This item was provided by Triple Aught Design for review.
Perhaps this is because I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, but a good fleece jacket feels like a wardrobe staple — a must own. Growing up, it was always the classics — we wore them for everything, all day, from hiking to dates. At some point fleece jackets shifted into wild hybrid rain jacket things, which lost some of the classic look, but they’ve always held a spot in my heart. I love wearing them.
Which is why I was pretty excited to check out the Triple Aught Design Ranger Jacket LT. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this jacket, but I had no idea what to expect. My first impression of this jacket was: wow this feels really nice.
This jacket gets better each time I wear it.
Materials & Fit
If you think in your head that you want to make a fleece jacket out of the best possible materials, with a mid-weight to it — that’s effectively what the Ranger Jacket LT is.
It’s 8.5oz Polartec® Wind Pro® with a DWR finish for light water repellency. It’s also made in the USA (according to the tag, in New York). That sounds very basic, I agree, but there’s something about this material and the execution of it that is unlike any other fleece I’ve owned.
The jacket is loaded with features, a few highlights:
- Two Large Chest Pockets with fabric keeper loop, knife sized organizer pocket, and a small port pass through for wires.
- Two Upper Arm Pockets with a very large fabric loop and small port pass through.
- Double entry Hunter’s Pocket at the back of the jacket.
- Left Forearm Pocket
- Two-way central zipper
With the exception of the forearm pocket, all the pockets are lined with a fabric mesh, so they also can act as vents for the jacket when you warm up. The loops are designed to clip things to, so that they don’t fall out when you are on the move. It’s a nice touch, and because they are fabric you might never notice them if you don’t use them.
The fit, finish, and materials are all excellent.
Wear & Style
This is not your 1990s fleece jacket. It’s not boxy, and adorned with flashy logos. There’s a small ranger eye loop with a Triple Aught Design logo patch (which glows in the dark), but you can pull off the logo patch and never see it again since it’s velcro. The jacket fits trimmer through the body and is generally cut longer in the waist and arms.
As with a lot of items from Triple Aught Design, this jacket leans tactical in design. There’s pockets on the biceps, and one on the left forearm. The chest pockets are up higher, not where you’d normally stash your hands for some warmth. There’s an option to have loop fields on the arms of the jacket for morale patches — though mine does not have those. The benefit to all of this is that a tactical oriented jacket is made to be durable, performant, and move really well.
What surprised me most about this jacket is how well it works when wearing a backpack. There’s so many smart things done for this jacket when used out hiking. The chest pockets are accessible with a pack on, as they sit higher than waist belts. The arms are cut up high enough into the arm pit such that there’s no material bunching or binding on the shoulder straps. The dual zipper, means you can release tension on the waist to get at your belt or pants pockets, without needing to unzip the jacket fully.
This passes as a standard fleece jacket, but wears vastly better. Triple Aught Design also states that the jacket is designed to resist pilling and fading, and while I’ve not had it long enough to know for certain — I see no signs of either.
I started testing this by wearing it to and from morning kid drop offs — the air was cool, the mood was the chaos of getting kids out of the house, and there was a lot going on. Then I found myself keeping it on while I type at my desk, as my office tends to run a little cool.
Still, I needed to push this jacket, and a cold morning hike was just the test. Starting right just under 40°F, and ending somewhere in the 50°F range, I wore this over a light shirt for the hike. It kept me warm, the breeze didn’t cut through the jacket, and drops of water from the leaves rolled right off the fleece. Part way into the hike, I started to warm up a bit, but opening the two chest pockets provided just the extra venting needed.
This jacket has proven itself to be a great casual, and higher performing, ‘fleece’ jacket for day to day life. But where it really starts to shine, and where I fell in love with it, was out in the woods. Hikers have a plethora of options for mid-layers, and the Ranger Jacket LT is going to be on the warmer end of the active insulation jackets, but damn if it isn’t quite nice.
There’s something great about a jacket this well designed for wearing with a backpack when you hike. It will keep you warm, so I’d save it for the colder leisurely hikes, not the mile pushing speed hikes.
I have only two things negative to say about this jacket:
- The left forearm pocket doesn’t seem that useful to me, and I’d much prefer the look of this jacket without that.
- Putting a heavy and bulky item (like a key fob) in the chest pocket is not that comfortable, and visually prints.
Aside from those two minor things, there’s nothing else I dislike about this jacket. It performs really well, and I use it a ton. And I will keep using it a ton, as it’s the jacket I leave out to grab quickly if I need something.
Overall
If I needed to describe this succinctly: cozy and agile. It’s a really great jacket all around — so much so that it has been living on the back of my office chair as my go to when I need to toss on a jacket to warm up.
Triple Aught Design sells the Ranger Jacket LT at $250, and for a Made in the USA item of this quality, the price feels more than fair. I am glad I have this, there’s no reason to need or want any other fleece jacket if you own the Ranger LT. I’ll be using this a ton as the weather keeps cooling off.