Reviews > Clothing > Jackets > Ibex Icefall Jacket > Steve Nelson > Long Term Report

Long Term Report: Ibex Icefall Jacket
April 26, 2005

Reviewer's Information

Name: Steve Nelson
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)
Weight: 150 lb (68 kg)
Jacket size: US size 39-40 Regular (generally on the border between Small and Medium)
Email address: nazdarovye at yahoo • com
City, State, Country: San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

Backpacking Background:

As an interface design and usability consultant by trade, I'm always excited by analyzing and improving designs and processes; backpacking provides a fertile and fun arena for that. I have been backpacking since I was a kid growing up in upstate New York: we backpacked and canoe-camped in all seasons, throughout the Adirondacks and nearby areas, ranging as far as La Verendrye Wildlife Reserve, Quebec. As an adult, I've backpacked and hiked extensively in California, but also have taken trips throughout the West, from New Mexico to British Columbia, and return often to the Adirondacks.

In the past couple of years I made the transition to lightweight and ultralight backpacking. I like moving fast, and lightening the load facilitates that. I also enjoy urban strolls, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, and aviation in addition to hiking and backpacking, so my gear gets exposed to a wide variety of uses and conditions.

Product information

Overview

The Ibex Icefall jacket is a fully-zippered, lightweight jacket constructed from Ibex's Climawool® Lite wool-backed softshell fabric. Meant for three-to-four season use for active outdoor pursuits, the jacket has handwarmer pockets and a small chest pocket, a hem drawcord with toggles, and a large, stand-up collar (but no hood).

I provided a detailed description, including pictures, in my initial report, and field experiences with additional pictures in my field report, both of which you may wish to reference.

Long-Term Field Locations and Conditions

I've now used the Icefall for almost fifty days and nights of hiking, backpacking, travel, and around-town wear. Altitudes have ranged from sea level to 9,103 ft (2,775 m), temperatures from 4° to 75° F (-16° to 24° C), and weather conditions from balmy to rainy or snowy, in calm to gale-force winds.

Locations have been in the San Francisco Bay Area, central Colorado, upstate New York, the central Sierra Nevada, the California coast (including Pt. Reyes), Henry Coe State Park, Camp Pendleton, and Flagstaff, AZ, as well as many locations in between these while driving or traveling. I've used the jacket for all kinds of activities, from strolls around town and seashore day hikes to snowshoeing, backpacking and snow camping in the mountains. As noted in my field report, I even wore it throughout a nine-day Wilderness First Responder course in Arizona, which included laying out in the snow and on rocks for extended periods as a "patient" for mock rescues and performing mock rescues on others in a wide range of conditions (including an extended night rescue in a snowstorm on the lower slopes of Humphreys Peak.)

Long-Term Test Results

My long-term opinion of the jacket has changed little since the comments in my field report—there have been no surprises in performance or durability. The jacket is comfortable to wear, and does a good job of shielding me from light precipitation and wind. It's not as warm as another softshell jacket I own, but it's warm enough, and layers well with a base layer, softshell shirt, windshirt and shell or insulated jacket. I typically wear this jacket over a base layer or base layer and softshell top while active in particularly cold weather, or at rest stops in warmer weather. For rest stops in colder weather, I generally add a windshirt and/or insulated jacket on top of the Icefall.

Despite some of my initial comments on the fit of the jacket, I've actually found it comfortable and not minded the slightly odd fit for my build (I described this more in my initial report). The pockets are well-placed, and the hand warmers are lined with a nice, soft wool mesh that feels good to my bare hands (though, as previously noted, those pockets are also open at the top, which means items occasionally fall out when the jacket is removed and not held upright).

I like the fabric—it shows essentially no wear after six months of moderate use (including numerous backpacking and snowshoeing trips), and it's comfortable to wear and touch. The only problem I've seen is a single-thread snag on the front right lower chest. The fabric also seems to retain no odors—unlike many of the synthetic tops and softshell shirts I own, the Icefall has never picked up a smell from me or things in the environment.

The fabric dries reasonably quickly in the field—perspiration will eventually soak through the fabric (especially on my back while wearing a pack), but wearing the jacket without a pack while active in dry conditions, or laying it in the sun, has generally gotten it dry in less than half an hour. I've yet to experience precipitation strong enough to soak through the jacket from the outside, but I've mostly worn the jacket in light rain and snow.

I washed the jacket just once, at the end of the long-term test period. I followed the instructions sewn into one of the pockets, using a washing machine and then air drying the jacket laid out flat (which took a couple of hours). The jacket stood up well to the washing, and appears about as good as new, though wrinkled (the collar was already wrinkled from use; now more of the body is wrinkled; the instructions say it's OK to iron the jacket if desired, but I don't really care about the wrinkles). I'll be taking it out for a snow camping trip this coming weekend, and will post an addendum to this report if I note any change in its water resistance or other performance.

Summary

The Icefall Jacket is a sharp-looking, thoughtfully-designed jacket that brings unique wool-based materials and Ibex's eye for quality to the softshell arena. I've found it to be a durable and useful companion in the six months I've had it.

Things I like:

• Sleek design
• Nice hand to the fabric, especially the pocket linings
• In general, excellent construction and quality
• Useful but not overdone set of features
• Excellent durability
• Decent protection from wind and cold
• Has not retained any odors

Things I don't like:

• Small imperfections in sewing and trimming on my particular jacket
• Somewhat large sizing (especially in the neck), combined with the fact that I seem to fall between sizes
• Location of plastic toggles at hem causes slight discomfort when wearing some hipbelts
• Zipper pulls that stick straight out
• Open tops on hand-warmer pockets (stuff can fall out)
• The big orange logo on the back (people ask what it is but don't seem to particularly like it!)

Pit zips would be a nice addition to this jacket, but are by no means necessary.

Thanks to BackpackGearTest and Ibex for giving me the opportunity to participate in this test.

Reviews > Clothing > Jackets > Ibex Icefall Jacket > Steve Nelson > Long Term Report