outdoor research Clairvoyant

This jacket was my first true hardshell, and I got it around 7 years ago. (Yeah, growing up in Seattle, I didn't own a rain jacket until I was 17. Skin is waterproof, right?!) I got it because I wanted something really pack-able, but would keep me waterproof when I needed to pull it out. I kinda wanted a waterproof jacket that would dissapear in my pack when I didn't need it. The Clairvoyant does exactly that and I have been extremely happy with it all these years. The Gore-Tex Active mid-layer keeps me from sweating as much as any waterproof shell would, and most of the time it is curled away in my pack. Having a waterproof jacket that only weighs 12oz is kinda great. That said, there are some costs to having a jacket that light.

To cut weight, the Clairvoyant doesn't have pit-zips. Pit-zips are something that according to some of the reps at the shop, are going out of style everywhere except for the Northwest. We love our pit-zips out here, and we have a good reason for it. That was one thing that I was okay sacrificing, but only because the Gore Active layer breathed so well. Another thing that I will note here, is that because I kept this layer in my pack most of the time, and didn't pull it out to use it a whole ton, I didn't wash it very well. Believe it or not, Gore is made of a material that has tiny little holes in it. These holes allow our sweat to breathe through, but still keeps the rain out. Awesome. The downside of this is that when the jacket gets dirty, little dirt particles get stuck in these holes and cause rain to permeate through the jacket. My Clairvoyant right now leaves me pretty wet when I wear it in the rain. But I think with a good wash, or two, I'll get it back to it's waterproof glory. I'll keep you tuned on that.