	*Actual Tester*
Name	A.J. DeBenedetto
Age and Gender	Male, 3.5 years old
Height	39 inches (99 cm)
Weight	35 lbs (16 kg)
State/Country	The Grand Canyon State - Arizona, USA
	Review Author
Name	Jamie DeBenedetto
Age and Gender	32 year old female
Email	jdeben@hotmail.com
State/Country	The Grand Canyon State - Arizona, USA
Background/Experience
Following my parents example I have started both my young children on the path to wilderness addiction. My oldest son A.J. has accompanied me on day hikes and camping trips since he was three months old. What he lacks in speed he makes up for in attitude. He's not particularly hard on outdoor wear but he is a boy so dirt, sweat and scuffing of knees are quite common. He wears a small pack but since he has the lama-momma with him it usually only weighs about 2 lbs (.9 kg).

Product Information and Description

Molehill Mountain Equipment, Inc. of Golden, Colorado
Contact Info.	Website - www.molehillmtn.com	Phone - (800) 804-0820
Year of manufacture	Not sure, I'm guessing 2005
Materials	The neckline tag on the jacket says 100% Polyester. The hang tag on the sleeve and the webpage say the fleece is Polartec® Classic 200 from Malden Mills Industries, Inc. The webpage lists the fabric on the elbows and forearm as Teflon® coated waterproof, breathable nylon.
Warnings and Care Instructions	Not intended for sleepwear. Keep away from fire or open flame. Machine wash warm, tumble dry. Do not dry clean, bleach or iron.
Size	Junior 4/5
Listed Weight	None given
Weight as Received	8.7oz (247 g)
MSRP (US Dollars)	$54.99
Made in Mexico
The Molehill Mt. Equipment Hooded Jacket is just that, a children's hooded fleece jacket. It has a full length front zipper with a fabric pull tab hanging off of it and two front hand warmer pockets. The one we received is Cobalt blue with black trim and has a black strip running along both sides up under the arm pits and down the underside of the arms to the wrists. A section (about 9 inches [22cm] worth) of the fleece on the forearm and elbow has been substituted with Teflon® coated nylon. There is a strip of elastic along the base of the hood at the back of the neck line and around the face portion. There is also elastic running along the bottom hem and at the end of each arm hole.

Field Test Locations and Conditions

Since the Hooded Jacket's arrival in early October the central deserts of Arizona where we live have been very unwelcoming to Old Man Winter. We have only had about two weeks worth of overnight temperatures below 40 degrees F (5 C) and daytime temperatures have been more fall like in the low to mid 70's (21 C). All use of the Molehill Hooded Jacket has taken place either around town or on a few local trails at about the 1,500 ft (500 m) level in the desert mountain parks near our home. In all I would say we have used the jacket on about five morning hikes and on maybe fifteen to twenty other occasions.

Experiences to Date

Our mild start to winter has made testing the Molehill Jacket in its intended capacity quite difficult. I have resolved to have A. J. bring it anytime we leave the house just in case we need it. Needless to say, he has put it on and taken it off many times at this point but he has not worn it for a great number of consecutive hours. We have found the Molehill Jacket works well as a stand alone outer layer, well at least in the temperature conditions we have experienced. The jacket is usually worn over nothing more than a short-sleeved T-shirt and I have not had any complaints from A.J. about being cold. It's important to note that during these outings we were walking so I don't know how well the jacket works when A.J. is stopped for a prolonged period in sub 50 F (10 C) temperatures. We also have not experienced any precipitation yet. We will be doing some further testing in both snow and rain just as soon as the weather around Arizona cooperates.

The fit of the jacket is nice. As I mentioned in my Initial Report I purposely asked to test a size slightly larger to account for layering and A.J.'s regular growth spurts. Because of this, the sleeves hang about an inch (2.5 cm) past his wrists but the elastic on the cuffs works well to keep the sleeve up over his hand and out of his way. The cuffs are also quite accommodating of gloves. A.J. has worn both lightweight fleece gloves and a puffier ski style mitten while in the Molehill Jacket without a problem. The tail of the jacket is a little long but again the elastic band around the entire bottom hem has proven plenty capable of cinching around A.J.'s body to retain warmth. He says he likes having it a little on the long side because it keeps his bottom warmer. The only oddity we have found in the area of fit thus far is the hood. If it is not zipped up all the way to the top, it doesn't hug A.J.'s face just right. He loves wearing the hood but has made clear his frustration when the top of the elastic section running around the circumference of the hood opening dips down too close to or in front of his eyes. Through trial and error I discovered if the jacket is zipped up completely it closes around his face much better and we don't have all the fuss.

On several of our outings I have needed to stow away the Hooded Jacket in my day pack or in A.J.'s little day pack. The jacket is more bulky than I would like. It takes up most of the interior of A.J.'s children's pack. The smallest I have been able to roll it has been down to about the size of two 32 oz (1 L) water bottles side by side. Not too incredibly large but still larger than my adult fleece. This isn't really a big deal on day hikes when we have very few items in our packs but I'm not sure it would be a clothing item I would choose to bring if we were backpacking and space was more of a commodity.

Other than the accumulation of a little dog hair the jacket is still in good shape. No piling, broken seams or holes in the fabric. I have only washed it once but that went well. I just followed the cleaning directions on the tag and it came out fine. At this point in the testing I don't have any significant complaints about the jacket. It has been working well for our needs and A.J. usually chooses it when I send him to get a coat so obviously he likes it!

Jamie J. DeBenedetto
January 2nd, 2006

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