User Review: Patagonia Dimension Jacket

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

Reviewed December 22, 2006 by Tony

Rating:
Fabric: Pertex?

First the jacket gets a high rating because it does a very good job for what it was designed to do. It is a full-on softshell that offers a high level of protection. It has a hood, adjustable cuffs, and a longer cut. Along with a softshell fabric that is burly with reinforcements, the jacket is overall closer to the hardshell range than the fast and light range.

Always the fabric has to work so about the softshell qualities. There is an inner mesh face that slides smooth over a Primaloft jacket and slides fairly well against a fleece, but not as good as a smooth faced inner fabric. The mesh does its job of wicking moisture out of the jacket and for such a heavy fabric it breathes well. How much really depends on how much you sweat, but it is a softshell kind of moisture management. The face is not completely smooth but has a great textured and soft draping feel that does not make the noise typical of nylon. It is heavy and drapes over the body rather than having the stiff cardboard feel of say some Windstopper fabrics. So it has a soft hand even though it is a thicker fabric.

There are reinforcements to further its durability and should hold up to skis over the shoulder or a pack. The hem at the waist is long enough to keep out the drafts and has a draw cord. The cuffs are longer on the backs to cover your hands and the strap is of a soft rubber synthetic with perforations which work so much nicer than fabric. This adds to the weathertight design of the jacket. The face area of the jacket fits nicely, for me anyway and the hood comes around the face without a helmet nicely, but everyone is different here i guess.

One thing that I don't like is the lack of sufficient fleece backing around the face. The area is a bit small so I did get annoyed some by the rubbing of fabric around cheeks. I also didn't like the shock cords to adjust the hood opening. They are routed through the inside of the jacket and into the pockets. When the wind starts howling you need to take your gloves off and open both pockets to tighten the cords. Once it's adjusted the fit is fine but the setup is a bit annoying.

I still say this jacket is great for its intended uses. I would like to mention that I had to return the jacket to Patagonia for repair and they could not repair it due to the fact that they cannot repair welded jackets like they can stitched seam construction. They sent me a gift card to replace the jacket so I hope that they come back with this jacket because they are not making it this season. Note that it is almost identical to the White Smoke which has skier features like powder skirt and sleeve pocket. Every company makes good gear and bad gear depending on the situation and the person, but Patagonia stands behind their gear unlike Lowe Alpine and that says a lot about Patagonia. So bring back this jacket, Patagonia please.