OR ascendant hoody replacement

Marmot Alpha 60 hoodie, if they still make it. The alpha insulation is 60 g vs the Ascendant’s 95g. Very nice jacket, I use it a lot in the winter, snowshoeing. One thing it does better than the OR is that the side pockets can be closed (via zippers).

Ian, I don’t believe there is any integrated wind shell and Polartec Alpha Direct insulated hooded jackets in the market anymore unfortunately. Even the Marmot Alpha 60 hoodie Paul mentioned seems to be discontinued.

You could go with pre-ordering a standalone Polartec Alpha hoodies from a cottage country company like Superior Fleece (Brule) or Senchi Designs (Lark), or bigger companies like Rab (Alpha Flash Jacket) and Norrona (falketind alpha120) and wear any wind shell you own on top of the fleece whenever the need arises.

But if you still are looking for an integrated wind shell and insulated jacket that is similar to your OR Ascendant hoody, then check out jackets using the competing Teijin Octa insulation, like the Rab Vapour-Rise Summit Jacket, Mountain Equipment Kinesis Jacket and Arc’teryx Proton FL Hoody (sold out for the season but may be available in local outlet).

You could also purchase Teijin Octa insulation as a standalone like the Mountain Hardwear AirMesh Hoody, and use a wind shell on top of that.

Cheers!

I know that most people on the forum typically like to use the newer fabrics, and I’m not sure how much insulation you’re looking for, but I still love my Marmot dri-clime wind layers for high intensity winter activities like skinning and Nordic skiing. I realize they are very old-school, but they have worked so well for me for so long, that I’ve just never been tempted to try more modern options. And they are dirt-cheap compared to the prices I saw when I clicked on the links above.

But maybe it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, you may be looking for something warmer. And I realize that the new fabrics are probably somewhat better, I just get a little cynical about the continual hype and marketing and the sky-high pricing. Every year, the manufacturers are somehow coming out with revolutionary new fabrics with unparalleled performance, using basically the same materials. After seeing this for decades, it’s hard not to roll your eyes a little.

Marketing hype and revolutionary new fabrics
Yeah, +1

Cheers

continual hype and marketing and the sky-high pricing

Yeah…thats why I like to follow the discussions of real world use of the new fabrics on this site, and only purchase when things go on sale.  Case in point, the recent 50% off sale of MH Airmesh tops.

I am still using my Ascendant but I have also found that they do come up in eBay.  It would have been nice to catch that Octa at a sale price as I still wary that it is as good as Alpha Direct under a shell.  The weave looks to flat and tight.  I also have some of the Alpha Direct piece from Senchi and LaPointe and find that do great also under a shell but they are not as nice as the Ascendant for around town.

I have the Strafe Alpha Insulator jacket. It is similar to the OR Ascendant, with a breathable shell and a lining of Alpha Direct 90. I bought this last year around this time and I remember that they also had a hooded version of this. This is no longer available on their website, but I do see some limited sizing options from other retailers. Strafe now has something similar called the Alpha Shirt Jacket. This one seems to have the early generation Alpha, not the Direct version.

REI used has a size M ,OR  ascendant for sale.

Haglofs still show the LIM Alpha Hood on their UK website – Alpha 60 with an Infinium shell (but unlined Pertex to the sides and underarms).

I’ve seen them at 30% off though, so they may be on the way out.

Geartrade has a used OR Ascendant Hoody in size large available for $99

I have the Marmot, Strafe, and Ascendant alpha direct. I like the Marmot 60 best. The Jöttnar Asger is probably closest to Ascendant still available.  85g alpha direct.