Dakine Wren Jacket Review
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Dakine Wren Jacket
The Dakine Wren Jacket will keep you warm during all your winter outdoor adventures no matter what mother nature throws your way. A women’s specific jacket made for both performance and style this is a perfect all mountain jacket while your hitting the slopes or doing your favorite mountain activity.
Dakine Wren Jacket Exterior Features
The Dakine Wren Jacket Shell is made of a stylish, textured polyester and protected with a Durable Water Repellent (DWR) coating. DWR speaks for itself in that it will keep the snow and water from saturating through to you. DWR is a must have and a great feature of this jacket. The backing of the outer shell has a 10k Laminate protection. The 10K Laminate protection is an ultra-thin membrane that delivers superior waterproofness and breathability. The combination of the DWR coating and 10K Laminate will provide you with enough protection when the snow is dumping.
Dakine Wren Jacket
The Dakine Wren Jacket has a drop hood with an inner collar and removable faux fur brim. I love the look of the hood. The faux fur brim adds some womenly flair if you are wanting a feminine look. The brim easily snaps off if fur flair is not for you. I love it because I’m a little girly. Even though I love the fur the other day while skiing the snow started falling hard and I was able to unsnap the fur off with my gloves on quickly in the chair lift line and stash it in my backpack. The hood has a draw cord system on the back and in the front to obtain a snug fit. I have one huge con with the hood; it doesn’t fit over my helmet. The hood not being able to fit over my helmet is a little inconvenient on those heavy snow days. It would be nice to see the hood a bit bigger. If you’re not a helmet person (which you should be!), the hood will fit you perfect.
Removable Faux Fir Brim
The center front zipper has an outer storm flap with a snap closure on the top and bottom and velcro in the middle. The storm flap offers extra protection to prevent the elements from coming in.
The sleeves have a wide opening with an adjustable velcro hook closure to obtain a tight fit around your gloves. I wore mine with my Dakine Odyssey Gloves and they fit perfectly inside the sleeves. Dakine provides you with wrist gaiters with thumb hole opening to really keep the cold out. I wish the wrist gaiters were a little longer. When I use the wrist gaiters and put my gloves on the thumb opening cuts into the base of my thumb. The thumb opening is large enough, I think the wrist gaiter just needs to be longer so it doesn’t pull as much. One of my favorite features is the hook inside the cuff to hook my gloves onto. I’m always taking my gloves on and off on the chairlift, so being able to secure my gloves to my jacket ensures me that my gloves won’t be plummeting to their death.
Wrist Gaiter & Hook
The Dakine Wren Jacket has 5 exterior YKK zipper pockets. Two lower zippered deep hand pockets that are protected by an outer storm flap that velcro shut. The storm flaps are slightly large and inconvenient for me. I like to be able to access my pockets quickly and when you have to go through the velcro and then the zipper, it isn’t as easy as I would like it to be. There is a left upper breast zipper pocket that is the perfect size for my ID, money, and chapstick. This jacket has a slightly hidden Napoleon Pocket for Phone/Media Device storage. There is a hole on the inside to loop your headphones up to your helmet if you shred to tunes. The Napoleon pocket is easy to access and in a convenient location. And last but not least, the is the sleeve pass pocket on on the left sleeve. Being able to stash my ski pass in this little pocket is ultra easy to access and makes getting my pass out a breeze. There is a hook inside the pass pocket so you don’t have to worry about losing your pass.
Media Pocket
The Dakine Wren Jacket has a two-way zipper underarm vents with mesh protection. At the beginning of the ski season I used my underarm vents quite a bit. It allows some welcomed airflow when your working hard. I was able to zip them with my gloves on.
Dakine Wren Jacket Interior Features
The Dakine Wren Jacket is packed with some serious insulation. 60g PrimaLoft SPORT in the body and 40g in the sleeves and hood to be exact. PrimaLoft is a high-performance synthetic insulation that is lightweight, packable, breathable, and water resistant. 60g of PrimaLoft SPORT in the body makes this jacket pretty lightweight. The PrimaLoft SPORT is very breathable. I tested my Dakine Wren Jacket in 15-45 degree weather while skiing. On warmer days when I was sweating my base layer never was wet. The PrimaLoft SPORT let my perspiration out while holding onto the needed warmth. I like that Dakine put only 40g of PrimaLoft SPORT fill in the sleeves and hood. The lesser fill let my arms move freely without being constricted or weighed down.
60g PrimaLoft Sport Body Fill
There is one interior mesh goggle pocket. Perfect to stash my extra lens on those hit or miss days when you are switching out your lenses.
Dakine had powder days in mind when they designed the Wren Jacket powder skirt. The Dakine Wren Jacket has an attached powder skirt with Lycra. The Lycra conforms to your body for a snug but comfortable fit. There is a hook on both ends of the powder skirt and a velcro loop hook in the center. The hooks keep your coat attached to your snow pants and doesn’t let your Wren Jacket inch up. No snow in your pants with this powder skirt thats for sure! When it’s a blue bird day and no powder in sight there are stow away snaps when your powder skirt is not in use.
Powder Skirt
Dakine Wren Jacket Performance
I’m fortunate enough that I’ve been able to ski multiple times this year. As stated before I was able to test the Dakine Wren Jacket in temps that ranged from 15-45 degrees. I’ve had sunny, overcast, and dumping powder days. I have only worn a basic long sleeve base layer underneath. No matter what temperature it was outside I always stayed nice and warm. Even on windy, cold, snowy days the one base layer was enough. The PrimaLoft SPORT held up to its claim in being warm and breathable. The powder skirt came in handy on my first powder day. The powder skirt stayed in place and kept the unwanted snow out. In 5 hours of heavy snowfall the shell never became saturated. The DWR coating stood up to hours of being dumped on.
Dakine Wren Jacket Sizing & Colors
The Dakine Wren Jacket I believe is ultimately designed for a snowboarder or someone who likes a looser fit. Dakine states that the Wren Jacket is a standard fit jacket. It has a loose and comfortable fit so if you need to add extra layers underneath you can do so without feeling confined or constricted. It does not however contour and flatter the feminine figure. The Dakine Wren Jacket has more of a straight cut. The length lies right below how do I say this nicely…my posterior. It’s a little longer than most ski jackets but perfect for snowboarders who are always sitting in the snow tightening their bindings. I’m a skier so sitting in the snow is not something I want to be doing on purpose.
Adequate Length
The Dakine Wren Jacket comes in 4 sizes: XS, S, M, L. I tested a size small and I believe it was very true to size (Most of my jackets are size small). Like I said previously it is a little loose fitting but it isn’t bulky.
This jacket comes in 4 classy colors: Textured Grey, Bronze, Boysenberry, & Cypress. I really like all the color options. The interior lining is also different on every color which is fun and makes it a little more unique.
Final Thoughts on the Dakine Wren Jacket
The Dakine Wren Jacket offered me exactly what I needed from it. It kept me toasty warm on cold/snowy days, it helped me regulate my temperature on warm days by offering breathable fabrics and underarm vents, and it came with all the bells and whistles I come to expect from a ski jacket. Multiple pockets, beefed up powder skirt, and some feminine flair makes the Dakine Wren Jacket my ski jacket of choice this winter season. With the MSRP of $265 this is an affordable high performance jacket with some mega style. You just can’t go wrong!
For more information on the Dakine Wren Jacket please visit www.dakine.com
Dakine Wren Jacket
