REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

Summary: Vest can be worn in 4 seasons. When the pipes get cold zip on the sleeves. Best Primaloft convertible jacket or vest on the market. Buy it and buy happy as a money saving clam! NOTE:The picture REI has for this jacket sucks! It is much better in person & colors more vibrant. Google the "Montbell Ultralight Thermawrap Vest" image, looks like that. Picture a sleeping bag in a jacket.Fit & Persona: I'm 6'3" 205 and bought an XL. I could have got the large but I have wide shoulders & oddly wide back making it tight. The XL wasn't much bigger (sorry Big & tall guys) but the sleeves surprised me by covering my Orangutan like arms. I wear my pants low on the hips & the bottom of the jacket sits mid to bottom of your pants zipper. Great coverage for a vest not to mention the jacket. The vest's shoulder/ armpit hole has a tight fit not to allow in air or rain, nice feature when the sleeves are off. Two side cinches make the vest pretty air tight in side. Ok, not really but it makes such a difference that I use the bottom cinch to regulate my heat when the full zipper is to much. Sleeves are long and connect rather easily to the vest when the Olympic Rain Forest drops a load without warning.I'm a backpacker, day hiker, Mt Rainier climber, and wife walker. I use this jacket in all these situations and an more comfortable then ever. The fit is sporty & looks sharp with some jeans or khakis. It can handle the strap friction of a 50lbs pack & still breathe and have loft when you take it off. I'm pretty tough on my gear but because I love this piece so much I take every good care of it. That said I should have cut a huge whole in the chest when I had to make a last ditch Ice axe arrest attempt. The shovel piece cut my chest pretty bad through my Spruce Run. Lots of blood but the jacket didn't rip or anything (blood came out using snow & regular wash later). I have also snagged it here and there on a screw head of sticker bush and nothing happened. Technical: The shell is a Ripstop nylon (I just put it together, Ripstop means it will "stop a rip!") It has a DWR coating of some sort that works like a dream. It can also stop winds up to 60mph (I have proven 50mph with rain for 40 minutes and no seepage).The fill is my new favorite insulator layer. I chased a runaway canoe into the Elwha and got completely wet in 55f windy weather. The vest was drenched (but light) and while the water river water was cold I only lost body heat while in the water. Once I got out I took of the wet base layer and put on the wet vest with the dry sleeves. The wet part took about 40 minutes to dry completely All that time I never lost an ounce of core heat. Once my body heated the water in the vest I was actually warmer then before my splash. Below is the best explanation of the stuff:"PrimaLoft® One is the ultimate microfiber insulation. Ultra fine fibers are specially treated then combined into an insulating core that is incredibly soft, lightweight and water resistant. PrimaLoft One absorbs 3 times less water, 30% more spoonable, is 14% warmer when dry and is 24% warmer when wet than the competitive insulation."The vest has three pockets. The one internal on the left is an up down with room for your stash and a small mp3 player. It also has a really cool headphone whole in the pocket. Then you use it ind realize it's worthless. You can do the same with the zipper. The real prob is that the cord still runs up tight against the skin of your neck. It should be internal from inner pocket to top of neck lining to be useful. Still not a huge prob (I'm trying to find faults....) The two hidden (or at least covered style zippers) external pockets are super warm and decently deep.The main front zip is a strong YKK backed by another inch of the jacket essentially overlapping you in the front. A very warm and windproof design I have found. The sleeve zips are inset into the vest and make another overlap to insure no weather gets in. The armpits have a 1 inch hole between the zippers for air and breathing. Didn't like the idea of it at first but it's no difference really. Stuff sack is a little to big and not weather anything. I use my Goretex shell's stuff sack to hold the sleeves when not in use. If not get an OR stuff small.Final thoughts:I'm big into things that serve multi season, multi purpose roles. I want everything as light as possible and one thing doing two or more jobs saves a ton of weight. I use convertible pants, odor free everything so I wear what I have on for the whole trip. This jacket is under a pound and serves me in every season and 9/10 times is on me as a vest while hiking. I find the Primaloft to regulate my heat like it knows whats it's doing. When it's 65f I only need to unzip and the jacket makes sure I don't over heat. When it's 28f and windchill at 13f @ 14'401ft, I have this on full sleeves under a Gortex shell and I'm money. Did I mention the breathability? It's killer. It wicks your sweat off and keeps you....um... unclammy I guess? I sweat like a woman giving birth when I walk the mall parking lot. This jacket wicks it up and doesn't ever swell. ALWAYS FOLLOW THE CLEANING DIRECTIONS! Also use Nik-wax to re-energize the DWR. Works like voodoo to make it new.I find this jacket to work as a great sleeping bag accessory. In the dry 3 days a year here, I sleep under the stars with a blanket and this jacket. I have gotten cold two times. First was on Rainer above Muir. Wind, wet snow, and quick temp drop to about 5f. Goretex shell was 3 miles away, my fault really. Second time was on Ocean by Forks. Crazy winds and sideways snow for about 30 minutes till I got a chill. Great performance in all but the Arctic and sustained downpours.[...] My outdoor geek bells & whistles ration is filled. I wear the jacket or the vest every day and every trip into nature sees me in this vest with sleeves in packs easy access pocket. I have worn it as my only layer on the skin in summer and it was great. A good convertible jacket is impossible to find normally. I like this jacket so much and it has proven itself so well I think I may have to buy another in case it ever gets canned. Buy it and fall in love with 11 ounces of the most versatile & technically advanced outdoor clothing pieces available.

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

I purchased the jacket as a versatile insulation layer for alpine travel (primarily to climb Mt Shasta) and 3 season backpacking. The jacket is so comfortable I find it a pleasure to wear all day as well as to sleep in. For its weight it is very warm, and it packs down quite small when not in use. It also makes a darn good pillow.
Like other reviewers mentioned, mine came without the color coded sleeve zippers, but so far I have not found that to be a problem.
I have only two complaints about the jacket. I think a hood (especially if it were removable like the sleeves) would make this jacket even more versatile. Second is how delicate the shell material is. I find it will snag on almost anything, twigs, branches and leafs, Velcro, and anything else even slightly sharp or rough. I have tried melting the loose threads from the snags with a lighter so they do not unravel further, but fear I might melt a hole the exceptionally thin shell material if I am not very careful.
I like the jacket and wear it often from around town to mountain summits. I just try to be very careful to avoid anything that could snag it, and when practical I wear a shell over it to protect the material. I really don’t expect it will take me long before I snag it on something and tear a major hole in it (I have already come close a few times, snagging it on a sharp corner of a store shelve, and a broken branch of a pine tree).
I doubt I would recommend this to a friend unless they valued the light weight over durability. Personally I would prefer to sacrifice a few ounces, to get a more durable shell that I did not have to worry about as much.

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

Bought when they were new. 1 colour, Constant problems with the zipper. I hear they fixed it. I will replace with newer. I do love this I ride a motorcycle every day of year in Alaska and I wear this only under my leather jacket at -15 and It keeps me fairly warm. It can make you sweat though with modest exertion and does not wick real well tho better than some.,Glad they finally got some colours. Best is it's light and warm! Best layer for cold I have found for my lifestyle.

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

Within days of purchasing this jacket I was taking pictures of Elk in Rocky Mountain with winds somewhere around 30+ mph and overnight temps of 20. I couldn't have been warmer with this jacket and the wind never came through. For added protection I put it on under my shell and was toasty from sunrise to sunrise. In fact when my feet got really cold in the middle of the night I shoved the jacket to the bottom of my sleeping bag for extra warmth and it kept them snug, warm and dry.I read in another review that the sleeves weren't labeled but mine were. I don't know if that's a new design element or not but it was really helpful. Also the sizing was spot on. I'm 6'1" and 175 and the medium fit me just the way I like: close but very maneuverable. Overall, this piece is great alone on any day but I would really recommend for its ability to layer without being bulky or hot. And the fact it packs down to next to nothing is a great bonus if you're watching your weight.[...]

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

seems even lighter and more compact than a down vest. packable into a large pocket in ski jacket. It got warm, I took off the sleeves; it got even warmer after lunch, I took off the vest; it all fit in the ski jacket!

somewhere in the advertisement, I thought the zippers were supposed to be color coded so that you could tell which sleeve was which (they aren't; you just have to try 50:50 chance) not a huge problem though.

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

Just returned from a ski trip at 3 Valleys in the French Alps. I love the flexibility of this jacket! Packs up small in my day pack, and I can wear it as either a vest or a jacket as conditions dictate.

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

I just bought this jacket because I like the fabric quality and light weight jacket that can be used as a vest too. However for me the size specs are really small. I normally wear a size medium being 5'8" & 150lbs. The medium was to tight and I had to buy a large that fit perfectly in chest, shoulders, armhole and sleeve length. So that tells me the manufacturer cut this style to small specs.... the reason is price. It is amazing to me this got by any REI internal "fit" audits of product and I actually believe they do not have any product fit audits as all other major retailers require otherwise there is NO WAY this small sized garment could be allowed to go thru production. I am in the apparel business and understand these processes very well. This garment TRUE sizes should be: S = extra small, M = small, L = medium and XL = large; which mean they do not have a real XL size in this jacket. North Face is another manufacturer well known to me for undersizing their jackets to save a few bucks!

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

I live in central NC. It is the only jacket I need for three seasons. In January & February, I've layered it with a sweater under it and was very comfortable in the windy-wintery streets of New York City and inland Connecticut. With an unlined rain jacket over it I was warm and dry. It is not bulky or uncomfortable while driving and with its pouch makes an adaquet pillow on airlines (airline pillows are getting as rare as good service). It by far is the most practical, versital, packable and comfortable jacket / vest ever carried by REI. If REI discontinues this item it will be a BIG mistake.

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

just felt in love with my first jacket with this element, Primaloft!
It’s nice and versatile, totally compressible, warmer and lighter than my other jackets.
The sleeve zippers can be opened just a bit under your armpits working as ventilation windows!
Used only the vest over a medium “smartwool” top on a snowshoeing day and worked just fine. Great tuff. My girlfriend got the girl’s version of this jacket!

Comments about REI Spruce Run Jacket - Men's:

This jacket is a perfect light weight soft, silky, comfortable jacket. It's light enough to be used as a windbreaker, and warm enough to be good for temps down in the 40s easily, or colder depending on your base layer and activity level. The surprise to me is that this jacket features a Pertex Quantum shell. The lining is also very soft and silky and may be a Pertex Quantum taffeta, but I'm not sure. If you look at other jackets of Pertex Quantum from other vendors they are terribly expensive. This is a great value. And the navy blue color available online is perfect. This may be the closest you get to feeling like your wearing that silky sleeping bag around, but it isn't bulky at all. I had no trouble with the armpits being too small or restricting and I'm 200 lbs with a large chest. This is the perfect jackt for casual cool weather, hiking, or warmth around camp. I wouldn't wear it into the briar patches or bushwhacking. I wish they made matching pants of the same exact materials. I've already purchased several of these. This is a rare find and a great deal, especially if you enjoy soft, silky, and very comfy fabrics. My only gripes are very minor. The sleeves are too long for me by about 2 inches. There is only one internal small pocket and I wish it was a little larger, and I wish there were two good size internal pockets. The jacket doesn't really have a collar, so if you want to wear it in any manner other than all the way zipped up, the jacket doesn't really look very "neat" around the collar area, but that's a small gripe. It comes with a stuff sack, pull cords, soft silky lined zip up pockets on each size (which are generous enough in size). I think it may be the best all around, most comfy, lightweight jacket REI has made yet. When this jacket was on sale, it was the best value in lighweight jackets anywhere. Even at the regular price, it is still a good value. In fact, my wish list is so minor, that I still give it a 5. I plan to buy another one before year's end. I would love to see them make this exact jacket with no insulation as a super lightweight windbreaker. And I could personally do with out the zip on sleeves, though I may possibly find it useful as a vest for a mid layer later this year. I think this jacket is a replacement for last year's Gossamer jacket. That was a nice, soft silky Pertex Quantum jacket, but it only came in horrid colors. Why it is so hard to find a nice jacket like this that is full zip, in decent colors? But the navy blue Spruce Run meets this requirement in fine style! You should buy this jacket for family members that just want a comfortable casual light weight jacket as well.