Outdoor Research Incandescent Hooded Jacket

I’ve been drooling over Outdoor Research Incandescent Hooded Jacket after seeing it in various email blasts and gear sites. When Outdoor Research contacted me about participating in #ORInsightLab (What is it? Whitney and Dave explain!), I was lucky enough to have the Incandescent Hooded Jacket arrive at my door. I’m addicted to down jackets; I can’t help it!

It’s been a really warm, dry and snow-less winter in California so my hoodie has not seen much alpine activity. One thing it has seen much of is cold temperatures and long commutes, which isn’t too bad, right?

At 800-fill power, this baby will keep you toasty at below freezing temperatures. The DWR treated 10D Pertex® shell keeps you dry in light precipitation. At 14.4 oz (M size), the warmth to weight ratio is pretty high.

The Incandescent Hooded Jacket also stuffs into its own pocket, conveniently equipped with a tiny ‘biner, for easy packing and stowing. The Incandescent Hooded Jacket has two hand-zip pockets and one outer chest-zip pocket.

This thing is comfortable beyond belief. I use it as my primary commuting jacket. It’s lightweight, warm, and great for dozing off with on the train.

Unlike my Sierra Designs Tov Jacket, it hasn’t shown any signs of wear and it’s been tossed on trains, floors, rocks and backpacks. (Though that may be attributed to the black color.)

The only downside is the size. If you’re a big fan of layering your down jacket underneath your shell, you might need a really big shell. The size/poof to weight ratio is fairly high. It doesn’t pack down well under the majority of my other jackets. It looks downright awkward beneath my Outdoor Research Valhalla jacket. Some people tell me that I look like an eskimo when I wear it.

On the bright side, it’s also got a roomier fit, so you can wear plenty beneath your insulating layer. Above, I’m wearing it with the Triple Aught Design Artemis Hoodie.

All in all, it’s a solid down jacket for its price point and the abuse I’ve put it through nearly every this winter. If Outdoor Research can get the Incandescent Hooded Jacket to be on the trimmer side, it will definitely knock many other brands out of the park.

The Incandescent Hooded Jacket has been discontinued for women but it’s still available for men at $350. For women, try the Outdoor Research Diode Hooded Jacket.

This was sent to me for review.