Arcteryx Beta SL Jacket – Ultralight Waterproof Shell

I am a fan of Arcteryx products.  I admit it, but I am certainly not a blind fanboy, just to be loyal to a brand name.  I am a fan because I love most of their stuff that I own.  Started by climbers, the guys who own the company seek to make form fitting yet flexible clothing, which is a necessity for climbing.  I find their apparel fits my body type more than the standard American sizing of things.  By that I mean I find the chest/torso large compared to the sleeve length.  For work shirts, manyof the ones I have end up being not form fitting/too large in the chest, and the arms slightly too short.

Arcteryx’s Beta SL jacket is an ultralight waterproof shell that runs a bit pricey at $300.  One funny thing about Arteryx is their confusing naming scheme.  I am sure all the greek words and letter suffixes mean something to the designers in the company, but I don’t know what they mean.  The names are easy to mix up and forget what you even own.  But, that’s what this jacket happens to be – an ultralight waterproof shell.

In any case, I have had this jacket for the last couple years and I think it’s great for the most part.  It is meant to be an ultralight packable jacket and it is just that, made of GoreTexpaclite.  It fits great and has kept me dry in many a downpour.  It is very light, but I wouldn’t expect it to stand up to a ton of abuse.  My only issue with it is the hood.  They have designed the hood to be able to fit over a helmet, which I don’t care about really, I don’t climb or mountaineer, and I usually am not biking in the rain, either.  But, due to that the hood is very large.  The two cinching cords on the side and the back are meant to take of the slack if you use it without a helmet, but it only barely allows that.  Even with all the cords cranked down to their tightest, I still find the hood annoyingly falling down over my eyes if I am not wearing a toque at the time.  Although, Arcteryx has said they have slightly redesigned the model recently – hopefully they have fixed this with their latest version.  Other than that, I think this is great jacket to have on hand for traveling and backpacking.

http://arcteryx.com/Product.aspx?EN/Mens/Beta-SL-Jacket