Patagonia Torrentshell 3L Rain Jacket Overview

At a Look

MSRP: $179

Weight: 12.4 oz (ladies’s), 14.1oz (males’s)

Supplies: 3-layer, 3.5-oz 50-denier ECONYL® 100% recycled nylon ripstop face, a polycarbonate PU membrane with 13% biobased content material, a tricot backer and a DWR end

Dimension Vary: ladies’s XS-XXL, males’s XS-3XL

Circumstances For Overview

I work as a backpacking information in Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide park and have worn this jacket on multi-night journeys all through my 2024 season. This jacket additionally traveled with me to Scotland to hike the West Highland Approach. Each southern Appalachia and Scotland are identified for his or her soggy climate, and this jacket was put to the take a look at throughout damp and windy days.

Patagonia Torrentshell 3L rain jacket on show on a moist hike in GSMNP

Options:

• Adjustable hood
• Microfleece-lined neck
• Middle-front zip
• Two hand hotter pockets 
• Cuff closures
• Adjustable drawcord hem
• Made with out perfluorinated chemical compounds (PFCs/PFAS)

Match

I’m a 5’8 150 lbs feminine with wider hips and a smaller chest. I put on a ladies’s medium and this matches me positive. I used to be capable of comfortably zip this jacket up overtop of a base layer, midlayer, and fleece. Had I attempted to squeeze a puffy into the equation I wager the rain jacket would have match extra snugly, however general I used to be happy with the match. I additionally appreciated the longer minimize as a result of I by no means skilled the jacket driving up beneath my hip belt when sporting it with a full pack. 

Adjustability

There are a number of elastic cords, zippers, and velcro straps to raised meet the wearer’s most well-liked match. The hood might be cinched down utilizing the claps on the again of the hood, or tightened on the perimeters utilizing the draw twine. The sleeve cuffs might be tightened or loosened with velcro. There’s additionally an adjustable drawcord across the waist. 

Waterproofing

Patagonia’s signature H₂No® is a efficiency customary quite than an precise product. It includes each lab and area testing to price an merchandise’s “waterproofness, breathability, floor repellency, and long-term sturdiness.” Within the Torrentshell 3L rain jacket, the precise waterproofing comes from the usage of the three separate layers: a fast drying nylon face, a water-resistant polycarbonate membrane, and tricot backer for a comfortable interior layer that touches pores and skin. The jacket is completed with a Sturdy Water Repellent (DWR). 

Breathability

Due to the jacket’s three layer design, there isn’t plenty of air stream all through the jacket. So as to guarantee water doesn’t get in, these supplies lure warmth in. Patagonia’s designers have tried to navigate this by together with 11” pit zips on the Torrentshell 3L to extend air flow. 

Patagonia Torrentshell 3L ladies’s jacket in “Pufferfish Gold”, measurement medium

Pockets

There are left and proper entrance pockets that operate as hand heaters. No chest pocket or pocket sown into the interior lining.

Zippers

Two zippered hand hotter pockets. Storm flaps (double layer of fabric) on prime and backside of heart zipper to forestall soaking via or zipper getting caught. 11” pit zips on both sides for added air flow.

Did I Get Moist?

Within the quick time period, no. Long run, sure. At a sure level nothing is actually waterproof after a pair hours of constant drizzle. That actuality, coupled with the truth that I used to be actively sweating whereas sporting this jacket, makes it arduous for me to find out how moist I actually obtained. Was I moist with rain as a result of the jacket soaked via? Or was I moist as a result of I had been sweating beneath all my layers? 

Apart from the prolonged backpacking journeys this jacket has been on within the Smokies and in Scotland, I put on it repeatedly in my day by day life. It has saved me dry throughout dashes to my automobile  and on walks round my neighborhood on dreary days. I believe this jacket does properly for an hour or so, after which ultimately the rain wins and begins to slowly permeate the fabric.

Typical wet climate in Scotland whereas exploring the Fairy Swimming pools on Isle of Skye

Execs

• A model with goal. Patagonia’s values are plainly acknowledged on their web site: “We assure every thing we make. We take duty for our affect. We help grassroots activism. We hold your gear going. We give our income to the planet.” A key attribute that Patagonia is understood for is taking part in honest commerce. Whereas researching for this text, I watched their quick movie “Honest Commerce: The First Step”. Patagonia companions with Honest Commerce USA to make sure that a premium is paid for each merchandise that’s made in a Honest Commerce Licensed manufacturing unit. That premium then goes to a worker-elected board the place members resolve what to do with the funds. Within the movie, the highlighted manufacturing unit selected to direct premium funds to a baby care heart on campus. As a client, it makes me really feel good figuring out that my patronage helps to profit the one who stitched my rain jacket.
• Patagonia boasts an “ironclad assure”. If a bit of their gear, from clothes to tools, breaks down over time, Patagonia will restore it for a payment. Buying one thing from Patagonia means you’ll be able to count on to get your cash’s price. 
• Whereas mountaineering in Scotland, this jacket primarily served as my windbreaker. Atop Conic Hill and Ben Nevis we skilled sturdy winds. I threw the jacket on to forestall the wind from chilling me, and it was a lifesaver! I may nonetheless really feel the wind biting via my pants, however my rain jacket saved the wind off my core. It additionally served as an awesome insulating layer throughout chilly nights at camp.
• The laminated visor atop the hood helps to maintain the rain out of your eyes and forestall it from dripping down your face.
• The jacket might be stuffed down into its personal little hooked up stuff sack that’s positioned within the left entrance zipper pocket. I normally opted to simply roll the jacket in on itself with the laminated visor. Both method it shops away small for when it isn’t raining.

Patagonia Torrentshell 3L rain jacket packed down

Cons

• I rocked a single pair of $25 Frogg Toggs on my via hike of the Appalachian Path. I positively contemplate myself frugal at greatest. Due to that, this value level is a con for me. When taking a look at different manufacturers like Arc’teryx, although, Patagonia’s value is humble (particularly if you do not forget that the $179 Patagonia jacket was made in a Honest Commerce Licensed manufacturing unit). Sure there are cheaper choices in the marketplace, however there are additionally considerably dearer decisions as properly.
• Clocking in at simply over 12oz for the ladies’s jacket and 14oz for the lads’s, this jacket definitely isn’t ultralight. For a fast weekend journey or working round city, the load doesn’t actually matter. However for a multi-week or multi-month journey, these ounces add up. There are a selection of ultralight rain jackets in the marketplace if weight just isn’t one thing you’re keen to compromise on.  
• The draw cords across the hood of the jacket are embedded within the cloth. This implies you could’t really see the discharge button to have the ability to regulate the twine. It took plenty of trial and error for me to blindly grope the discharge button earlier than I found out how one can regulate the hood claps. There’s a drawcord on both aspect of the hood and one other on the again of the hood. This fumbling might be chalked as much as operator error, however the launch mechanism for the drawcord on the hem of the jacket is seen and straightforward to make use of. On condition that there are clearly two various kinds of launch mechanisms on the jacket, I believe the designers ought to have caught with the easier-to-use one, or not less than made them each seen in order that they’re simpler to function (particularly when it’s raining sideways and also you’re attempting to regulate the jacket’s hood!)
• If pockets are excessive in your precedence checklist, this jacket just isn’t for you. There are solely two hand warming pockets. Different rain jackets can have a chest pocket and even hidden inside pockets. I felt like the 2 pockets for my palms had been positive, however I’ve loved having secret hiding spots in different jackets.
• Even with the pit zips vast open, I discovered it arduous to manage my physique temperature when sporting this jacket. With its three layer design, it’s comprehensible why this jacket isn’t probably the most breathable. My core particularly holds onto warmth, and there’s little to be achieved when it comes to air flow in that space when the primary zipper is shut to dam out rain. 

Patagonia Torrentshell 3L rain jacket getting used as a windbreaker atop Ben Nevis in Scotland

Conclusion

Total I believe this can be a good jacket for the worth. Sure, there are cheaper choices in the marketplace in addition to dearer ones. I actually consider that there isn’t any such factor as “waterproof” and that it doesn’t matter what you pay you’re nonetheless ultimately going to finish up moist. I might not contemplate this jacket breathable due to the three layer design, however beggars can’t be chooser. There’s such a factor as an ideal rain jacket. Being caught with out a rain jacket throughout a torrential downpour can really feel soul crushing so I all the time suggest bringing one thing. I do consider the Patagonia Torrentshell 3L is an applicable jacket to convey alongside on all kinds of adventures, whether or not it’s a via hike, weekend journey, and even simply the stroll between your automobile and the workplace. 

Comparable Jackets

Cotopaxi Cielo Rain Jacket $145

REI Co-Op XERODry GTX Jacket $179

The North Face Alta Vista Jacket $140

For a extra in depth have a look at what rain jackets via hikers are sporting on this yr, try  The Finest Backpacking Rain Jackets for Via-Mountaineering in 2024 on The Trek.

This Patagonia Torrentshell 3L Rain Jacket was donated for the aim of evaluate.

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