you even colder than a thinner jacket if you exercise in it.
Also, there are many ski hills that don't allow jackets with hoods, which I find useful. Funny enough, because snowboarding jackets with hoods are allowed even though the hood poses the same danger.
Besides, there's no such thing as a jacket that's good for winter, skiing, snowboarding, and hiking unless your winters are mild (i.e. near 0 C (32 F) or -5 C (21 F, I think?) all the time). Good ski jackets are rarely, if ever, well insulated, which means you'll be cold on a cold day. A good everyday jacket is warmer, but also bad for skiing because they're not as breathable or waterproof. Then you'll sweat, and this moisture will build up inside your jacket, and eventually, this moisture will make you cold. So a warm jacket will eventually make you even colder than a thinner jacket if you exercise in it.
Also, there are many ski hills that don't allow jackets with hoods, which I find useful. Funny enough, because snowboarding jackets with hoods are allowed even though the hood poses the same danger.
Well i'm not completely sure why you can't wear a hood at a ski resort, but oh well. I'm looking for a jacket that will work well in fairly cold environments. I've been hiking at temps from the 32F 0C, down to -15F -26C. So it would be nice if it could handle some of that, but also decent for snow storms at university. My issue i guess is that they do not say if the jacket is insulated or not, but obviously they won't say how much. Eastern Mountain Sports, which doesn't carry Mammut, tells if its insulated, and the insulation weight, so you can base the warmth on that. Guess i'm gonna have to go with a different company or possibly find a place that has them. I've got a year to think about it as we are on the back straight of winter now.
Because there's a risk of the hood being caught on the chairlift, which is a legal liability. I know this was an issue for ski hills 5 years ago, but not sure about now (you know.....having lived beside a beach in Australia and all...).
What type of insulation? Primaloft is probably the best synthetic one found in jackets. Things like thinsulate is also OK. They'll usually tell you how much is in the body, and how much is in the sleeves. Fleece insulation, like they use in Columbia jackets, is also good. Those jackets are good because unlike regular jackets, you can wear just the fleece, or just the shell itself when it's warm-ish, you're exercising, but you still need a jacket to wear.
Every jacket is just a shell with some form of insulation. There are so many ways to do this.
Fleece is great because it keeps you very warm in cold temperatures, it wicks moisture, repels a bit of water, and dries quickly if it does end up wet. The problem is the wind, which goes right through fleece and will cause severe cold from wind. So the shell protects you from cold caused by the wind, while the fleece protects you from the cold caused by the air temperature. Then again, it's great for exercise since it's so breathable (i.e. easy for your perspiration and water vapour to escape), so it's great for exercise.
Buying a jacket to stay warm is actually the easiest demand to satisfy. It only gets tricky when you tell someone that you expect to exercise in it, because then you sweat, which can then freeze and actually make you colder. So warmer jackets for exercise aren't good, while warm-ish, breathable jackets are great. Really great ski jackets are always "thin". I told you you can't have it all.
Again, you can't find a single jacket to handle all that weather, other than perhaps a Columbia zip-out. Their shells aren't very breathable though, nor are they very waterproof. I wouldn't recommend sitting down on a wet bench, or lying down in snow for too long in Columbia ski pants unless they're rated highly (i.e. expensive).
However, if you think of EVERY jacket as a shell with an insulating layer underneath, and you want flexibility, then perhaps it's best to buy a proper shell, and couple that with a decent fleece underneath. I can do all the things you mentioned when I wear my Arcteryx Gore-Tex shell jacket and a softshell jacket underneath, but it's 2 jackets layered together, not one. It's a bit like a DIY Columbia-style jacket. My softshell jacket provides the warmth of a 200-weight fleece, which is mid-weight. The advantage over a typical fleece is that wind won't go through it when I wear it alone. The best ones are lined with Gore Windstopper. The disadvantage is that they're always a bit more expensive, and around 20% less breathable than a regular fleece without the Windstopper lining.
So for me: Hardshell Gore-tex Shell jacket + windproof softshell jacket + very thin fleece shirt underneath.
I think in America, you can get the softshell and Goretex shell for $350 or so if you look hard enough, and aren't too picky with the brand.
The material matters little. The secret is layering. The more layers the warmer you'll be.
Also I've never heard of a no hood rule at ski resorts in Colorado.
Also I've never heard of a no hood rule at ski resorts in Colorado.
Well you didn't mention the Mammut jacket models you were looking at, so I'll mention which I like most for you:
1. Mammut Longspeak 3-S Jacket high blue-black. Pretty much what I was describing before (hardshell + softshell combo). If you're skiing, you probably won't need anything more than ski/active underwear underneath the jacket unless you're skiing in Quebec or something. Like any jacket for skiing, you don't need to have a hood attached (ski jackets rarely come with hoods unless they're zipped inside the collar).
2. Twin Jacket Plus. Fleece + a potentially great hardshell over top. This means you'll have great breathability through both the fleece and shell jacket layers, while also keeping warm under the fleece.
The other jackets aren't as complete a package, and if this is your normal jacket to wear outdoors for both everyday stuff, skiing, and hiking, I wouldn't get any of the softshells alone (e.g. Cerro Torre, Ultimate Jacket), nor could you ever survive in the cold with just a Gore-Tex hardshell. They're weatherproof, not cold-proof.
Never buy down jackets for skiing (e.g. the Broad Peak jacket), even if the salesperson tells you that it's possible. Down clumps together if it becomes wet.
The Stratus jacket has 60 grams of insulation, but I've never heard of MTI insulation.
1. Mammut Longspeak 3-S Jacket high blue-black. Pretty much what I was describing before (hardshell + softshell combo). If you're skiing, you probably won't need anything more than ski/active underwear underneath the jacket unless you're skiing in Quebec or something. Like any jacket for skiing, you don't need to have a hood attached (ski jackets rarely come with hoods unless they're zipped inside the collar).
2. Twin Jacket Plus. Fleece + a potentially great hardshell over top. This means you'll have great breathability through both the fleece and shell jacket layers, while also keeping warm under the fleece.
The other jackets aren't as complete a package, and if this is your normal jacket to wear outdoors for both everyday stuff, skiing, and hiking, I wouldn't get any of the softshells alone (e.g. Cerro Torre, Ultimate Jacket), nor could you ever survive in the cold with just a Gore-Tex hardshell. They're weatherproof, not cold-proof.
Never buy down jackets for skiing (e.g. the Broad Peak jacket), even if the salesperson tells you that it's possible.
Down clumps together if it becomes wet.The Stratus jacket has 60 grams of insulation, but I've never heard of MTI insulation.