User Review: Arc'teryx Men's Atom LT Jacket

Ok so what do you need to know about this jacket? When I first saw this jacket I was at REI in search of the perfect mid-layer/light outer layer. When I picked this jacket off the shelf the first thing I noticed was how light it was, the second thing I noticed it was made by Arc’teryx and the third thing that stopped me dead in my tracks towards possibly buying this jacket was the fact it had “coreloft” as the insulation, I thought to myself “what the hell is coreloft.”

Hesitantly I put the jacket on just to see how it fit and was instantly satisfied by the tailored cut and mobility of this jacket, it far surpassed the comfort of any jacket I had tried on that entire day. I knew right then that I had to figure out what this coreloft stuff was if I was going to buy this awesome jacket.
It was hard to find any information regarding “Coreloft” so I emailed Arc’teryx, chatted with online gear experts and posted on backcountry.com, here is what I found out.

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Directly from Arc’teryx:
“Coreloft is a fabric that we have made for us. It's similar to Primaloft, but we have tweaked a few things to try to get better performance.

Core Loft is constructed of a double strand of continuous polyester filaments. The finer yarns (1 denier) are "crimped" to help trap air molecules which in turn help trap body heat while the larger yarns (3.5 Denier) provide loft and resilience from compression. The fibers are siliconized to help add resistance to moisture and decrease drying time.

The Atom is a lightweight insulated shell for more active pursuits in cold/wet weather that offers more breathability than a belay jacket while still offering enough wind/water protection.”

Posts from backcountry.com:
“The Coreloft is used because it has large and small diameter insulation fibers. This adds durability, and also allows using a face fabric that breathes better, since it isn't as prone to penetrating the fabric because of the larger fibers. This compliments the Luminara which is a 20denier ripstop that has good weather resistance but breathes much better than most other nylon fabrics.” By Brandon

“Arc Teryx searches the globe to find new materials that distinguishes them above other outerwear companies. This vigilance also costs more money, but more often than not the result is a product that is the best of class in the category.

Although I don't own an Atom Jacket, I've checked it out pretty thoroughly and am quite impressed. The outer material (Luminara Nylon) is simply a high-tenacity, tightly woven 20D material that has a great hand. It felt like it had enough durability to withstand some backcountry use, although it still needs to be treated fairly nice.

The Coreloft Insulation is something I had never heard of, but I don't think it's proprietary to ArcTeryx. There was a hang tag listing what it's comprised of, but I don't know who is making it? It's essentially a combination of Primaloft (short staple fibers) and Polarguard or Climashield (Continuous Filaments) thus giving it both the softness of down (Primaloft) but giving it the added durability that plagues Primaloft (Polarguard). The jacket also had stretch panels and had an excellent fit including articulated, curved sleeves. For an ultra-light synthetic piece, I haven't seen it's equal (the closest being Montbell's ThermaWrap Jackets).” – By Jason

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After all my searching I did buy this jacket and I am very satisfied with it. I would recommend it to anyone as a mid layer or outer layer. It looks great for wearing around town, and stuffs down to nothing when you have to throw it in a pack.

The only remaining thing I have left to say is; The non-hooded version is a bit closer fitting than the hooded version. The chest is about the same but the jacket tapers a bit down towards the bottom, unlike the Hoody which is a more casual cut towards the bottom.