Plythal Pre Rut Jacket 2.0 Review

[Venom One]

I picked up this jacket on Camofire recently when it went on sale for $100. I'd been looking for a windproof jacket for a while and had the Sitka Jetstream on my radar, but I didn't care for the Sitka price. When I saw this jacket was windproof, with lots of pockets and pit zips, I decided I'd take a chance with the $100 price. I'll start with the good stuff:
Exterior is quiet
Interior is light fleece
Camo pattern is cool
Plenty of pockets; zipper seem to be decent quality

Unfortunately for me, the jacket IS NOT windproof. I can blow through it; I'd guess it blocks about 70% of air passage. The main reason for the purchase was to obtain a windproof shell on those gusty days and in that regard, the jacket is a complete failure. My other gripe is that the sleeves don't have a positive closure. They have an elastic wedge that stretches to allow your hand thru, but it's too loose to keep the sleeve at your wrist. This means the sleeve is always going to be interfering with my hands and that's an annoyance that can't be ignored. Too bad, because the jacket seems to be a solid piece otherwise. Small things that make all the difference.

 

[Michiganhunter]

I wondered about that jacket. I bought a mountain jacket for like $100 and it does a pretty good job but I can’t layer a lot under it maybe a base or 2 and like a hoodie. I put my keeni jacket over that and then a soft shell or a fleece and it works pretty good and quiet. I have been eyeing the Jetstream for a few years and maybe this will be the year I bite the bullet on it.

 

[Venom One]

I considered the Mountain and Timberline jackets as they seemed to be very similar to the Jetstream, but I think the Mountain didn't have pit zips, a hood, or sleeve closures, and the Timberline didn't have pit zips or sleeve closures IIRC. For those reasons I'd settled on the Jetstream, but balked at the price and decided I'd just wear my Downpour rain gear if needed. Then I saw the Plythal jacket for $100 which seemed reasonable, but alas it's a wasted $100 since it won't fulfill my need. I wanted to share my experience so others wouldn't make the same mistake.

Too bad the Mountain is too small to be your outer layer. Looks like you end up layering way more because of that.

 

[Michiganhunter]

I considered the Mountain and Timberline jackets as they seemed to be very similar to the Jetstream, but I think the Mountain didn't have pit zips, a hood, or sleeve closures, and the Timberline didn't have pit zips or sleeve closures IIRC. For those reasons I'd settled on the Jetstream, but balked at the price and decided I'd just wear my Downpour rain gear if needed. Then I saw the Plythal jacket for $100 which seemed reasonable, but alas it's a wasted $100 since it won't fulfill my need. I wanted to share my experience so others wouldn't make the same mistake.

Too bad the Mountain is too small to be your outer layer. Looks like you end up layering way more because of that.

The mountain jacket would be a lot better with pit zips and a hood. For early season it works great. I also got it to wear under my summer motorcycle jacket as a windproof layer. And I must say it works great for that. I have road through a few rain storms and that jacket me dry I was really impressed with the waterproof ness of it.