I haven’t owned a soft shell jacket in a very long time, and a lot of that really is due to the fact I first wore them when they were new — and thus not that great — and I ditched them because of those compromises from the originals. There’s two types of soft shells out there: fashion (aka Finance Bro shit with company logos), and serious outdoors jackets.
I had written soft shells off completely, as I thought they were all fashion bullshit — a compromise not worth owning. But my interested was peaked again when I started reading more about the modern variants.
Then I went to try out the Gamma in person, to help a friend looking at options who lived far away from an Arc’teryx store. What I found surprised me, and a week or so later I bought the Gamma hoody for myself. It’s been one of the best purchases I have made for outdoor/hiking wear — and I wear it often.
It’s very good.
Specs & Materials
This jacket comes in a few variants, I have the hoody variant which has a helmet compatible hood on it. The Gamma is a thin soft shell material which has little-to-no effective insulation to it. The inside is brushed, and the outside is dense, then entire thing is stretchy.
The specs:
- Recycled Wee Burly™ double-weave nylon face fabric for breathable wind resistance
- DWR coating
- Lining: Warp knit mesh – 100% Polyester
- Body: Fortius DW 2.0 – Woven Double Weave, 186gsm – 88% Nylon, 12% Elastane
The fit is great, tailored but enough room to layer. I wear a size large normally, and that’s what I bought here — the fit is excellent. It has chest pockets on both sides, and hand warmers. All are mesh pockets, so leaving them open increases venting if desired.
In Use
Whether or not a soft shell is a smart pickup for you is going to be highly dependent on the climate you live in, and the activities you do. Soft shells are not waterproof, and most of them do not have very much insulation. They are durable, stretchy, very wind resistant, and can shed light moisture (via DWR). Which makes them good for harder use, in dry, but windy climates.
All of that means that I was missing out by not having one here in the Front Range of Colorado, where it’s dry, windy, and cold.
The Gamma Hoody doesn’t offer any inherent warmth to the garment. It’s very thin. You get warmth through layering, and the blocking of wind. You can build up some heat in it, but the material offers very good breathability, so you won’t overheat quickly.
Hiking with a pack on in 40°F windy (but sunny) weather with only a base layer on is very doable with only the Gamma for temperature regulation — if a touch on the cool side (which is preferable for me). Stopping and remaining static in those conditions will make me cold quickly. Even in 20-30mph winds, I find the wind stopping to be very good — not as exacting as with a hard shell on, but certainly good enough that I am not reaching for something else.
I picked this up in ‘Nightscape’ which is a lovely rich blue/teal color. It’s a fantastic looking jacket all around. The fit is trim enough that it never looks sloppy, but with enough stretch that I have never felt my movement is constrained by the jacket. The sleeves are cut longer, so they don’t pull up when raising your arms, or anything like that.
For a hiking/outdoors jacket, this looks really nice. And functionally it’s near perfect. Much below 40°F and you need more layers, even then it might not be quite enough. Luckily a soft shell is easily worn under hard shell if needed.
Whether or not the Gamma is right for you is more based on what you do, and in what weather than anything else. This is great for dry, cold, and windy. Which means it’s a poor option in the PNW, or Texas. The tradeoff with a soft shell is that it’s not waterproof, it’s not insulated, and it doesn’t compress into a small package if you need to stow it. Thus when you hike with this, you’ll want to be wearing it for most of the hike. The upside is that if you layer correctly, you’ll not need to remove the jacket often, and you won’t have to worry about a rock tearing the material.
I find layering this with an insulated vest works really well, as you can still get good breathability to keep from overheating, but stay quite warm in that setup.
This has become a heavily worn jacket for me. I’ve worn it hiking many times, on more than a few rucks. And I’ve tossed it on to go find food in mountain towns. Even through all that sweat and dirt, it’s yet to pick up any smells or any marks which cannot easily be brushed off with my hand. Impressive.
If you tend towards casual wear, this is a sharp enough looking item that it’ll make a good travel jacket as well. If I were traveling fast and light, this would likely come with me — a good balance of ‘not a rain jacket’ and protection from the elements without it being full on fleece or other options.
Overall
I have two final thoughts on this:
- It works stupidly well.
- It’s fucking amazing, and you should buy one.
I already have a Gamma MX (a heavier weight variant) and am considering the Gamma SL (lighter weight) when summer hits.