Description of Columbia Ice Ax Soft Shell Jacket - Men's:
With Columbia's 15K waterproof breathable Omni-Tech Softshell fabric, the Men's Ice Ax Jacket protects you from Mother Nature's nastiness. The four-way stretch fabric gives you crazy freedom of movement as you skin up backcountry trails, and the Ice Ax Softshell's close-to-body cut minimizes bulk. Two hand pockets and a chest pocket hold your valuables while you're ice climbing or touring outside the resort gates.
Bottom Line: The Columbia Ice Ax Softshell Jacket helps you stretch your abilities to the limit.
Reviews (15):
Average Rating:
My Favorite Jacket 01-07-08
Anonymous:
This is an incredibly versatile soft shell jacket, and very warm, too. I've used it while standing still at football games in sleet, and it's kept me plenty warm and dry, and have done my share of skiing, both in and out of bounds in it too. I also wear it walking too and from class in the cold wet Iowa winter, and it's nice enough that I can wear it out at night, too. It's definitely on the warmer end of the soft shell spectrum - I never had problems being too stuffy in it, but I can't say I notice it breathes like my Arc'teryx Gamma MX does, either. As a bonus, there are two interior pockets not mentioned in the product review, and they're large enough to hold a pair of ski goggles or the like. Also, the cuffs have a nice feature, with an elastic wrist cuff inside the outer cuff, which helps with sealing out the elements. Sadly, I left mine unattended for about an hour, and came back to it missing. I will be buying another though, it's really irreplaceable.
I bought this jacket for a trip to Peru but since I've had it I haven't been able stop using it. It definitely keeps the wind and the rain out, I do a lot of 4-wheeling in Missouri and I barely felt a thing in about 45 degree temp at about 40 mph, so needless to say I was well satisfied. I haven't really tested the durability and I'm not sure how it would hold up to the thick thorns of SE Missouri but the water/wind protection outwieghs. For such a light jacket I have been quite comfortable in heavy jacket weather and am impressed.
Got it as kind of an impulse buy. I'm usually the over-researching type but I saw it in a shop liked the fit and my wife thaought it looked cool. Took it skiing the next day in colossol snowy conditions and couldn't have been warmer or dryer. I got a little snow down the neck in the AM but then found the cord to cinch down the collar and was perfect from then on.
After the day on the slopes, I wore it out to a restaurant and didn't feel like I was in a ski jacket. Only down side is not a ton of pockets if you need those. Nice close fit, but doesn't impede any necessary movement for skiing.
