In addition to waterproof breathable Gore-Tex Pro material, Arc'teryx gave the Men's Theta SV Jacket an extra-long cut to provide even more protection in horrendous weather. Seal the helmet-compatible hood around your noggin, close all the WaterTight zippers, and let the Theta SV Jacket keep you dry through the worst mountain storms. When the weather mellows out a bit, open the Underarm zips and store the hood in the collar to keep from overheating as you take advantage of the break in weather to move your camp up the mountain or enjoy a few laps of powder.
Bottom Line: With the highest-grade materials and the longest cut in the Arc'teryx line, the Theta SV Jacket gives you all the weather protection you could ever need.
I've had this jacket for about 2 months and love it. Its November in New England and although I have not seen any snow yet i've seen some serious rain and have never felt so protected. Between two jobs school and no vehicle I walk almost ten miles a day and wear this shell constantly(not to bulky for everyday use). Oh and the hood is no holds barred the best I have ever seen, and I sell gear for a living.
This jacket is the answer to my outerwear dreams. All the features I want, none that I don't. I love the stowable hood, pockets that work with a backpack on, a longer cut then most other arc'teryx jackets and a hood with 3 adjustments. No frilly gimicky crap either. Nowhere on this jacket will you find any BS about quantum-space-age anti-gravity technology. Just a damn solid piece of engineering. Simply amazing. The first thing I did when I got it was take my pants off and hop in the shower with it on. Perfect, no leaks what-so-ever. The high denier nylon fabric is tough, like, bullet-proof tough. I like it much better then the alpha SV because of its long cut, intuitive pockets, (what is up with those alpha pockets anyway??) higher denier nylon shoulders and elbows and stowable hood.
The jacket fits a little on the big side which I like, it enables me to fit a big puffy down jacket underneath without popping any seams, but still looks stylish enough to wear anywhere. The hood is indeed helmet compatible, even with my huge XL skiing helmet, it still fits. The only downside I can see about this jacket is that it may be too much for most. If you're looking for a jacket to wear in the rain around town, save yourself a couple hundred bucks and checkout something else. If you need something to keep you dry for long treks in snow and rain, where a failure in your jacket would be a serious risk, this is the jacket for you. Arc'teryx stands up for quality, uncompromisable quality. I consider this jacket an investment, tough enough for years of hard-core use.
Well, I finally settled the Theta SV for a new shell. I'm 6'5" and weigh about 260 w/ an athletic cut. The XXL fits me quite well except for the midsection which was tad baggy. The waist adjustment fixed this nicely however. Pockets are intuitive and usefull and adjustment cords work quite well. Length is great, fit and finnish seem to be outstanding. I like the option to store the hood in the collar if I want, but I mostly leave it out since this leaves the collar less stiff and more comfortable. The jacket is very light but so far has been very durable. This is very important for me since I'm kinda clumsy and tend to fall while skiing or walk into things while hiking. Wind and waterproofing is excellent, a definite requirement in Alaska where I'll stack the crappyness of our weather up against that of any other state in the union. If I had one minor complaint it would be the noise. The material crinkles quite a bit, especially when cold. This is a pretty hard-core technical shell however, and I'll deal with noise if it comes with this level of protection any day of the week. Overall this is a top notch piece of gear I'm looking forward to using for a long time.
