Columbia Men's Heat Elite Jacket

I've been wearing this jacket for a month or two, including when Canberra's temperatures have fallen to around minus 6 Celsius in the mornings (around 20 F). It is a great jacket. Very warm and snug. Apart from its primary duty to keep me warm walking to work, the jacket has several other great features. It feels great - the fabric is soft and tactile. It is incredibly light also, for the warmth it gives - it feels much smoother and "richer" than an equivalent fleece jacket. It also cuts the wind out to a considerable extent. Finally, I really like the pockets - the front and inside pockets are extremely handy for carrying car keys, wallets etc. I know that's what pockets do, but the positioning and design of these pockets is particularly neat. A real pleasure to own and to wear - maybe the best and most useful jacket I've ever owned. The fit is snug - you wouldn't want to wear too much bulk underneath, but it's so warm you won't need to. Also looks great. .

I rarely purchase clothing online. I usually want to feel the fabric, examine the seams, etc. before buying it. I stumbled across the Heat Elite on Amazon and decided to buy it based on other people's reviews. Also, I couldn't find this jacket in any of the local stores. This jacket is now one of my favorites! It is very lightweight, warm, wind and water resistant. I routinely leave the house with only a T-shirt underneath when the temperature is in the low 30s. During a recent light rain, the water beaded up on the outside and I never felt damp inside. Another great feature are the underarm zipper vents. Those came in very handy while I was shoveling out my car several weeks ago. This jacket tends to fit more snug. I am 5'10" and the medium size was just right.

I bought this jacket as a mid-layer for use under a shell and if necessary - as a standalone. Having used Arcteryx and North Face for years I was a little unsure about Columbia. This jacket is better than Arcteryx's mid-layers (Atom, Easy Rider, Gamma, and Venta) and much more useful than North Face's Denali. The Columbia includes pit-zips, a water resistant finish (which means it can double as a shell), and a very warm lining (20 degree temps are no problem). Although it's not as soft as Denali and appears to weigh a bit more it is water resistant and just as, if not more, warm. Sizing runs true, a trim fit. For the price, quality, and usefulness an excellent jacket!

This jacket is lightweight making it appropriate for a variety of uses. I wore it in Boston on a day with record winds, and it was impervious to them. I spent years living a few miles south of Lake Ontario so I know what strong winds can do to a lesser jacket. The Omni-Heat thermal insulation really does work. If you are warm when you put it on, it might be uncomfortably warm indoors but the vents help a great deal. If you spend many hours driving with it on, you might feel more comfortable with the jacket off. But if you put it on when you are cold and it is cold, you won't lose heat but you won't feel overheated. The same holds true in 50 or 40 degree weather where it can remain comfortable, so it's not surprising that some reviewers put it on in that weather and felt it was merely adequate. You won't be cold but it's not supposed to bake you. It keeps moisture from coming in, but it does not leave you sweaty. Without the vents, this jacket would work well in many circumstances but be too hot in others. With the vents, it remains tolerable even when it's warmer than you'd like. Even when you do get a bit too warm, you don't feel like you are wearing a plastic bag. The pockets seem warm and can replace gloves in a pinch, but not for long periods of time. I wore this to a ballpark on a 40 degree day. I was outside for about five hours, sitting still most of the time. My torso remained warm, but my hands got pretty cold inside those pockets. So did my arms after a few hours. Gloves would have been a good idea. It has a good sized inner pocket that's large enough to hold ski goggles or an unfolded letter sized envelope. The outer pocket on the chest is of a reasonable size for keys, money, a wallet, etc. The sizes are appropriate if you are in good shape, but you might need a larger one if you have more body fat than you'd like. I'm 5' 10" and a medium fits me. The sleeves are the right length. It's snug but not tight, but it might be too snug if I had love handles. (I'm not using it as a polite term for obese; these jackets are not roomy.) The negatives are relatively minor. It would have been nice to have a thin shell of a hood tucked into the collar. Even a single layer one that could keep rain and snow from rushing down your neck would have been a nice touch. This jacket comes up on Amazon's website if you search for ski jackets. It's warm enough for skiing, but there are a few minor things missing. There's no loop to hang gloves from and a few more pockets would have been helpful. Overall, it's a nice jacket. It's not the perfect jacket for each and every purported use, but it's still an excellent choice that will be comfortable in 50 degree weather down to zero degree weather. It won't overheat you in the car or indoors for moderate periods of time, so it's not going to be inconvenient if you wear it when you go shopping. I live in Northern California where it does not generally get very cold. So I want a jacket that I can use for rare cold snaps, for ski trips, travel, camping, etc. I don't want a closet full of jackets that I won't wear most of the time, so this one is the perfect weight. It beats the best down jackets I owned in the pre-synthetic days, and rivals much thicker synthetic jackets from a few decades ago. It may not be the only warm jacket you will ever need, but it might be the most versatile.

Didn't like the quality at all. Looks soft but wasn't quite comfortable around the arm pits.

I ordered this jacket in January thinking that it would be a good coat for those spring months where it's too hot to wear my winter coat but too cold for a light jacket. I was met with a fantastic surprise! This jacket is not only warm enough to handle the coldest temps, but also to handle those windy cold days as well. Just remember to bring your hat since it has no hood for those that like to have a hood. This jacket has many pockets, an easy to use zipper (for glove covered hands) and is not too bulky to wear with work clothes or shopping at the grocery store. Another fantastic coat from one of the best companies. This jacket is going to last a lifetime and I could not be happier with the purchase and the price!

Believe the hype. This jacket is WARM. Looks great and seems to be put together well too. The pit zips are awesome. I'm about 5'9" and 155 lbs, medium build with long arms. I got the large--fits great. usually my problem with jackets is that mediums aren't long enough in the arms, while larges are long enough in the arms but baggy in the chest/stomach area. Not so with this jacket--it fits me like a glove. Couldn't be happier. Worth the money, great jacket.

Excellent fall/winter jacket. Warm and protective against the wind, rain and snow. I also wondered how lightweight it is. Nice look and simple design just as I love. Specs says: "Reflects 20% of body warm" - That's true and a high benefit for me I have tested on myself. Really enjoyed the buying. Recommend to all who dont like to dress on tons of clothes to protect from cold weather. This jacket is just perfect. But beware the fire, seems that materials are highly flammable :)