2007 Marmot Ion

I tried one on at the shop. Its not cut very long in the waist. It was ok for me (5'6") in a medium. My friend who is 6' bought one. He ended up going to the XL for the extra length though the Lg fit every where else. He has complained that the breathablity isn't that great. For $50 I don't think its a terrible buy but it's not the premium piece it once was.

Russell:

I purchased the 2006 Marmot Ion from MountainGear.com last year and wasn't happy with its breathability either. I called Marmot Warranty to complain and they asked me to mail it in.

A few weeks passed, and I got a 2007 Marmot Ion replacement in the mail. It's been kind of warm over here lately so it's hard to do a fair testing. But I can tell you that the 2007 has a much better feel next to skin and it seems to be more breathable (using Brett's breathing-through-the-fabric test). Marmot claims that the 2007 is both more breathable and also more rain resistant than the 2006. I am incline to believe the former, and we'll see about the latter. It's supposed to be rainy season here, but all we've got are glorious sunshine day after day.

But not everything is perfect! The 2007 Large is a bit more than an ounce heavier — coming in at 5 oz. on my digital scale. This makes it a fairly 'heavy' jacket, even though Marmot's website indicates 3 ounces. Yeah, right. Marmot seems to habitually lie about the stats of its products, and this one is no exception.

I've been wearing my 2006 Ion lately while biking. It's winter here so I've been wearing it layered over my U.L. Thermawrap and after a steady, sweaty climb uphill there is significant sheen of perspiration between the outside of the Thermawrap and the inside of the Ion.

I've only had the Ion for a week now so not soon enough to make any real judgements but I can safely report about it's breathability in this one situation. I ordered a size large and wearing it alone it comes down to just my waist. When wearing the Thermawrap underneath there is a significant gap between the two as teh Themawrap hangs just below the waist as an insulating layer should.

I should add a positive side note. The Ion does a stellar job of cutting wind – as a windshirt should. Fast bike rides have proven significant reduction in the "windchill" resulting from the recent cold temps in my part of the world.