new Columbia OutDry Shell… anyone knw anything?

[DWR D]

I see that Columbia has a new high end (or at least high priced), Outdry Shell::  OutDry Extreme™ NanoLite™ Shell

Wondering if anyone has tried one of these?

Or anyone have information on the?… like backpack rated? weight?

thanks,

DWR D

[Stumphges]

I know nothing. Have they taken out any new patents?

The color is nearly as bad as they could have chosen, and the company does themselves no favors by not bothering to adjust the hoods into functional positions on their models. Columbia always gives me the impression of a company that doesn’t bother to attend to the details. I wonder how they’ve been so successful.

[DWR D]

Backpacker.com has a review, but I am not a member… anyone a member and can post the info here???

https://www.backpacker.com/gear-item/columbia-outdry-ex-nanolite/

They say 7.2 oz…

DWR D

[Stumphges]

Looks like guys get safety yellow and gals get black: https://www.columbia.com/p/womens-outdry-extreme-nanolite-shell-1930061.html

I don’t have a backpacker subscription. Wish they offered a trial one. I’ll believe “The most breathable shell of 2021” when I see the numbers. But I’m interested. I’m a sucker for shells that don’t need DWR.

[William Chilton]

Looks like guys get safety yellow and gals get black

And the women’s is $50 cheaper.

Men can get it in black in the UK.

 

[DWR D]

I hate the men’s color… but don’t get hung up on that… pretty sure other colors will be offered… and I bet the price goes down by fall…

But sure would like to see the Backpacker review and get the specs…

DWR D

[Luke Schmidt]

I’m skeptical of the basic technology but I can’t comment on that one specifically.

I had a borrowed Outerdry work well on a trip in 2016. In 2020 a new one delamined. Not sure why.  I invested in a 3 layer Goretex for now. It will wear out eventually but Goretex seems to work at least somewhat even after the DWR us compromised.

[JCH]

Color: Bright Chartreuse

Uh…yeah.  Gonna sell the hell out of that 😒

[DWR D]

I’m with you on the Chartreuse… they’d have to pay me to wear that color… and those colors for many products are usually the ones left at the end of the season and on sale… can’t imagine they won’t have other colors available soon… will be interesting to see which ones. The manufacturers seem to love Black… it goes with everything… but I personally try to avoid Black. Black and White show the most dirt… and need the most cleaning.

[JCH]

Inspecting the product photos, the fabric (at least in the hood) does appear to be fairly thin…perhaps even a tad translucent?  Very difficult to come to any valid conclusions viewing marketing photos but perhaps, just perhaps this is an actual improvement of the fabric.

[Craig]

Check the columbia site

https://www.columbia.com/p/mens-outdry-ex-nanolite-shell-1932761.html?dwvar_1932761_color=386

 

[Stephen Seeber]

Just came across this thread.  In case anyone is still interested, I tested the Nanolite when it came out.  I have tested 3 other versions of the outdry and the average MVTR is 1510 for the older models.  The Nanolite came in at 1870.  Their best yet but still pretty mediocre.    As part of the testing I am doing for another project, I used my 2020 version (their lowest MVTR of the bunch) as part of an ensemble test where I needed a low MVTR shell for an exterior layer.  It turned out that the jacket lining had a hydrophilic liner fabric adhered to exterior membrane.  When moisture vapor hit the liner, it condensed and simply accumulated.  The way that jacket is constructed it increased entrapped moisture throughout the ensemble.  Great design, Columbia!

[Isaac C]

They have a new outdry extreme mesh jacket that they claim to be their most breathable yet, with what seems to be a pretty different liner fabric.  Are you planning to test that?  I’d be interested in a more durable DWR-less alternative to shakedry.

[Stephen Seeber]

Done.  On its way!  Although so far, for me, these jackets are not for me, I would love to find a DWR-less but robust and similarly lightweight alternative to Shakedry.  So, I will keep looking at these.  They also introduced a new rain jacket along the way.  I bet it will be an improvement–they added a horizontal vent on the back and pit zips!  I think the same membrane.  It is called Extreme Wildrain.  I will post the results after it arrives.

[Stephen Seeber]

Testing of the latest Columbia Outdry Extreme Mesh. The jacket size tested is men’s size large. The weight for this size is 11.5 ounces. Two large front zipped pockets with mesh liners provide additional ventilation.  No pit zips, but this may provide adequate supplemental ventilation without as much rain/snow protection as pit zips. Velcro wrist straps.  Nicely tucked away waist drawstring.  The hood adjustment mechanism left the hood front loose around my neck but the rest of the hood was nicely tightened.  Although the neck area of the hood is cut high, the looseness around my neck would prevent adequate wind protection.  Hood as a useful brim.

I did not test wind or water resistance.  Those who have experience with prior versions of this jacket can apply their first-hand knowledge.

Now, the most critical aspect (at least for me), is the MVTR measurement: 2720 grams/square meter/24 hours.  This is a huge improvement over prior models.  The best results I recorded previously were 1870 for the 2021 Nanolite version. This year’s model is closing in on Gore Pro with light face fabric performance.

If not for the hood fit around my chin, this could be a keeper. Maybe I am missing something for the front hood adjustment.   Others might find the hood fit acceptable for their size.  In my opinion, this is the first model that is worth a try.

For $50 less, they have the Wildrain jacket.  It has pit zips.  From the photographs, it does not look like the “mesh” version I just tested, so it may not share the high MVTR of the mesh version.

 

[Jon Solomon]

Impressive progress in the MVTR department. Another less welcome form of “progress” is the price increase, at least in Europe. The weight is an issue, too, especially given that it doesn’t have a good hood for winter nor pitzips.

This promo photo suggests the hood fit around the chin might be a design issue:

Columbia’s marketing seems to be aimed squarely at urban users who want something that could double as trail wear. Makes you wish that somebody else with a more focused approach could develop designs with the same or similar membrane technology.

 

[Brad Rogers]

I think Columbia owns Mountain Hardwear, so I have had hopes we could see the technology spill over to a more performance oriented brand, but so far, it hasn’t.

[Robert Spencer]

Pet peeve is rain jacket hoods that terminate just under the chin. Nice if it’s warm out, but seriously lacking if it’s cold and the rain is blowing into your face. At least Columbia is working on and improving this technology which just a few years ago seemed like the outdoor darling coming to replace the status quo.

[baja bob]

Bizarre that Columbia makes so many iterations of the Outdry jacket. The Wildrain seems to have all of necessary features, but who knows if it is as breathable as the Outdry Extreme Mesh. It has pitzips, back vent and adjustments on the front of the hood to cinch the opening smaller. The Extreme Mesh has none of these features.

The hoodless Extreme Mesh “shell” has a back vent, but no pit zips or hood. On sale on the website though.

[Roger Caffin]

Bizarre that Columbia makes so many iterations of the Outdry jacket.
One explanation for this might be that none of their iterations actually worked very well? The performance did not match the spin?

Cheers

[Michel S]

I have 4 Outdry Nanolites, and 3 of its predecessor, the Outdry Featherweight. The Featherweight was the jacket that made me stop caring about rain while hiking. I’ve used it on trips in Iceland and Scotland with pouring rain for days on end (no hyperbole), with zero problems with either getting sweaty or getting wet from the outside. And that’s with long days of vigorous hiking.

I’ve long given up on anything that needs a DWR coating, and really wonder what the ‘D’ is actually doing in ‘DWR’. I’ve had the most expensive Haglöfs GTX jackets, and they always wetted out sooner or later, even with freshly applied DWR. I couldn’t care less about MVTR numbers, as in my specific case this jacket just works. (Heck, I even run in it, but of course YMMV.) It offers me enough options for ventilation though the sleeves, front pocket zips and main zip. I’m glad it doesn’t have pit zips or the back ventilation system that Columbia puts on some of their Outdry jackets. I see both as another possible point of failure.

That said, the fit on a lot of Outdry models is pretty weird and the hood on most of them have a very bad fit. To the point that I don’t understand what Columbia is trying to do with the hood. The hood on the Featherweight is pretty decent, on the Nanolite it’s maybe a tad too big. I can get it to work with some careful adjustment, but it’s not ideal.

Every season, I order a couple of the new Outdry jackets, to see if they could replace the original Featherweight (which is my all-time favorite rain jacket), and usually I return them and send Columbia a friendly and lengthy mail where I tell them they had an almost perfect lightweight hiking jacket (IMO), but don’t seem to realize it. Instead of perfecting that design, every year they come up with weird innovations (like the back ventilation), that make it worse. The Nanolite was the first jacket in years that came close to the Featherweight. With the Featherweight being impossible to find anymore, I ended up buying a couple of Nanolites to make sure I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a rain jacket the next couple of years.

[Stephen Seeber]

Michael S:  Can you clarify which model(s) you are discussing?  The Mesh that I described above or one of the older versions?

[Michel S]

Sure, I was talking about the Nanolite, the jacket the OP referred to. But I believe Columbia doesn’t sell it anymore. I’ve tried the Mesh as well. Too heavy for my needs and the hood fit was very bad IIRC.

[Hanz B]

@michael s

I’ve also decided my OutDry featherweight performs best for a wide range of higher output activities. I suspect it’s the front mesh pockets (location maybe increases the pumping effects that move stagnant air?). The weight is well worth it over my minimus 777 due to performance. Hood a remarkably poor design.

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