Eddie Bauer First Ascent Sandstone Soft shell Jacket Review
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Coming in as one of my favorite jackets for the spring/summer season, I introduce to you the Eddie Bauer First Ascent Sandstone Soft Shell Jacket. With a few years under its belt and a number of professional athletes and experts helping design the First Ascent product lines, Eddie Bauer has struck gold with the Sandstone Soft Shell Jacket.
When I am buying a piece of outdoor gear, a few of the important things I look at are different types of uses and price/value among others. I have tested this jacket while hiking on a few dozen hiking adventures. I found it works great to block out the a light wind and cold, but since it is lightweight and breathable, it doesn’t make you overheat on warmer days. On almost all my day hikes, I like to throw the Sandstone in my backpack as it takes up only a little amount of room and it is also super light. Now weight, size, and warmth are extremely important when picking out a jacket, but having a jacket that performs great and has a good fit is just as important in my mind. The Sandstone has a slimmer fit, so keep that in mind if you are looking to make a purchase. I am 6’0 and 175lbs and the medium size seemed to fit me great. Since the back of the jacket is a little longer than a standard jacket, I like the fact that the jacket doesn’t ride up on my back every time I move. I personally like the cut so much, that I wear it as much in casual atmospheres as I do outdoor. Slimmer fits are something you can expect to see in the First Ascent line compared to traditional Eddie Bauer pieces.
One of the days when it was pouring rain in Colorado, I decided to take the jacket out on a training run of mine to see how it performs in a hard rain. While I wanted the jacket to be an everything to everyone, I have to admit the jacket was soaked after a few miles in the rain. If you are running or hiking in a light drizzle from time to time, I think it will work fine, but you will get wet in a down poor. For down poors, I suggest a standard rain jacket. A feature that often gets overlooked in jackets is the front zipper. If you’re hiking in varying temperatures and winds, you often zip up, zip down, zip up, etc… The teeth of the zipper on the Sandstone are more of a standard size instead of very small which you find in a lot of outdoor jackets. By having larger teeth in the zipper, you get a smooth zip every time.
With a price point of $80 retail, I find the First Ascent Sandstone Soft Shell Jacket to be an incredible value for what you get. For more information on the First Ascent Sandstone Soft shell Jacket and other Eddie Bauer gear, please visit www.eddiebauer.com.
