Rugged, lightweight, and wind- and rain-proof — what’s not to love about Patagonia’s Rain Shadow Jacket?

When you travel a lot like we do at realfoodtraveler.com, you’re always looking for a jacket that’s lightweight, packable, and provides protection against surprise rainstorms. Well, you’ve got all that and more in Patagonia’s amazing Women’s Rain Shadow Jacket.

When the box arrived with the Patagonia windbreaker, I was first surprised at how incredibly lightweight (10.9 ounces) the Rain Shadow was. I was expecting a jacket, but this was more like a nylon windbreaker. I was worried because I was heading to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and this little jacket didn’t seem up to the task. I was mistaken.

I appreciated the fact that the Rain Shadow jacket is easy to pack. Its lightweight, compressible nylon fabric makes it a snap to fold or roll up and tuck into a suitcase. But I didn’t appreciate this little jacket’s toughness or performance until I was at nearly 12,000 foot elevation at the Alpine Visitors Center in Rocky Mountain National Park. Here on the Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous road in North America, the weather can be fierce and on the day we visited, the sun shone brightly, but a stiff wind blew at more than 50 mph. I was wearing a lightweight T-shirt and nylon hiking pants and it wasn’t long before I was freezing. Then I remembered the Rain Shadow Jacket.

You can tell from RFT Editor Bobbie’s hair that it was blowing hard up at Trail Ridge Road in Colorado, but Patagonia’s Rain Shadow Jacket kept out the wind.

I slipped the Rain Shadow Jacket on and it blocked the wind completely. I went from cold to comfortable in a matter of seconds. Now, the patagonia windbreaker wasn’t warm and isn’t meant to be, but it totally kept the wind from reaching me. Even the water-sealed zippers didn’t allow a whisper of wind to pass and the micro-fleece lining on the neck and chin felt cozy. For cold weather, this would make a great outer shell for layers.

The jacket is also breathable. Once I was protected from the wind, I was able to hike along a windswept trail. While it was blowing like a gale, the high elevation sun was beating down on me. The Rain Shadow Jacket enabled me to move freely and comfortably without working up a sweat. I was impressed.

Onto British Columbia

Despite its performance as a wind breaker, the Rain Shadow Jacket is sold as a waterproof jacket so I took the jacket on my next journey to the Kootenay Rockies in British Columbia. The spring and early summer had been particularly wet in the West and I figured this would be a great test for the Rain Shadow’s waterproof nylon fabric and Deluge™ DWR (durable water repellant) finish.

The Rain Shadow Jacket proved up to the job of keeping out misty rain and protecting both Bobbie and her camera gear at Emerald Lake Lodge in British Columbia.

We traveled to Emerald Lake in Canada’s southwestern Rockies and we were met by rangers for an interpretive hike around the lake. I was carrying all my expensive camera gear in a butt pack and was a bit worried about the gathering clouds that were threatening rain. I pulled on the Patagonia Rain Shadow Jacket and was pleased to find the jacket’s long, hip length and generous circumference at the bottom enabled me to wear the jacket over my pack, completely covering my camera. As we hiked around the pearl green glacial lake, it began to mist and I zipped up the Rain Shadow and pulled on the rolldown hood. The hood is helmet adjustable, which should make motorcyclists and bikers happy. Unfortunately, I didn’t figure out until after the squall that I could adjust this hood with small drawstrings tucked just inside the hood. However, as the sun broke out, I was delighted to find my camera gear was snug and completely dry.

Later that same day, I hopped aboard a canoe to paddle around the lake and again found the Patagonia kept me high and dry.

The Arctic or Bust

Of course, misty British Columbia still wasn’t a tough enough test for Patagonia’s Rain Shadow Jacket. RFT Editor Anne Weaver was headed to Norway and the Arctic Ocean so she packed up the jacket fpr the ultimate test. Here’s her report:

My first opportunity to try out the Patagonia Rain Shadow Jacket wasn’t in the rain and I wasn’t wearing it. My friend and traveling companion was zipping out of the rental car in the town of Hov in the Lofoten Islands to snap a few quick photos. His jacket wasn’t handy; mine was. Tom didn’t seem to mind that it was a woman’s jacket and, in fact, the unisex styling looked perfect on him. He loved the comfort, the lightness, and the wind proof features. He was buffeted by a wind so steady the local church is literally tied down with heavy cables. After a thumbs up and clamoring back into the car we were off. My test of the jacket was still yet to come.

In an area of Norway where the winds are so strong they have to tie down roof tiles with big timbers, the Rain Shadow Jacket protected this photographer. Editor Anne Weaver says Rain Shadow is lightweight and doesn’t bind, which makes it a  great photographer’s jacket.

On a chilly but surprisingly calm day we took to the water at The Green Boat rentals. This time I donned the jacket over a t-shirt and long sleeved “sun shirt” and was comfortable rowing for several hours while my friends were wrapped in heavier coats. This convinced me that the Patagonia Rain Shadow Jacket makes a great option for layering for weather that changes quickly.

Even though we were north of the Arctic Circle, this didn’t feel like a “real” Arctic test. After several days in the Lofoten Islands, we flew north to Longyearbyen in the Svalbard archipelago to join the Linblad/National Geographic Land of the Ice Bear expedition. This was the real Arctic in July. At almost 80 degrees N latitude steaming through the ice pack I finally had my chance to test this light weight wonder.

The Rain Shadow’s uni-sex styling means it looks good onboth  men and women.

The sun was shining — after all, this is the land of 24 hour daylight after all. But on deck, the breeze forced other passengers either inside or under thick coats. I slipped the Patagonia Rain Shadow Jacket over my vest and stayed on the bow of the ship photographing birds as we glided through pack ice. This jacket was perfect, especially for a photographer like me. I was warm, comfortable, and not encumbered by heavy weight or bulky thickness.

Real Bottom Line: The Patagonia Rain Shadow Jacket, featherweight and looking like a simple nylon windbreaker, can easily be underestimated. When we first examined the Rain Shadow, both RFT Anne Weaver and I had few expectations. After all, how good could this “flimsy” little jacket be? Really good.

We found this jacket to be versatile, packable, and, yes, even stylish. It makes a great outer shell that you can layer with fleece, wool, polypropylene, or other fabrics for added warmth. The Rain Shadow is an amazing wind blocker – as evidenced by both our tests in the Colorado Rockies and in the Arctic. It’s also effective in keeping out the wet, whether you’re hiking in the mountains or paddling in the pack ice. Patagonia sells this jacket for $189, which might seem stiff for a simple “shell.” But this jacket is more than a shell, more than a windbreaker, more than a rain jacket. It may just be the perfect, super-flexible travel jacket.

The Rain Shadow Jacket’s  lightweight material made it a good rowing jacket for Anne in the  Arctic.

As fall approaches, we’re looking forward to testing this Patagonia windbreaker further in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Now the only problem we have is who gets to wear the Patagonia Rain Shadow Jacket?

www.patagonia.com/