Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket Review

The Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket is an artificial insulated jacket with a hood, chest pocket, and hand hotter pockets. It has body-mapped insulation: extra on the torso and fewer alongside the edges for higher thermo-regulation when energetic. I’ve been utilizing this jacket as an outer heat layer in very chilly uncovered circumstances. While I’ve all the time used down jackets for this perform previously I quite like this Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket which compresses surprisingly properly and is extra amenable to be used below a shell if required.

Specs at a Glance

• Gender: Men’s (girls’s out there)
• External material: 20-denier Pertex Quantum Air nylon
• Hood: Designed for under-helmet use.
• Pockets: 3
• Windproof: Yes
• Weight: 11.9 oz (337g) in males’s xl
• Insulation Type: Synthetic
• Insulation: PrimaLoft Gold Active+
• Packable: Chest Pocket
• Back size: 28.1 inches (hip size)

The Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket is a really heat artificial jacket that’s designed with breathability and energetic use in thoughts. It’s insulated with 60 g PrimaLoft Gold Active+ insulation in entrance, again, prime of sleeves, and collar for heat and luxury, whereas the edges, underarms, backbone, and prime of the hood have 40 g insulation. This insulation along with its Pertex Quantum Air nylon exterior material enhances the jacket’s potential to vent water vapor in use, notably in drier and colder circumstances whenever you’re much less prone to overheat and perspire.

Well-Fitting Hood

The factor that makes the Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket markedly totally different from different artificial insulated jackets is the hood. Most lighter-weight artificial and down jackets have non-adjustable hoods which are usually designed to be used with climbing or snowboarding helmets and are grotesquely too massive to maintain your head heat until you’ve an infinite Godzilla-sized head.

But Rab did one thing slightly totally different with this jacket to maintain it lighter weight. Instead of instrumenting the hood with neck controls to make the face opening adjustable or placing a quantity adjuster on the rear, they “gather” the hood with a chunk of elastic on the rear which maintains human proportions, however can increase to accommodate totally different head sizes. This makes the hood self-adjusting which makes it a lot less complicated and more practical when sporting gloves whereas making the jacket lighter weight and simpler to fabricate. If you utilize a helmet, it’s possible you’ll not just like the hood as a result of it should retard your peripheral imaginative and prescient. But in the event you’re a winter hiker and don’t use a helmet, this hood is straightforward to love.

Mid-Layer?

Rab positions this jacket as a mid-layer choice, however I discover it approach too heat for that goal when snowshoeing or climbing up mountains, even in very chilly climate. I feel it’ll be nice layered below a shell for sitting on a chair elevate and zipping again downhill, however for self-propelled adventures with actual elevation achieve, you’ll soak the liner very quickly. I do run a bit scorching on winter hikes, so your mileage will fluctuate, however I’ve by no means ever discovered a down or artificial jacket like this one that may change a fleece hoodie as a mid-layer.

Fit and Trim

The match is “regular” and never too slim, so you may layer beneath the jacket. The elastic wrist cuffs are pretty comfortable in order that they work properly below a shell, however they’re too tight to drag up your arms in the event you’re attempting to manage your heat degree by exposing pores and skin. There’s an elastic hem adjuster, so you may stop wind from blowing up your torso.

Finally, this jacket has three zippered pockets, together with two massive handwarmer pockets and a good-sized chest pocket contained in the jacket. Plus, you may stuff the jacket into its chest pocket (there’s additionally a harness loop), though I by no means do this in winter as a result of I exploit the jacket to insulate the new water bottles inside my pack.

Recommendation

The Rab Xenair Alpine Light Insulated Jacket is a really heat artificial jacket that’s greatest used as an outer insulation layer, however has a compact sufficient profile that it could possibly be used below a shell jacket. It has a human-proportioned hood that matches below helmets, versus over, making it appropriate for winter climbing for these of us who don’t want to listen to protecting helmets. Lightweight and fairly packable, this can be a critically good insulated jacket that feels good to put on and may present further insulation for objects in your pack that you simply don’t need to freeze.

Disclosure: The writer bought this garment.

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