12.8 oz Neoshell anorak $125

Its also on amazon for the same price free shipping. Also I'm having to show a lot of restraint not to buy it.

Anthony

i picked up one at EMS last week for that price. Very impressed with it so far.

that with the pinnacle hoodie also on sale make for a great combo in nasty weather.

Great deal. Fit seems fine. Mine didn't have (as far as I can see) the "Zippered pocket on arm for small essentials", and the long side zipper pair slides all the way "up" to aid in removal, not "down" (not possible to separate two sides when zipper pair all the way down, at least on mine–maybe just as well, never have to worry about re-uniting the two zipper tracks– though of course the sides separate when the zipper pair all the way up).

Otherwise, seems great, and a great price. Sale still going on.

I liked the look of this, especially at the price, so I thought I'd check it out. I'm impressed with almost everything about it: the quality and stitching seems outstanding, the zippers are nice (if too many) and its one of the lighter neo shells at a crazy good price. The thing that kept me from keeping it is that I can't lift my arm at all without hem lift. I bought it as a more bomber/breathable shell for climbing/ski mountaineering, but its supremely annoying to have to fight against your jacket when you reach up, so I had to send this back. Otherwise, the fit and coverage is good, so I'm a little bummed about that one flaw. I don't have any experience with vents, so I can't really judge their value, but what this jacket really made me want is a super minimal neoshell anarak with just a deep chest zip and zippered kangaroo pouch. Seeing as my medium was 12.2 oz with zippers galore, I bet they could make one thats 10oz without the zip. Basically a Rab demand made out of neoshell is what I want, but hey, I'm kinda picky.

Serge,

You should look at the Rab Myriad, My wife got me one for xmas and its great.

Good write-up, Serge. I really wanted to like the Helix but I feared it was too good to be true. Agreed, a NeoShell Demand would be the bomb.

@Stuart, if you're interested in the helix, I wouldn't let my comments dissuade you from trying it. There's only a few jackets I've tried that haven't had that hem lift issue when climbing, and they are all arc teryx or rab. Thats just my build as well. Otherwise, a really nice piece at an unbeatable price.

@Stephen, yes that Myriad is nice, and I'd consider it at the right price. I say we petition rab for a demand neo. The other jacket I'm interested in for this purpose would be the the spring '14 arc alpha FL, mainly for excellent fit and increased durability. Its made out of gore pro, but its supposed to be more breathable than last year's gore active model.

I ordered and returned mine.

I'm usually borderline size S and M, so I ordered size M to be able to layer if needed.
It was narrow, especially at the shoulders which caused the hem to rise easily. Sleeve length was shorter than I like. The hood would have been a very tight fit over a helmet(and I have a small head/helmet).

The zippers were good.