Montane Anti-Freeze Jacket Review

The Montane Anti-Freeze Jacket is a mid-weight insulated down jacket (available for both men and women) that can be worn as a mid-layer in really cold conditions or as a stand-alone jacket. It’s insulated with 750 fill power Hyperdry RDS-certified down with a fully adjustable hood. A two-way YKK front zipper, four pockets, elasticated cuffs,  and a cinchable drawcord hem round out the functionality on this incredibly warm, stylish, and comfortable jacket.

Specs at a Glance

• Gender: Men’s and Women’s
• Shell: Pertex Quantum 20 nylon ripstop with a DWR coating
• Liner: Featherlite Mini ripstop nylon
• Insulation: 750+ fill power duck HyperDRY down, PFC-free, RDS certified
• Fill weight:  7.42 oz / 210 g
• Jacket Weight: [men’s 18.1 oz / 512 g] , [women’s 16 oz / 452 g]

Jacket Construction

The Anti-Freeze Jacket has a Pertex Quantum shell finished with a DWR coating with sewn-through baffles. It’s insulated with 750 fill power water-resistant duck down and has 4 pockets: two side pockets, a chest pocket, and an internal mesh pocket that is handy for things you might want to keep warmer like snacks or gloves. The external pockets are lined with fleece for extra warmth and feel great if you’re not wearing gloves.

The jacket has a two-way, bi-directional zipper which helps with venting if you feel too warm or need more freedom of movement around your hips and legs. The zipper has a placket or flap behind it to block cold drafts, while a zipper garage at the top protects your face and other clothing from getting caught in it.

The wrist cuffs are elasticized and are sufficiently snug so cold air won’t blow up your arms. There’s also a drawcord hem that can be cinched to seal out drafts from below.

Fully Adjustable Hood

But the best feature of the Anti-Freeze jacket is undoubtedly the hood, which is fully adjustable, and something that’s increasingly rare to find on jackets in this price and weight range. It zips up to cover your chin and neck and has a stiff bill to help shield your eyes from sun and snow.  The hood has a drawcord in the back so that you can adjust it to be the proper size to fit your head with cinch cords so that you can tighten it around your face to keep out drafts.  The cinch cords can be pulled in from the inside of the jacket to eliminate excess bungee cords sticking up in your face.

The hood has a roll away feature for those times when you don’t want a hood. However, the thickness of the hood makes it a little bulky when rolled up behind your neck.

Recommendation

The Montane Anti-Freeze Jacket is loaded with features and I find it to be very warm. While it’s not as light as my lightweight Ghost Whisperer Jacket, I have a lot more confidence in the durability of its Pertex Quantum shell and feel comfortable wearing it as an external layer. I really like the fully adjustable hood, which seals out drafts quite well, even in cold and windy conditions above treeline.

Disclosure: Montane provided the author with a jacket for this review.

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