Carinthia MIG 4.0 Jacket

Military design, insulated, waterproof jacket. Pit zips! Many pack-friendly pockets inside and out. High quality construction. G-Loft synthetic insulation stays warm even if wet.

It is extremely hard to find jackets that combine three items: insulation, waterproofness, and pit zips. This jacket is one of those rare jackets. It is also extremely robust. It is used as is (apart from colors) in a number of militaries including Germany, Austria, and Australia. It has reinforced shoulders and forearms. It has pack friendly exterior pockets (5), the two main pockets being insulated. It has two large zippered interior pockets. The hem and hood are easily adjusted, as is the neck. This is the fourth iteration of this jacket. Warmer and lighter jackets are available from the same manufacturer. This is their mid range winter jacket.

Because the jacket is so robust, it is heavy. It is not recommended for multi-day hiking trips. For these I use a more common lightweight synthetic down jacket. These are lighter and more compressible but are easily torn in rough terrain. These common down or synthetic down jackets are typically not waterproof and they typically do not have pit zips. The jacket is rated by the manufacturer to -15C - that is their MIG product line. [LIG is -5C and ECIG is -30C.]

Carinthia Mig 4.0 insulated jacket

I bought mine from the Finnish website varuste.net. 

Background

I have used this jacket without a mid-layer on several rainy days hikes at around 0°C. In colder conditions I would add a mid-layer.