Mountain Hardwear Hooded Compressor Jacket
November 18, 2008
I already told you how much I liked the Compressor, so I felt a little guilty asking for a Hooded Compressor to test. I thought it would be pretty much the same only with a hood. Once I tried it, though, I no longer felt guilty because I was too busy giddily gloating over how awesome the jacket is and how totally cute I look in it. Hmm, perhaps I don’t need to pour out my entire personality into these reviews….I’m very nice, sweet, and humble, honest! I just have to tell you the jacket is cute because I pledge to post honest reviews. See, I wouldn’t gloat if I didn’t have to in order to maintain my integrity as a reviewer.
I like it EVEN BETTER than the regular Compressor (even though I still love the regular Compressor, I really do!) and wear it more. Which is almost kind of strange because I’m not a big hood user. This jacket just works. It’s warm, not bulky, perfectly sized for me, and comes in colors that are different from the norm but still attractive. It’s just long enough to hit slightly below my hipbones, which is just perfect as far as I’m concerned.
The Hooded Compressor, like most other things Mountain Hardwear, works really well with, well, other things Mountain Hardwear. They really have their system down. This jacket with a MHW hard shell over it is pretty darn warm, and without the hard shell it’s nice for moderately cold days or really cold days combined with exertion. The minimalist styling wins points from the Geargals, and the one added bit of flair is a bicep pocket which I find very convenient for storing my cell phone – I mean, my GPS and packet of Gu, brah. Well, there is one more wee bit of flair in the form of an embroidered flower on the inside, which is unobtrusive but still kind of funny. I’m glad it’s not visible on the outside of the jacket, but it’s kind of whimsical to have it on the inside. I’d have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that board meeting – the battle for whether the flower stays or goes, culminating in the groundbreaking compromise “it’s a go on the flower, but we’ll put it on the inside.” Now THAT is the way to keep peace in the workplace, and, it turns out, in the marketplace too.
$170.96 at Backcountry.com. Click here!
Patagonia Stretch Element Bib Pant
November 18, 2008
$400.00 at patagonia.com. Click here!
Wahoo, these bibs are awesome! Like I was saying in a previous post, I get to try a LOT of pants, so when there’s a standout pair I get really excited. These bibs from Patagonia are just the ticket. Bib pants for women tend to be ill-fitting since the Great Female Mannequin Shortage left so many manufacturers without the means by which to build clothing for the female form (Haven’t heard of the the Great Female Mannequin Shortage? Well, you tell ME why it’s so hard to make good gear for the ladies then) but Patagonia must have had one clothes dummy hidden away in a back room, because these bibs are spot on. The form fitting upper gives you warmth without the bulk, and, with the help of their trusty mannequin, Patagonia has realized that women’s upper bodies have shape considerations that make the cut of bib pants very important. These bibs have just the right rise (read: they stop before your boobs begin) and have nicely placed suspenders that won’t chafe your tender areas. Because they don’t rise as high as men’s bib pants for obvious reasons, they don’t have a big front pocket, but they do have two cute wee pockets in the front to hold your Blistex and other small items. There is one hip pocket as well, but I am much too vain to mess up the look of a nice pair of pants by stuffing something in a hip pocket and creating a weird looking bulge. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of the velcro closures on the sides primarily because I have this thing against velcro in general, but also because I’m usually trying to get dressed in a hurry and the velcro invariably ends up stuck to my base layer, turning it fuzzy, but they do allow for a little extra size adjustment so I guess they have to stay.
I love the full length zippers for convenience’s sake and the inner cuff lined with pseudo-sticky stuff to keep the snow out. And the legs are blessedly long enough! This is such an issue with pants that I’m kind of starting to wonder if it’s not my body that’s weird. A nice long pair of pants sends me into transports of delight. Few things are dorkier than bulky winter pants that are too short. They make me look as if I’m big as a barn and waiting for a flood. The Stretch Element Bib with its streamlined styling, flattering cut, and nice long leg length makes me look….normal! Cute, even, dare I say? (Yes, I do dare.)
The legs are cut fairly straight but can accommodate ski boots or climbing boots. The inner gaiter-thingy can be adjusted to size down to almost any boot or leg size. There is no bagginess to these pants and they fit fairly close, but I didn’t have any issues with them being overly restrictive because of the surprisingly stretchy H2NO (hee!) fabric. I also might have to eat my words from other reviews, because these bibs seem reasonably light AND tough. Now that I said that, I will probably tear them on a marshmallow next time I wear them, because I have that kind of luck. But for normal-lucked ladies, these bibs will last and last. Which is good, because these pants are so great, they are definitely going to see a lot of skiing and climbing action this year.
