Backcountry.com Cairn Fleece Jacket

Fleece jackets hover in a mushy middle ground between
waterproof-and-breathable shells and sturdy workaday wool sweaters.
They're warm enough for nice sunny winter days, but too airy when the
wind really blows.

But even on the coldest days a fleece jacket is often part of my
insulation arsenal. Indeed, as a second-to-top layer -- underneath a
Gore-Tex or eVent shell jacket -- a good fleece can keep you toasty
while wicking sweat better than almost any other apparel option.
Backcountry.com, an online retailer of outdoors equipment, launched
an in-house line of technical outerwear earlier this winter, including
the Cairn Fleece Jacket, a $110 model I've been testing for two
months.


Cairn Fleece Jacket

Made of Polartec Thermal Pro fleece, the Cairn has a unique look and
feel. Its exterior face is a rough weave of lines and micro
corrugation. Unlike the synthetic fleece popular in the 1990's,
Polartec Thermal Pro has no pilling effect and not a hint of
lumpiness, making it more sleek and durable.

The interior face fabric is soft and almost cottony, feeling warm
and fuzzy to the touch.

I tested the jacket skiing and running, both as a layer and on its
own against the elements. As suspected, the jacket excelled on mild
days, breathing nicely and insulating just enough in temps between 20
and 50 degrees.

On my nightly 3-mile training runs around the neighborhood I wore
the Cairn on top of a single wool base-layer turtleneck. Aerobically
maxed, this system was near perfect for jogs even in temps down to
about 15 degrees.

Alpine skiing with the Cairn was comfortable only on the warmest
winter days, as wind filtered through with little resistance as I
gained speed on the slope. Mostly, I wore the Cairn underneath a new
eVent shell I'm testing, and the setup proved a good pairing, with the
fleece insulating while also providing an airy conduit to move
moisture out to the shell.

While Nordic skiing, the Cairn's clean, athletic fit acquiesced just
fine with striding and poling. Deep pockets inside the jacket were
great for stashing gloves and a light winter hat as I warmed up and
needed to de-layer.

The jacket is manufactured in Canada, and it comes in red or black.
Its $110 price tag seemed fair and reasonable to me.

Backcountry.com's marketing department touts the Cairn jacket as
embodying "trail-ready performance beneath a lifestyle-inspired look."
I guess I agree, as the Cairn both looks good and -- in the right
conditions -- performs in the outdoors with aplomb.