Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket Review

The Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket is an artificial insulated jacket with a hood, chest pocket, and hand hotter pockets. It has body-mapped insulation: extra on the torso and fewer alongside the perimeters for higher thermo-regulation when lively. I’ve been utilizing this jacket as an outer heat layer in very chilly uncovered circumstances. While I’ve at all times used down jackets for this perform prior to now I somewhat like this Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket which compresses surprisingly properly and is extra amenable to be used beneath a shell if required.

Specs at a Glance

• Gender: Men’s (girls’s accessible)
• External material: 20-denier Pertex Quantum Air nylon
• Hood: Designed for under-helmet use.
• Pockets: 3
• Windproof: Yes
• Weight: 11.9 oz (337g) in males’s xl
• Insulation Type: Synthetic
• Insulation: PrimaLoft Gold Active+
• Packable: Chest Pocket
• Back size: 28.1 inches (hip size)

The Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket is a really heat artificial jacket that’s designed with breathability and lively use in thoughts. It’s insulated with 60 g PrimaLoft Gold Active+ insulation in entrance, again, prime of sleeves, and collar for heat and luxury, whereas the perimeters, underarms, backbone, and prime of the hood have 40 g insulation. This insulation along with its Pertex Quantum Air nylon exterior material enhances the jacket’s capacity to vent water vapor in use, significantly in drier and colder circumstances once you’re much less prone to overheat and perspire.

Well-Fitting Hood

The factor that makes the Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket markedly totally different from different artificial insulated jackets is the hood. Most lighter-weight artificial and down jackets have non-adjustable hoods which might be typically designed to be used with climbing or snowboarding helmets and are grotesquely too massive to maintain your head heat until you’ve gotten an unlimited Godzilla-sized head.

But Rab did one thing somewhat totally different with this jacket to maintain it lighter weight. Instead of instrumenting the hood with neck controls to make the face opening adjustable or placing a quantity adjuster on the rear, they “gather” the hood with a bit of elastic on the rear which maintains human proportions, however can develop to accommodate totally different head sizes. This makes the hood self-adjusting which makes it a lot easier and more practical when carrying gloves whereas making the jacket lighter weight and simpler to fabricate. If you utilize a helmet, chances are you’ll not just like the hood as a result of it would retard your peripheral imaginative and prescient. But in the event you’re a winter hiker and don’t use a helmet, this hood is straightforward to love.

Mid-Layer?

Rab positions this jacket as a mid-layer possibility, however I discover it method too heat for that function when snowshoeing or climbing up mountains, even in very chilly climate. I feel it’ll be tremendous layered beneath a shell for sitting on a chair carry and zipping again downhill, however for self-propelled adventures with actual elevation acquire, you’ll soak the liner very quickly. I do run a bit scorching on winter hikes, so your mileage will range, however I’ve by no means ever discovered a down or artificial jacket like this one that may substitute a fleece hoodie as a mid-layer.

Fit and Trim

The match is “regular” and never too slim, so you possibly can layer beneath the jacket. The elastic wrist cuffs are pretty cosy so that they work properly beneath a shell, however they’re too tight to drag up your arms in the event you’re making an attempt to manage your heat degree by exposing pores and skin. There’s an elastic hem adjuster, so you possibly can stop wind from blowing up your torso.

Finally, this jacket has three zippered pockets, together with two massive handwarmer pockets and a good-sized chest pocket contained in the jacket. Plus, you possibly can stuff the jacket into its chest pocket (there’s additionally a harness loop), though I by no means do this in winter as a result of I exploit the jacket to insulate the new water bottles inside my pack.

Recommendation

The Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket is a really heat artificial jacket that’s greatest used as an outer insulation layer, however has a compact sufficient profile that it could possibly be used beneath a shell jacket. It has a human-proportioned hood that matches beneath helmets, versus over, making it appropriate for winter climbing for these of us who don’t want to listen to protecting helmets. Lightweight and fairly packable, this can be a significantly good insulated jacket that feels good to put on and might present further insulation for objects in your pack that you just don’t need to freeze.

Disclosure: The creator bought this garment.

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