Patagonia Aspatron Hoody Jacket Review
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If you partake in activities where it can get extremely cold, having gear to keep you warm is super important. After all, you participate in your activity to have fun, not suffer in the cold! I’ve been testing out the Patagonia Aspatron Hoody Jacket while skiing resorts such as Keystone and Breckenridge as well as doing some winter hiking in the backcountry of Colorado. I would classify myself as semi warm blooded, but over the past couple years I have started to get a little cooler leading me to search for a warmer jacket.
The Patagonia Aspatron Hoody is a insulated windproof jacket that is perfect for skiing, belaying, or as your go to general winter jacket for when it gets cold. To keep this jacket windproof, Patagonia uses GORE Windstopper which does a nice job of keeping cold air from seeping into your jacket and into your skin. GORE Windstopper is water resistant and through my years of wearing GORE Windstopper, I haven’t had rain soak through the fabric. This comes with a caveat though as Colorado doesn’t get a ton of precipitation. In the Aspatron, I tested this jacket out in a cold rain and heavy snowfall with no sign of rain penetrating through the fabric.
For insulation, Patagonia uses Primoloft Eco which is a form of synthetic insulation that is made from recycled plastic bottles. There are different types of Primoloft and as you might expect, Patagonia uses the recycled Primoloft. What sets Primoloft apart from many other synthetic materials is that it does a great job at keeping you warm, but it does’t come with a lot of bulk and it is fairly lightweight. This jacket uses the 200 gram weight of Primoloft for added warmth versus the 100 gram weight which you will see in a lot of synthetic pullovers. To keep the insulation from moving around and bunching up which often creates cold spots in a jacket, the Aspatron Hoody has large baffles that keeps this insulation in place.
On the outside of the Patagonia Aspatron Hoody, there are 4 pockets in total. Two zippered pockets that are located on each side of the chest and 2 pockets that are located just around rib level. These pockets are set a little higher in case you where a pack with a waist belt which allows you to get into your pockets without un-clipping your waist belt. These pockets are fleece lined, so they are a little warmer and a little softer than they typical pocket. All 4 pockets are each big enough to fit a sandwich, phone, avalanche beacon, or other items of similar size. On the inside of the jacket, there is a thin nylon material that is soft against the skin and allows you to take advantage of the warm insulation when it’s next to skin. On the inside of this jacket, there is a zippered pocket near the chest that isn’t huge, but it’s big enough to fit an iPhone 5 with a heavy duty Otterbox case on it.
While elastic pulls don’t get a lot of attention on jackets unless they break, the elastic pulls are pretty intuitive. There are 4 pull tab areas on the Patagonia Aspatron, 2 on the waist and 2 on the hood. What sets these pulls apart is that when you pull them to cinch up the waist or hood, you don’t get a loose piece of cord hanging out. The extra cord is stored on the inside of the jacket. The plastic pieces that hold the cord are also housed inside the jacket which reduced the possibility of them breaking. It sounds simple, but it is great to see a company paying attention to all these small details.
The fit of the Aspatron hoody is roomy, but not too big for it’s purpose. Since often times you wear heavier layers underneath a ski jacket, it is important to have enough room without looking like the Michelin Man. There are 4 things I use this jacket for, skiing, super cold weather hikes, walking my dogs in temps below 30, and traveling in my car with it during the winter if I need a jacket that I can stay warm with in case I run into car trouble. I am writing this jacket review during a time when it has been one of the only jackets I have been wearing due to the extreme cold weather we have been having in Denver, CO. While the Denver/Boulder area is often in the 30’s/40’s during the winter, we get some cold spells that go below zero. During these times, I am especially happy to have this jacket.
For skiing, the jacket is cut in a way that it allows for plenty of arm and body motion. I consider myself an advanced skier and while skiing, I am often doing a lot of twisting and turning and I am happy to report back that the jacket does a great job at keeping up with your bodies motions.
While this jacket does great on cold days, it tends to heat up pretty fast on warmer days. If it gets above 30 degrees, I usually like to wear a jacket where I can do a little more layering. But if I know it’s going to be cold, the Aspatron has been my go-to jacket.
Overall, I found the Patagonia Aspatron Hoody to be a good fit for people who get cold easily or need a warm jacket because they venture out in cold temperatures. For more information on the Aspatron Hoody Jacket and other Patagonia products, visit www.patagonia.com.
