Marmot Men''s Driclime Windshirt

This is the best jacket I have ever owned, and it is legendary among hardcore back-packers. It has a water-resistant exterior shell and a thin microfleece lining that feels soft on the skin. This makes it the perfect all around jacket for hiking, camping, mountain-biking, skiing, boating (not a replacement for foul weather gear, but can be worn under it), light kayaking, and other outdoor activities.

You can wear it as an undershirt or an exterior layer. Either way, it adds warmth and comfort, but is light enough that you can wear it comfortably in moderately warm weather too. When I camp in the summer, I wear this in the late evenings and early mornings to cut the chill. The exterior shell blocks the wind, but is still thin enough to breathe, so your body can continue to regulate its temperature quite effectively. If you wear it under a heavier coat, it''s like adding 10 20 degrees of extra warmth to the coat. It''s also a great way to warm up a sleeping bag if the cold rating of the bag just isn''t cutting it at night. When camping near Lake Superior, which is so cold it makes the air feel like a refrigerator, I would usually wake up at night and put on this jacket. It was soft enough to wear on my bare skin, and added a lot of extra warmth when I climbed back down inside my sleeping bag.

When brand new, the jacket could replace a raincoat in a light rain, but after a few washes and several months of use, it will lose some of its water-repellancy and begin to leech through a tiny amount of dampness. Even so, it works fine for keeping relatively dry as long as you''re not in a downpour, when the lack of a hood will also cause water to enter through the neck.

The best thing about this jacket is its ultra-light weight and its superb packability. You won''t mind carrying it with you when it''s this unintrusive and light. In fact, you can open the breast pocket and gently stuff the rest of the jacket inside its own pocket, which will hold it in a neat and tidy little package about the size of a large can of tomatoes or a very miniature travel pillow (in fact, I''ve used it as a mini head pillow on a few occasions).

The shortcomings are few, and necessary to keep the weight low: The exterior shell can tear very easily if you come in contact with something sharp, like a thorn or a very sharp (pointy) stick. I wore mine in the garage one day when I was running some Douglass Fir through the tablesaw, and a sliver of wood grabbed the jacket and pierced a tiny hole. So you have to watch out for that. But heavier material would ruin this very fine jacket, which is ideally sized for the wandering adventurer who needs to carry it and to be able to pack it in tiny spaces. Also, the microfleece lining is slightly less soft than it was in this jacket five years ago. This means it packs smaller, but doesn''t feel quite as great on the skin as the older pre-2004 models.

I love this windshirt. I am new to backcountry hiking, and bought this for my first trip in British Columbia. It breathes just enough that it keeps you dry and the fleece lining is just enough to keep you warm in pseudo cool temps. Our hiking temps were 50-70 degrees and this shirt was perfect for that weather in the mornings and evenings. Just took the chill off your bones. I highly recommend it.

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Having worn earlier versions of the Windshirt, I am disappointed with the one I bought last month. The lining clings, making it difficult to put on over a shirt. Shirts with even a little nap stick in the arms requiring much tugging. I washed the Windshirt inside-out at least four times with little improvement. Other than that, this product would rate five stars.

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This is definitely a great product, small size but nice and warm. I use it for backpacking and biking, and it keeps you warm without overheating. Packs down really tightly and doesn''t need time to reloft like a down jacket. I''ve used it down to 30 degrees or so without a problem, as long as you are moving.

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I bought this jacket to replace an older version that is now going to become my yardwork jacket. For those of you that have/had an older version, here are the differences:

no hand pockets (just a chest pocket). I would have marked jacket down a star for this lack, but decided not to, since Marmot did not say it had hand pockets.

interior microfiber is a bit thinner

no pull-cord at neck to cinch it down on those cold days

seems more ''trim'' cut, although the same size still fit me; not as boxy

lighter, probably because of the above reasons

I got mine (black/gray, xl) for $53 including tax & shipping at Sierra Trading Post. This price included a 25 percent discount from one of their coupons I get for subscribing to their newsletters, although they seem to have "special offers" on their website, too.