My Aquillo arrived last week. These are my personal reviews & takeaways so far, given zero field experience with this jacket.
The basics: I'm 5'11" 34" waist, 210lb and pretty athletic. I bought a Large Aquillo and it fits broad shoulders well. The Cerdic mentioned below is an XL and is loose but not baggy.
I hope this helps...
1. Very evenly lofted - the stitching is in predicable rows and spaces to keep loft in place.
2. All seams are sewn flat and are executed evenly - almost beautifully without being weird.
3. All zippers (except inside breast pocket) are sealed. With the lightness of the jacket, opening the zipper (down stroke) is easy. Closing the zipper (upstroke) can cause the jacket to ride up and/or catch on neighboring fabric unless its held in place by an opposing hand.
4. Hood edges are micro fleece lined and the internal drawstring works great. I like the loop and bead pull.
5. The exterior nylon has a very slight sheen to it - I'm hoping that diminishes with wear.
6. The cuffs are non adjustable but are satin and soft. My hands are XL but my jacket is a L, they still slide easily on and off of the cuff. The will stay toward your wrist on the front side of a watch or under gloves easily.
7. Sizing is spot on for a jacket that you'll probably layer underneath. Buy the size you are and there will be a bit of room for proper layering.
8. Absolutely perfect to layer under a Koldo jacket. Reminds me that Kryptek is truly a system approach.
9. Ridiculously light - Within reason, I don't count my ounces on something that could make or break my hunt in terms of layering warmth.
10. I've got the Cerdic hoodie which fits tighter over my standard merino base layer (Minus33). In turn the Cerdic hoodie makes the perfect layering item under this jacket. Both hoods nest pretty well and if a layer needs to be stripped off, you've still got a hoodie over your beanie and your still in camo...pretty solid IMO.
11. With proper layering (Base +1 or 2) there is no reason that this jacket wont provide comfortable warmth below what you'd expect. Add a shell and the temps could get stupid low and you'll be more worried about your cheeks, toes and fingers than your body.
I've got no knowledge of how fast this will dry when wet or how much moisture it will repel, but I'd never expect a down jacket to take the place of a waterproof shell when the climate dictates. That said, it will probably hold its own until you can get your shell out of your pack.
Nobody paid me to write this stuff - Its just a system that fits my body better than others so I went this direction. All just my .02
Cheers
