Over the previous yr, I’ve grow to be obsessive about the common-or-garden wind shirt. The place I beforehand relied on a thick grid fleece that alternated between too sizzling within the solar and too chilly when a breeze got here by means of, the wind shirt is an ideal dry climate shell that negates the wind so you possibly can concentrate on layering simply by air temperature.
Whereas wind shirts have been standard with the operating crowd for some time, the Enlightened Tools Copperfield is without doubt one of the few fashions catering particularly to hikers.
Some delicate postholing in Colorado spring snow
Enlightened Tools Copperfield Wind Shirt At a Look:
- MSRP: $120-130
- Weights: 2.0 to 4.3oz, relying on measurement and cloth. 2.1 oz in my choice (medium tall, 10D cloth)
- Supplies: 7D, 10D, or 20D breathable nylon (not ripstop)
Girls’s Copperfield right here
Meant Use
This light-weight layer is greatest for windy days and colder climate the place reducing out the breeze is important. It’s notably helpful in live performance with a grid fleece, making up for the latter’s lackluster wind efficiency with out trapping sweat.
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Circumstance of Overview
I obtained my palms on the Copperfield in February, simply in time for some backcountry winter adventures and the primary sizzling days of spring in Colorado’s western deserts. It noticed harsh winds as much as 40mph and temps anyplace from 0°F to 80°F.
Enlightened Tools Copperfield Wind Shirt Options
Plenty of Customized Choices
Whereas Enlightened Tools (EE) presents inventory variations of the Copperfield, there are solely two colour choices (gray and navy) and solely in 10D cloth. With no added value and solely 2.5 weeks of additional lead time, you may get 16 extra colours, 7D and 20D cloth weights, and tall measurement choices.
I extremely advocate going customized, as the colour choices are fairly a bit higher. I discover the impartial choices (greys, blacks, whites, and darker colours) have a little bit of a trash bag aesthetic (no, not in a “hiker trash” method) that leaves lots to be desired within the appears to be like division.
Hood, Full Size Zipper, and Elastic Weight
When a chunk of substances is already so delicately near zero weight, the little issues add up. Some wind shirts omit hoods, zippers, and cinching mechanisms to push the numbers even decrease. EE makes a good stability of options that improve the consolation and value of the shirt, whereas conserving the load only a contact over two ounces (in most configurations).
I favor the total size zippers, as getting a pullover or half-zip on throughout excessive wind generally is a little bit of wrestle.
Going over the Continental Divide at Hagerman Go. Regardless of the 10-15 diploma temps and 25-30mph winds, I used to be snug in simply an Alpha Direct fleece and the Copperfield.
Sized for Layering
The sizes on Copperfield clothes run a contact massive, permitting solar hoodies, fleeces, or gentle puffies to be worn beneath. Wind shirts are sometimes worn as a part of a layering system, so I recognize having some flexibility to accomodate midlayers.
In my expertise, a typical midweight puffy (such because the Cotopaxi Fuego or Arc’teryx Cerium) are simply lofted sufficient to be barely compressed beneath the shirt. Light-weight puffies (such because the Patagonia Nano Puff) are going to have slightly extra room to spare as a consequence of their thinner insulation.
Whereas I might advocate sporting fleeces beneath a wind shirt, puffies I’m extra ambivalent about. In case you are actually attempting to squeeze each final bit of heat out of your garments, I is likely to be inclined to place the wind shirt beneath a puffy, then end with a rain jacket for a shell.
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Enlightened Tools Copperfield Wind Shirt Execs
Featherweight and Thimble-Small
Tipping the size at 2.0 to 2.5 ounces in the usual 10D for many sizes, It’s laborious to not throw this versatile layer in your pack. It additionally packs right down to concerning the measurement of a crabapple, which means it will possibly slip in nearly anyplace in your pack, from shoulder strap pockets to fanny packs.
A wind shirt has grow to be a normal a part of my packing listing and accompanies me on brief hikes, runs, and even to work most days. It typically comes alongside on accident, as a result of it hides so nicely and is so gentle I don’t discover the distinction.
This layer packs down small. I often roll the layer from the waist into the hood, since there are not any pockets or stuff sacks included.
Colours Are Stylin’
With 18 colour choices unfold throughout three cloth weights, you get far more choices to jazz up your climbing go well with than most manufacturers present. I notably just like the colourful choices like robin’s egg blue, yellow, and pink.
Good Breathability, Vapor Transmission
I’ve used this jacket in excessive output backcountry ski journeys, fast-pace runs, and sizzling however windy hikes. It’s masterful at blocking wind whereas nonetheless letting sweat escape. Even whereas sporting a pack, I hardly ever seen a buildup of perspiration in my layers. If I began to swamp the system, it dried out handsomely after a second of relaxation, with out the bone chill that often comes with the wind.
In order for you much more breathability, choose a 7D colorway. In case you are in persistently chilly circumstances or apprehensive about sturdiness, you possibly can go as much as a 20D to cut back the quantity of air coming by means of.
Getting precise scientific numbers for wind resistance requires very fancy, specialised gear. The house exams are guesstimates at greatest. From a consumer expertise standpoint, it had about the identical degree of wind blocking and breathability because the Montbell Tachyon.
Enlightened Tools Copperfield Wind Shirt Cons
Outsized Match Can Flap within the Wind
Not like the athletic match of running-specific clothes, the Copperfield has some room to spare for midlayers. Sadly, this additionally implies that sporting it with only a base layer leaves plenty of cloth to blow within the wind.
Earlier than you persuade your self that it is a bummer, think about your precise use case. Do you want a barrier in heat however windy circumstances, or are you solely going to make use of this with an extended sleeve base or fleece that may take up the additional room? I personally hardly ever discovered it to be a problem, besides on chilly however excessive cardio output days.
Stage of transparency when the layer is pulled tight (left half) vs free (proper half). The print on the shirt may be seen simply. Additionally discover the black, diagonal seam between the armpit and neck. These are from the black threads used to hitch cloth panels.
Primary Building and Externally Threaded Cinches
After I first unboxed this shirt, I used to be slightly shocked by the development. EE’s quilts are typically nicely regarded for his or her construct high quality and degree of refinement; the Copperfield appeared fundamental as compared. Although I selected a vivid, robin’s egg blue colour for the material, the majority of the seams had been made with black serger thread.
Whereas there’s no inherit problem with serged seams on this software, I want that they had bothered to paint match the thread, like they did on the straight stitched areas (zippers and elastic areas). Due to the clear nature of this explicit cloth, there are darkish strains traced round anyplace two items of material be part of. This isn’t an ideal look in my view.
The sample can also be comparatively fundamental, missing the excessive degree of refinement discovered on clothes made by the larger operating manufacturers. One explicit problem I’ve is that the hood cinch exits on the skin of the jacket, which means the free ends are liable to flapping within the wind you’re already battling.
Equally, on the waist they use a free plastic bead (sure, like from the craft retailer) as a pull. I discover this awkward because it’s not fastened in place and is heavy and liable to swinging whilst you stroll.
My final minor building gripes are the shortage of pull twine on the primary zipper, and that my zipper is “wavy,” making it laborious to function one-handed. All of those complaints are minor, however add as much as an general “meh” feeling concerning the completed product.
Tall Dimension May Be Taller
As a licensed orangutan (my wingspan is 6” wider than the common individual), I want the tall measurement was even taller. Choosing this selection provides two inches to the torso size, however just one inch to every sleeve. Folks looking for a tall measurement are typically going to need at the very least two inches additional within the sleeve, in my expertise.
I wouldn’t name the sleeves brief, however I may have used one other inch or two when the breeze was notably chilly.
No Pockets or Stuff Sack
This explicit jacket doesn’t embody hand pockets or a strategy to compress it into a pleasant bundle for storage. Additionally absent is a strategy to hold the hood held down whereas not in use. I don’t discover these notably disruptive omissions, and never one thing I might knock it for personally. Some customers will discover these to be deal breakers nonetheless.
Semi Clear
The uncoated nylon cloth has various ranges of transparency, relying on which colour and cloth weight you select. Since that is supposed to be worn over a base layer, I believe it’s a non-issue compromise to get a excessive degree of breathability. You will discover this on almost each wind shirt available on the market, simply to various levels.
If that is one thing which may hassle you, go darker in colour. Selecting the 20D model may even make the garment extra opaque, however with destructive results on the breathability.
Store the Males’s Enlightened Tools Copperfield
Store the Girls’s Enlightened Tools Copperfield
Total Worth
Functionally, there’s not a lot to complain about on the Copperfield. It blocks the wind whereas venting sweat, all for the load of a normal sweet bar.
It’s the finer factors of this garment which have me trying again in my closet for different choices. At $120, there’s plenty of competitors available in the market. In case your precedence is colour and dedication to climbing manufacturers, it is a cheap alternative. In order for you the next degree of refinement or choices for pockets, I might look elsewhere.
A Few Comparability Gadgets
Montbell Tachyon: $140 (purchasing the American model on the Japanese web site might yield a greater deal as a consequence of present Yen conversion charges)
Salomon Sense Aero Wind: $130
Dooy Solar Safety Jacket: $20 (sure, twenty {dollars})
The Enlightened Tools Copperfield was donated for goal of evaluate
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