A breathable, polyester stretch-mesh lining (same as in OR’s Superlayer Jacket) wicks moisture from the inside when you’re producing excess heat that moisture passes through the Alpha insulation and the breathable and highly durable, weather-resistant, nylon stretch-woven shell on the exterior. Water-resistant, highly compressible, Polartec Alpha Active synthetic insulation breathes well while trapping warmth. On long days of alternating between sweating and rapidly cooling down in sub-freezing temperatures, that’s a game changer.Ī few components explain the Uberlayer’s performance. So I pulled the Uberlayer on over a middle layer (that had also gotten damp on the climb) for the 20-minute descent by the time I reached my car, my base and middle layers were as dry as when I put them on that morning.
One example: After ski touring steadily uphill for more than an hour in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, on a mostly sunny day around 20° F with some wind-breaking trail at times-I reached the top of my climb with a wet shirt.
#OUTDOOR RESEARCH UBERLAYER VS CATHODE FREE#
Sign up for my FREE email newsletter now. But the secondary benefit is how this jacket traps heat to keep you from getting chilled after you’ve sweated hard (most likely not wearing the Uberlayer, but in shirtsleeves when pushing hard uphill), while it moves moisture out so efficiently that wearing it over a sweaty base layer allows your body heat to dry out that base layer quickly.įind your next adventure in your Inbox. In cold temps, on the go, this jacket lived on my back. The first and most obvious measure-and benefit-of puffy jackets with breathable insulation is how much time you spend wearing them rather than carrying them in your pack. I wore OR’s new Uberlayer Hooded Jacket for numerous days of backcountry skiing-including, at times, as an outer layer while skinning uphill-and as a middle layer skiing downhill both in the backcountry and for hours at a resort And I wore it in temperatures ranging from around freezing to wind chills below zero Fahrenheit, and came away convinced this is a jacket you could legitimately use into the backcountry every month of the year. But in an increasingly crowded field, some jackets still rise above. The explosion in breathable-insulation garments has changed the way we think about insulation in the backcountry.