I have used this jacket HARD this season and didn't expect it to perform nearly well as it did. The Sitka Ambient 200 has become my go-to jacket for anything but rain!
I will start by saying I cannot imagine why this jacket is listed at $350, that's insane for a fleece. I was able to pick mine up in August for $170 and it was well worth that price! I wear a large T-Shirt (5'8", 185 Lbs) and got the XL for layering and it's the perfect fit! Sleeves never pull up, plenty of room under for layers (I have a thick sweater and a padded vest on in the pictures below). It also comes down nice and low to cover most of my ass and stays there.
The breathability on this jacket is awesome, it's unlike any jacket I've ever owned! I can walk all day with jacket on starting at 25° in the morning and continue to wear it while it warms up. I can sit for hours in this jacket if the wind is calm down to about 40°. It layers great under a shell and gives a ton of warmth in that function. I actually think it insulates better under a shell than a medium down puffy as it doesn't compress under the shell nearly as much. The jacket is extremely lightweight, you can hardly tell you're wearing it. Everything on it is minimal in a great way. No wrist velcro, just elastic around the cuffs (I love this), the waist cinch terminates in the pocket and works great to seal the heat in when needed. The zippers are small and very flexible. I'm very glad they kept a zippered chest pocket that is huge. This is my go-to storage area when I have a daypack on.
The one minor downside is it packs about 50% bigger than my puffy when in my pack. I can pack it tight to about the size of a Nalgene but in a pack with a compression sack it tends to fill the space. The upside of this is that because it breathes so well, I found I had it my pack only about 10% of the time I was out hunting when my puffy would be in pack every time I was moving (about 80% of the time). This was the game changer for me: I could still hunt with it on and not get too warm, then sit for 20-30 minutes and not get chilly. I could head out for a morning of stalking with much less layers because I didn't have to plan on taking off a puffy but staying warm while walking.
My hunts this year were a week-long island hunt with some light rain and temps from 30-55 degrees during the days. This was almost all still hunting and I wore the jacket non-stop. I ended up leaving my rain jacket and puffy at camp and only had this on from sunup to sundown. The jacket did get wet after a day of drizzle but I wore it the whole time and never got too chilly, it was much warmer than a wetted-out down jacket. The jacket mostly dried overnight in my unheated tent, also something my puffy could never do.
I also hunted about 6 weekends in October and November on public land. These were half day hunts with up to 1 mile walks into a location followed by a 4 hour sit. I got chilly on one of these hunts when it was around 30° and windy. I definitely felt the wind through the jacket and my 2 merino layers (base and a 240 weight First Lite top). A puffy would have been much better on the windy sit.
Lately I've been going out for small game in the snow. Temps between 25° and 35°. Moving the whole time this jacket is perfect. It was drizzling today and I was out for an hour and was perfectly comfortable.
I have yet to have a single pull show up in the fabric. I am pretty hard on my gear (I ruin First Lite Merino pants in 2-3 seasons and they usually are sewn up 2 or 3 times by then). I don't push this jacket in the briars, but have pushed it hard through pine and saplings, and though I though I tore it a few times when it caught on branches it came through it all without a tear!
TL;DR: A great replacement for a down puffy when you're moving a lot in temps from 25° to 60°. Much less taking off/putting on layers. Not great for windy sits without a shell. OK in a drizzle, not good in a full rain but it dries very fast. Plenty tough enough to wear as an outer layer in everything but thorns!
I will start by saying I cannot imagine why this jacket is listed at $350, that's insane for a fleece. I was able to pick mine up in August for $170 and it was well worth that price! I wear a large T-Shirt (5'8", 185 Lbs) and got the XL for layering and it's the perfect fit! Sleeves never pull up, plenty of room under for layers (I have a thick sweater and a padded vest on in the pictures below). It also comes down nice and low to cover most of my ass and stays there.
The breathability on this jacket is awesome, it's unlike any jacket I've ever owned! I can walk all day with jacket on starting at 25° in the morning and continue to wear it while it warms up. I can sit for hours in this jacket if the wind is calm down to about 40°. It layers great under a shell and gives a ton of warmth in that function. I actually think it insulates better under a shell than a medium down puffy as it doesn't compress under the shell nearly as much. The jacket is extremely lightweight, you can hardly tell you're wearing it. Everything on it is minimal in a great way. No wrist velcro, just elastic around the cuffs (I love this), the waist cinch terminates in the pocket and works great to seal the heat in when needed. The zippers are small and very flexible. I'm very glad they kept a zippered chest pocket that is huge. This is my go-to storage area when I have a daypack on.
The one minor downside is it packs about 50% bigger than my puffy when in my pack. I can pack it tight to about the size of a Nalgene but in a pack with a compression sack it tends to fill the space. The upside of this is that because it breathes so well, I found I had it my pack only about 10% of the time I was out hunting when my puffy would be in pack every time I was moving (about 80% of the time). This was the game changer for me: I could still hunt with it on and not get too warm, then sit for 20-30 minutes and not get chilly. I could head out for a morning of stalking with much less layers because I didn't have to plan on taking off a puffy but staying warm while walking.
My hunts this year were a week-long island hunt with some light rain and temps from 30-55 degrees during the days. This was almost all still hunting and I wore the jacket non-stop. I ended up leaving my rain jacket and puffy at camp and only had this on from sunup to sundown. The jacket did get wet after a day of drizzle but I wore it the whole time and never got too chilly, it was much warmer than a wetted-out down jacket. The jacket mostly dried overnight in my unheated tent, also something my puffy could never do.
I also hunted about 6 weekends in October and November on public land. These were half day hunts with up to 1 mile walks into a location followed by a 4 hour sit. I got chilly on one of these hunts when it was around 30° and windy. I definitely felt the wind through the jacket and my 2 merino layers (base and a 240 weight First Lite top). A puffy would have been much better on the windy sit.
Lately I've been going out for small game in the snow. Temps between 25° and 35°. Moving the whole time this jacket is perfect. It was drizzling today and I was out for an hour and was perfectly comfortable.
I have yet to have a single pull show up in the fabric. I am pretty hard on my gear (I ruin First Lite Merino pants in 2-3 seasons and they usually are sewn up 2 or 3 times by then). I don't push this jacket in the briars, but have pushed it hard through pine and saplings, and though I though I tore it a few times when it caught on branches it came through it all without a tear!
TL;DR: A great replacement for a down puffy when you're moving a lot in temps from 25° to 60°. Much less taking off/putting on layers. Not great for windy sits without a shell. OK in a drizzle, not good in a full rain but it dries very fast. Plenty tough enough to wear as an outer layer in everything but thorns!
