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Reviews > Clothing > Jackets and Vests > Mountain Hardwear Stretchdown Hybrid > Owner Review by Kathleen Waters

MOUNTAIN HARDWEAR
Super/DS Stretchdown

Hybrid Hooded Jacket
BY KATHLEEN WATERS
IMAGE 1
May 5, 2021

OWNER REVIEW

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Kathleen Waters
EMAIL: kathy at backpackgeartest dot com
AGE: 70
LOCATION: Canon City, Colorado, USA
GENDER: F
HEIGHT: 5' 4" (1.60 m)
WEIGHT: 118 lb (53.50 kg)

Living in Colorado and being self-employed, I have ample opportunities to backpack. There are over 700,000 acres/280,000 hectares of public land bordering my 71-acre/29-hectare "backyard" in addition to all the other gorgeous locations which abound in Colorado. Over the past 15 years, my husband John and I have also had the good fortune to hike/snowshoe glaciers, rain forests, mountains and deserts in exotic locations, including New Zealand, Iceland, Costa Rica, Slovenia and Death Valley. My hiking style is comfortable, aiming for lightweight. I use a tent (rainfly if needed). Current pack averages 25 lb (11 kg) excluding food and water.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer: Mountain Hardwear
Year of Manufacture: 2020
Manufacturer's Website: Mountain Hardwear
MSRP: US $225.00
Listed Weight: 1 lb (445 g} Medium
Measured Weight: 17 oz (482 g)
Sizes Available: XS - XL Women's (men's sizes available also)
Size Reviewed: Medium
Colors Available: Icelandic (bluish/gray); Dark Storm (black) and Blurple (Purple?)
Color Reviewed: Icelandic

Other details:

Exclusive stretch-woven fabric delivers incredible durable stretch
700-fill, RDS®-certified down insulation
Revolutionary interwoven, stitch-free baffle construction
No insulation in lower body and underarms
Two harness compatible zippered hand pockets
Zippered chest pocket
Elastic cuffs
700-fill RDS-Certified Down/Flourine Free

** Note: The Mountain Hardwear Super/DS Stretchdown Hybrid Hood Jacket was furnished to me at no charge by the manufacturer, thanks to a relationship with the manufacturer's representative and as a result of a product presentation. I made no promises of a review, on this site or elsewhere.
IMAGE 2
Picture Courtesy of Mountain Hardwear

FIELD USE, CONDITIONS AND PERFORMANCE

I started wearing the Mountain Hardwear Super/DS Stretchdown Hybrid Hooded Jacket (hereafter called "Hoodie" or "jacket") in late fall 2020 (early November). initially, it was exceptionally mild. Rarely were daytime temperatures lower thar than 50 F (10 C) and there were more than a few days of 70+ F (21+ C). Nighttime temperatures ranged anywhere from low 50s (teens C) to 24 F (-4.4 C). But boy, did that change in late January! We had double-digit negative F (-23 C) temps at night with single-digit F (-20 C) daytime temps as well as the usual right-at-freezing readings.

In addition, it has been an exceptionally windy few months. On many days the blowing has been nearly constant with gusts over 40-50 mph (64 km/h - 80 km/h).

In my neck of the woods/desert, humidity is generally very low and that was the case this fall/winter. This made for very pleasant day hikes.

While we have had several snowfalls, the accumulation was always slight - barely enough to cover the toes of my boots and usually the snow has melted by noon.

I wore the hoodie about a dozen times, mostly on day hikes and a couple of casual downtown walks.
An example of an outing while wearing the hoodie:

Here are my notes from a hike in early December. "I decided to take a hike around our property into the adjoining BLM lands. The temperature was a frosty 28 F (-2 C) - with tiny ice crystals falling. No wind thankfully. But still, kinda damp feeling with a light snow covering the ground. My core was warm at first even when the rest of me was cold. The longer I stayed out, the colder I got. Was only wearing a light synthetic base layer. So, I stopped and once I added a second lightweight fleece layer, I was quite comfortable. Really loved the hood keeping my neck warm and the ice from going down my back and the collar was very comfortable against my chin."

The first thing I noticed about this jacket was the more-than-usual variety of baffle patterns. There are small square baffles, almost like tiny pillows. There are vertical baffles. There are horizontal baffles and diagonal baffles. And then there are sections that are just sort of flat! I THINK that the crazy-quilt configuration is designed to make this jacket very contoured and flatteringly form-fitting! It's so cool!
IMAGE 3
Upper Back Baffling
IMAGE 5
Hood Baffling

Speaking of fit, this jacket fit me perfectly! Sometimes, I have to fight with sleeve length or I'm always pulling down on the jacket to cover my derriere. Not an issue here. Like Goldilocks would say, "not too long and not too short…just right"!

The jacket is very lightweight but also very warm. I particularly like how it keeps out the wind. We have wicked winds here and they can chill even a mild day. That negative weather factor is totally mitigated by this jacket.

The hood was especially useful in keeping my neck warm and dry. And when I wasn't wearing the hood (most of the time I don't wear hoods), it folded down neatly on my back and didn't irritate me by bunching around my neck. Even when having the jacket zipped all the way up, I didn't have any rubbing on my chin. Very nice design!

The jacket is not waterproof but did keep me from getting soaked in an ice-crystal shower one day. The outside of the jacket was definitely wet but it didn't soak through and I stayed dry. After maybe a half-hour, the jacket was dry again.
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Cuff & Front Baffling

Quality of design and manufacturing are very evident in this jacket. There were no sewing defects, uneven color, the zipper works smoothly and didn't snag. Everything was as it should be!

MINOR DISTRACTIONS

1.) None that I could find

STARRING ATTRACTIONS

1.) Warm, but lightweight
2.) Perfect for winter weather; with or without a mid-layer
3.) Reasonably priced, especially now that it's on sale
3.) Good protection from unforeseen hazards (see summary!)

SUMMARY

I had high hopes for this jacket becoming a staple in my winter wardrobe. It is a wonderful jacket and I was very happy with its performance. However, the jacket met its demise when I lent it to my daughter-in-law one day in late February.

Julia was walking my granddogs in her neighborhood when three freely-roaming pit bulls decided to attack. Poor Sky (ours) suffered over 17 puncture wounds. Julia's left hand was badly injured and the jacket was torn and bloodied. Though the jacket DID protect Julia from additional injury I believe, sadly, it is no longer wearable.

However, I think I had enough experience to be able to comment on the Mountain Hardwear jacket and I do recommend it!

Thank you to Mountain Hardwear for allowing me to try out the Super DS Hybrid Jacket!

Kathleen (Kathy) Waters
Co-Owner and Contributing Writer
BackpackGearTest.org

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1.5 Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.

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