User Review: Patagonia Core Skin Jacket

Patagonia Core Skin Jacket
Above: The current Core Skin Jacket, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed March 8, 2007 by r_k

Rating:
Price Paid: 90€

This is an excellent piece of gear for climbing, high altitude trekking and as pointed by another reviewer, winter cycling. It is mainly for cold weather activities, as it is surprisingly warm.

I find the material comfortable against the skin and sliding frictionlessly over base layers if they are required. It can take considerable punishment from rock and mixed climbing with no signs of wear.

The jacket holds wind and repelled water excellently for the first 6 months. Now the DWR coating has worn off a bit, but that is not a problem as long as there is more snowfall than rainfall, and supposedly this coating can be reapplied. It is not meant to be anywhere near waterproof, so for continuous heavy rainfall a dedicated rain jacket is necessary.

As with all Patagonia gear, the fit is great for me as I'm more a skinny than a muscular type.

I won't comment on the price. As with all my high-end gear, I found this at a bargain price and for the price I paid I am more than satisfied with it.

The only thing that forced me to drop the fifth star is that the sleeves are too tight to be rolled up - which I consider to be an important thing in controlling body temperature. A hood would also add to its versatility.

I'm ready to recommend this piece of gear, but before making any decisions I'd advise to first check Patagonia's Mixmaster Jacket, which is a hooded version of this.