Columbia OutDry Ex Gold Down Hooded Review

With an entirely waterproof face fabric, one might think that this jacket would be the perfect choice for our Top Pick for Wet Weather. However, we also expect that the rest of the jacket would live up to the standard of performance set by the contenders we compared it against, and that simply wasn't the case. In particular, we found this jacket to be seriously lacking in warmth and were disappointed to find that we experienced the same fit and quality control issues outlined in online customer reviews.

In particular, we found that one of the underarm seams was indeed ripping apart and beginning to leak feathers after not a whole lot of time spent wearing the jacket. We also found the fit of our size men's medium to be very tight and constricting, while online reviewers complained that size large was simply gigantic. Finally, while we appreciate the waterproof-ness of this jacket, we have to say that the feel and look of the outer fabric put us off a bit — we would prefer smooth and light nylon any day over wearing what felt like a duffel bag.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

We rated this jacket as the lowest performer in the review when it came to loft. While it uses 700-fill power, responsibly sourced down, it is obvious by the thinness of the baffles that there is not a whole lot of down stuffed into this jacket, and it has a relatively low loft. These baffles are created without using sewn-through construction, a decision that undoubtedly helps with its waterproof-ness (every external seam is taped), but which we think doesn't contribute to the warmth. Despite claims to the contrary, we notice that the welded baffles have a larger area of unstuffed fabric in between each baffle, and this leads to larger and more dead spots where there is no insulation.

We also felt that despite having dual drawcords on each side of the face, the seal was fairly poor. While these features point toward a lack of warmth, the proof came during our comparative testing, when it was obvious to us that on a super chilly and windy morning in the shade, this jacket kept us less warm even than the super-thin competitors.

Weight

Our size men's medium Outdry Ex Gold jacket weighed in at 16.2 ounces. Considering the thick and heavy face fabric used to make this jacket waterproof, this is an impressively light number.

Water Resistance

There is no doubt that this jacket was the most water-resistant one that we tested, and it deserves a high score. We literally stood in the shower with this jacket on for about four minutes (in lieu of a rainstorm that simply never came where these jackets were tested in Colorado), and as far as we could tell, no water whatsoever leaked through the face fabric. For this reason alone, this jacket could be worth purchasing.

Columbia calls the fabric used on this jacket Outdry Extreme. They claim that it is completely breathable as well as being waterproof, something we could not very well test or prove due to the interior liner fabric obscuring our view of the interior of the face fabric. What we did notice was that the liner fabric was extremely moisture absorbent, and hydrophobic down was not used, so if one gets super sweaty in this jacket, there is the chance of wetting out the down from the inside.

While it didn't factor at all into the rating for this metric, we must also point out that we found the Outdry Extreme face fabric to be rather unpleasant to the touch, eye, and to wear. It reminded us of a rubber raft or duffel bag. It doesn't exactly feel all that nice to the touch, is fairly loud and crinkly, and in our opinion, just doesn't look super nice. A plethora of highly visible logos printed on all sides of the jacket further contribute to this sentiment.

Fit

For our head tester, this jacket had an awkward fit that was hard to get used to. We tested a men's size medium on the recommendation of the Columbia sizing chart found online. For us, the hem length was good, and the jacket was plenty spacious through the torso, perhaps a bit too spacious. However, the fit in the shoulders and underarms, and surprisingly the elbows if we chose to bend them, was tight and restricting, and we found the length of the sleeves to be a bit too short when moving our arms about. We would call the fit a bit small for the size, and would even recommend sizing up, but we have also read lots of customer reviews online that claim the size large is simply gigantic. The best advice is probably to be sure to try it on before purchasing.

Compressibility

This jacket does not have a dedicated method of compressing it into its own pocket or stuff sack, as most of the jackets in this review do. When we rolled it up and stuffed it into its own hood, it was fairly large. Due to its relatively high weight and lack of compression, it would not be our first choice for backpacking missions.

Features

The Oudry Ex Gold has a surprising amount of features. Most notable is the double side of the face drawcords for tightening the hood.

They are easy to tighten and release, but also leave a loop of elastic drawcord resting against the cheeks and face, an annoying fact. Likewise, the dual drawcords found on the hem are also easy to tighten and release, but leave loops of cord dangling below the waistline of the jacket, a feature we don't like because these loops can get hung up on the side of the trail branches.

We loved the dual interior drop pockets, a great feature for storing larger items like gloves within the warmth envelope of the jacket.

Value

This jacket retails for a price that is slightly more affordable than the average lightweight down jacket in this review. For the right person in the right place, this could present a decent value.

However, we have experienced quality control concerns in the stitching under the arms coming undone after a fairly short test period, raising some alarm bells. We also feel like if you are going to spend that amount of money, there are many other down jackets, like most of the ones in this review, that offer better performance at a comparable price.

Conclusion