Mountain Hardwear Men's Polartec High Loft Jacket

This is my third one. Second one about 5 years ago had major changes which i did not like… still crazy warm though. This version is back to the original. Crazy warm and soft. Wrist holes are a bit big (as in original) but can push up your sleeves if washing dishes, gutting fish or generally mucking in things that you don’t want on the sleeves of your fleece. Couldn’t do that with the second version. Get your regular size and it will be comfortably loose. Size down and it will be snug. I’m 6’1”, 220lbs and take a size 44 tall suit jacket (I have pretty broad shoulders) and i wear an XL in this fleece. The arms are a bit long (as in the original) but this is a technical jacket so your wrists don’t freeze when reaching for that rock hold or the cargo box on your car. I basically live in mine most of the year. Got mine on sale…when i got it and saw it was back to the original i ordered another (i now have 4 in various stages of decay…). Despite being a fleece it is pretty wind resistant really. This is an amazing, weirdly super warm, super comfortable jacket. The black works well with everything. For the other colours the black pockets and stretchy panels really stand out…i still ordered a caspian blue for my fourth and it looks good…. Just with prominent black pockets and stretchy panels. I own two pairs of the monkey fur gloves that i bought years ago( these jackets used to be called monkey fur)…also super warm. Too bad they don’t make those anymore. I imagine the pants are amazing also given they are made of the same material. Buy this on sale and you will be happy…just don’t expect it to be rain proof, wind proof, fire proof (embers will burn holes), or sexy looking. But do expect it to be way warmer than a relatively thin fleece should be and so comfortable you won’t want to take it off and you won’t be disappointed. Btw i don’t work for MH i just love these jackets and they asked for my opinion after my recent purchase so there you go.

I bought this in the browny gold colour last spring, and I gotta say, I've only become more disappointed in the fleece as time has gone by. If you used to own a Monkey Man and are hoping this will be similar, man, are you in for a let down.The Monkey Man was thicker, warmer, with a much better cut. I could wear my MM almost all winter, and I'm talking northern BC, not Vancouver. It kept out the wind and the tight cuffs on the sleeves kept the warmth in. This new piece has none of those features. The cuffs are useless, so baggy they might as well not exist. Material is thin, more for show than for function. There is absolutely no wind protection, it provides about as much protection as a light hoody, but one that cost you 240 bucks. Wearing this thing gets cold by around 8 degrees celsius, anything below that, you need additional layers. Last thing I'll mention is the cut of the design. It seems like it was designed to fit over a box, not a human with a chest and a waist and shoulders. What I'm saying is that the jacket just hangs off you shoulders and is loose on the waist. There is no way to tighten the waist of the coat. I'm a 34 inch waist, not a tiny 28, and I'm swimming in this thing. I'm 6 feet, almost 200 lbs, so I chose a large, and this fleece is absolutely massive. One last little nitpick, the zipper is super weird. When I sit down, it bulges out in a massive arc and looks absolutely ridiculous. If you can't tell, I'm disappointed. You might be thinking, why not return it? I wanted to give it chance, hoped it would grow on me, but it's gone the other way. My loss.