I have long been an obsessed fan of Outdoor Research’s Ferrosi Hoody, my go-to jacket for summertime multi-pitch climbing in Colorado, spring and summer mountain biking, three-season hiking, and really just about everything I do from March through November, including walking to the grocery store.
And I would have, without a second thought, thrown one in my pack for a seven-day backpacking trip traversing the Wind River Range in August, if I hadn’t gotten an email asking, “Wanna try the Deviator Hoody?”
Photo by Hilary Oliver.
So I took a Deviator instead and Hilary packed the women’s model. One of OR’s many new “active insulation” pieces, the Deviator has already won some awards for its design. The arms, back and hood are made of lightweight, breathable Polartec® Power Dry® High Efficiency™ gridded fleece fabric, while the front of the torso features ripstop nylon filled with a light layer of Polartec Alpha® High-Pile Insulation for warmth. Basically it’s a great piece for core warmth when you’re moving in cooler temperatures: skinning in the backcountry, fall/winter/spring running and hiking, and even some bike commuting during the colder months.
As a backpacking layer, we used the hoody mostly for evenings, early mornings and lunch stops at high passes (over 11,000 feet); it offered just the right amount of puffy insulation for those situations. The gridded-fleece arms and back let wind pass through, so the Deviator was good for downhill and flat walking when the breeze picked up or when the clouds obscured the sun, but a little warm for our climbs, which were often 500 to 1,000 vertical feet of talus hopping and scrambling, under the weight of a 40-pound pack. A month later in the year, it would have been perfect for uphills too, I think.
Hilary authoritatively described the fabric feel as “cozy.” I’m usually not one to use that word in a gear review, but yes, I will admit the fabric had a better feel than the inside of your usual lightweight soft shell. Thumb loops in the sleeves come in handy for a couple reasons I believe aren’t usually thought of by people designing thumb loops: shielding the backs of our hands from the sun during 8- to 12-hour days of walking above 10,000 feet, and providing a little more (non-chemical) mosquito protection while cooking at buggy campsites.
In the past, I’ve owned a couple jackets that have tried the part-fleece, part-puffy formula, and they’re usually too heavy and warm. The Deviator gets it right by having insulation in the right places and going lightweight overall.
Shop the Outdoor Research Deviator Insulated Hoodie Jacket – Men’s or the Outdoor Research Deviator Insulated Hoodie Jacket – Women’s at REI.com.
Author’s note: Outdoor Research is a sponsor of my blog, Semi-Rad.com, so it was not a question of which brand of clothing I would wear on our Wind River trip—just a matter of which pieces.