Customer Reviews Arc'teryx Fortrez Hoodie

Recently purchased this jacket as I really liked it when I saw it in store. This is great for frigid weather as an outer. I've yet to test it in extreme cold, but I believe it'll be a great midlayer. I really like the fact it has a hidden snood built in to the hood. This will cover the neck area, & when needed cover mouth & nose. This is a great feature. I give this 4.5 out of 5. It would be a 5 if they had a hem draw cord - to help seal in the heat. I'm pretty tall & the XXL fits great. little bit extra in the sleeve, but not an issue (& most of my Arcteryx jackets have long sleeves - maybe I'm the issue?). Overall, great jacket & I'm pleased with the purchase.

Overall very pleasing jacket that runs large. Minor flow, even in size Small waist designed to accept a good size belly,and there is no way to adjust it. Look into it please.

I wish the color description would be more accurate, I was expecting a black jacket with grey breast pocket and bright red zipper and details, but in reality the jacket Nighthawk is blueish with bright orange details. So it wouldn't hurt to name it Nighthawk Blue and orange on the description. It happened also with a running shirt, I was expecting a blueish color and it arrived greenish. So if the pictures online change the color, please add a more descriptive info about the product. Other than that I like my "blue" jacket, fits great and excellent quality.

Very nice product, very good fit! I planned to use it for an under layer, for this purpose a more soft material would have been better.

I bought this online over the summer of 2014. It fit me extremely well. I'm 6'2" 83kg with broad shoulders and long arms. I wear this most often over a Phase SV zip neck base layer. If you don't hold the sleeves of the Phase it will catch on the lining and ride up. Not a deal breaker but be aware. I started using this as a simple jacket disc golfing in cool still conditions. I find wind cuts through it pretty easily so it doesn't work well as a shell. Once the temps dropped here to -25F I broke it out layered with the Phase base layer and a Sugoi Firewall cycling jacket. The hood fit perfectly under a ski helmet without bunching up or restricting my field of vision. It's slim profile didn't put pressure on my ears nor did the edges cut into my head at pressure points with the helmet or ski goggles. I find the multitude of zip necks I'm wearing don't all fit perfectly when zipped up together so keeping this one and leaving the shell slightly down helps the overall layered fit. The hoodie keeps the wind and snow from finding it's way between my jacket, neck gaiter and helmet. Exactly what I was looking for in purchasing this garment. The added balaclava/face mask is a welcome addition as I can use it without having to break out the neck gaiter to cover my mouth and nose when the cold gets brutal. One design element to watch out for are the tabs on the zips. I find the material to be small and a bit stiff which makes them come off too easily. The metal tabs are short so trying to operate them with gloves minus the cords is difficult.

Great thin fleece that works very well as a stand-alone jacket on cool days, and midlayer on colder days. I layer with it for aerobic activities, especially bike riding...the hood fights tight on my head, so I can get it under my helmet if I need some warmth. I could have bought another fleece or hoody, but the difference with the Fortrez was the built-in balaclava/neckwarmer in the hood. Brilliant! I got the green, which is nice, but it's pretty bright, and blends into the forest colours. In hindsight I probably should have chosen the blue...a little more neutral.

Really wanted to love this, but I think it needs a few tweaks. Pros: Very warm, soft and comfortable, Arcteryx quality, pockets are great, and chest pocket first an iphone perfect. The konseal hoody which is also very nice is better as a baselayer while this one functions better as a midlayer.. Oh and the balaclava... BOMB.. the hood fits perfectly, layers under a helmet flawlessly and better than an R1 hoody, and the balaclava face cover is exceptional and unique. However... Cons: I agree with a previous reviewer about the length. This is billed as a climbing piece and for that I think at least 3 more inches and a bottom stretch hem is crucial to keep it in place. The way it is cut right now, the gusseting or the length isn't enough and its going to come right up over your waist when you're reaching to swing that ice axe. If you wear it for skiing where your arms aren't above your head very often or on purpose anyway, the extra length isn't necessary, but it doesn't hurt. In addition, as much as I like the balaclava i think it could be improved. This piece over all is a pretty solid competitor to the R1 hoody. However, compared to the R1 hoody where you can zip and unzip the face cover, on the Fortrez you are pretty much stuck wearing the balaclava all day. You can in theory pull it down as a neck warmer, however the balaclava part is attached to the back of the hood. This means that if you pull down on the mask to make it a neck gaitor, you end up with a weird tension on the back hood and around your neck. Certainly tolerable, but I guess if you're going to spend the money can't hurt to expect perfection! I think the R1 hoody wins here with ease of use and versatility. (In case someone somewhere cares, this is what I would do... Use the phase AR neck gaitor design which goes over the nose and under the chin, and stick that onto the fortrez jacket. replace one of the side seams with a tiny zipper that is continuous with the body of the jacket, basically mimic the R1 hoody, however the way arcteryx cuts their neck gaitor accomodates the climbing helmet/skiing helmet chin strap much more comfortably than the R1 hoody which tends to pull and bind. Behind that and separate from the neck gaitor keep the hood from the fortrez jacket because it fits incredibly well and lays flat against the face, unlike the R1 which tents out on the sides. This allows more versatility with the gaitor to create a balaclava, a gaitor only with hood down, or hood up neck gaitor but without the tension) Overall: I have not had any problems with zippers on this or the konseal hoody, construction/pockets/zippers/face fabcric/durability/etc are all standard arcteryx awesomeness. I would definitely recommend this as a midlayer for skiing/boarding, but I feel the length issue really kills it as an ice climbing piece. In the end I think a few tweaks could really mix things up and maybe bring down the R1

So pockets, hood, face mask, sleeves all good.......but no drawstring on waist and way too lightweight to be considered a mid-weight fleece. I have base layers that are the same weight.Below is a photo of how much light come through it from my computer screen.

After owning this jacket for a year, its a fantastic piece. I primarily use it hiking and climbing, it sheds light precip and wind pretty well too. It can also be used a standalone or as a layer and the built in balaclava is phenomenal when i gets a little too cold. The only big downside is the cuffs, they are simply too loose. Everything else regarding the fit is perfect, but this is really annoying when climbing. Please add thumb loops into it and fix the cuffs, if you did that it would be the best fleece ever made. But i find my self reaching for a piece with tighter cuffs and thumb loops whenever I go climbing. Especially if you are pushing the grade

My Arc'teryx Polartec Soft Fleece is twice as warm as this (also was cheaper & Made in Canada!); and draw cord is hanging down, because taped-seam channel came undone...now at Arc'teryx for repair. This does have a hood on it which I like, but for the price, this is way too expensive (& Made in El Salvador!). More like a thin sweat shirt & hood...am disappointed, as I expected more from them. Would require yet another layer to make up for my soft fleece's warmth.

I've had this jacket for about a year now. I've resorted to using it as the jacket I keep at the office for those chilly meeting rooms in a dark corner of the building. Or for a trip to the climbing gym. I don't consider it as a jacket to take up with me on mountain adventures because it doesn't insulate that well, wind cuts right through it. And it's pretty heavy relative to other fleece midlayers. It's very well styled. I like the look of it, and I get compliments all the time because it doesn't look like a fleece jacket since it has a hardface. But I think fleece in general is limited to lower key activities, not storming up a mountain.

I bought this jacket as a climbing mid layer. I really like it a lot and it quickly went into my go to kit for climbing. It is warm and moves well. Under a harness if the pockets are unzipped they are perfect for a quick warming of the hands. There are two problems with this jacket. The first one is not a big deal more of an annoyance and that is the fleece of the sleeves grips at your under-layers pushing them up your arms when you put it on. As a climber the next is a bigger deal. I have worn this jacket out to sport climb three times this winter and it already have gotten nicks in the elbow. my old fleece i have had for almost ten years and have never torn it. I have not bumped my elbow hard at any point in that time so I'm not sure how it got the little rips. I am not trying to wine I have sewn up the holes and understand that gear dose get damaged. I am other wise really happy with this jacket. My three star review is only because really question how durable this jacket will be long term.

I really like this piece in 'concept' and it seems to be exactly the item which I would be pleased to add next to my (heavily influenced by) Arc'teryx collection. Unfortunately, I must second other reviewers and indicate that the fit around the waist is very poor and (although the store page says 'trim' and not athletic), it's still huge; I'm a normal peson who wears Arc'teryx 'medium' items in everything else (5'10'', 200lbs) and would wear this in a medium as well; however this is too tight around my upper body with a lot of loose fabric on the lower.. I cannot imagine wearing this as a base layer as the store page sugests (for a person of normal build), it simply would not work. I haven't bought for the above reasons (I tried them on though!) - fitting aspects aside though I wouldn't doubt this is a great garment - maybe v2.0, next season?

The large fits perfectly over my shoulders, but the bottom of the fleece feels like a dress. It is like it's build for overweight people. Very disappointed.

I thought this would be a good piece of gear for me. The integral balaclava seemed a neat idea. I love Arc'teryx and have lots of their stuff but this one just didn't work. Sizing is sometimes a challenge, especially when ordering online. It helps if you have items in some of the different sizing styles so you can try to triangulate a possible fit; however, either I really blew it with this one or it's just odd. I think it's just odd. I'm 5'6'' and about 81kg: short and stocky; certainly not thin or long-limbed, but pretty solid. I ordered a large, which often works with their tighter, more athletic or slim fitting styles. This one here was quite tight on the arms, especially the forearms; it fit great around the chest and shoulders, but was overlarge on the torso and especially the stomach. It seemed to billow out on the lower end. I put it on and almost immediately took it off. I really wanted this piece to work but it was an odd cut. Given my frame and build a little more relaxed fit in the torso could actually be a good thing. Even still, one would have to be pretty hefty around the mid-drift for this to be a comfortable fit. I left on the tags and am going to sell it, hopefully recoup my losses and get something elseoh well, the risks of online ordering. While the Fortrez was a fail I'm a serious convert and have plenty of other Arc'teryx gear that works great for me.

I thought this would be a good piece of gear for me. The integral balaclava seemed a neat idea. I love Arc'teryx and have lots of their stuff but this one just didn't work. Sizing is sometimes a challenge, especially when ordering online. It helps if you have items in some of the different sizing styles so you can try to triangulate a possible fit; however, either I really blew it with this one or it's just odd. I think it's just odd. I'm 5'6'' and about 81kg: short and stocky; certainly not thin or long-limbed, but pretty solid. I ordered a large, which often works with their tighter, more athletic or slim fitting styles. This one here was quite tight on the arms, especially the forearms; it fit great around the chest and shoulders, but was overlarge on the torso and especially the stomach. It seemed to billow out on the lower end. I put it on and almost immediately took it off. I really wanted this piece to work but it was an odd cut. Given my frame and build a little more relaxed fit in the torso could actually be a good thing. Even still, one would have to be pretty hefty around the mid-drift for this to be a comfortable fit. I left on the tags and am going to sell it, hopefully recoup my losses and get something else...oh well, the risks of online ordering. While the Fortrez was a fail I'm a serious convert and have plenty of other Arc'teryx gear that works great for me.

I thought this would be a good piece of gear for me. The integral balaclava seemed a neat idea. I love Arc'teryx and have lots of their stuff but this one just didn't work. Sizing is sometimes a challenge, especially when ordering online. It helps if you have items in some of the different sizing styles so you can try to triangulate a possible fit; however, either I really blew it with this one or it's just odd. I think it's just odd. I'm 5'6'' and about 81kg: short and stocky; certainly not thin or long-limbed, but pretty solid. I ordered a large, which often works with their tighter, more athletic or slim fitting styles. This one here was quite tight on the arms, especially the forearms; it fit great around the chest and shoulders, but was overlarge on the torso and especially the stomach. It seemed to billow out on the lower end. I put it on and almost immediately took it off. I really wanted this piece to work but it was an odd cut. Given my frame and build a little more relaxed fit in the torso could actually be a good thing. Even still, one would have to be pretty hefty around the mid-drift for this to be a comfortable fit. I left on the tags and am going to sell it, hopefully recoup my losses and get something else?oh well, the risks of online ordering. While the Fortrez was a fail I'm a serious convert and have plenty of other Arc'teryx gear that works great for me.

Colour is very poor. I ordered the black, it is a cross between a green blue and grey. The fit and finish are only average I have 2 other arcteryx jackets that are of a much better build, colour, and quality.

Been keeping an eye out for this fleece for awhile, finally had the opportunity to try it on recently. I am 6'5, 185lbs, slim build, tried the XL. Material felt awesome, soft and comfortable. The hood fits perfectly and the balaclava insulates well without obstructing breathing, which I initially feared. Zips worked fine. Hem rise with arm lifting could be better. The chest fit nice and snugly, though the arms were just sightly short, but frankly no one makes sleeves in my length, and Arcteryx sizing comes the closest to fitting. More importantly, I immediately had an issue with the fitting at the hem. For tall, slim build, the fitting at the hem is horrendous. I knew about the length issue, so I was anticipating that, but I found the hem to be incredibly baggy. Scratch that, absolutely bellowing. Add the short length that prevented any meaningful ability to tuck it in (without the slightest movement pulling it out, let alone reaching overhead) and even the slightest breeze would blow straight up from below. Really disappointed. I realise the overly tall and skinny isn't exactly the sole target group, but a longer torso, that can be tucked in and prevent drafts from blowing up, would at least make this piece viable for people of my build. Alternately, draw cords to cinch down the hem would also work, though that would add weight and make layering more uncomfortable.

Received this jacket as a gift less than a week ago. One of the primary reason I chose this fleece over a number of others was its advertised 'abrasion resistant' design. I am not always particularly easy on my clothing, and I don't like investing in garments that will wear out in a year or less. In the few days I have worn this jacket, it has already developed a couple small tears in the fabric. One was from my dog jumping on me (he jumps on me frequently and has never torn a single article of clothing before), and I have no idea where the other came from. Suffice it to say, their fleece needs a bit more R&D. Normally, I would not bother writing a review over a couple relatively small tears, but given that I purchased this jacket largely for this quality, I am quite disappointed. Otherwise, the jacket fits wonderfully as all Arcteryx products I've owned tend to. It is warm and comfortable, but none of this matters if it looks like terrycloth in a year.

Received this jacket as a gift less than a week ago. One of the primary reason I chose this fleece over a number of others was its advertised 'abrasion resistant' design. I am not always particularly easy on my clothing, and I don't like investing in garments that will wear out in a year or less. In the few days I have worn this jacket, it has already developed a couple small tears in the fabric. One was from my dog jumping on me (he jumps on me frequently and has never torn a single article of clothing before), and I have no idea where the other came from. Suffice it to say, their fleece needs a bit more R&D. Normally, I would not bother writing a review over a couple relatively small tears, but given that I purchased this jacket largely for this quality, I am quite disappointed. Otherwise, the jacket fits wonderfully as all Arcteryx products I've owned tend to. It is warm and comfortable, but none of this matters if it looks like terrycloth in a year.

I own a lot of Arcteryx gear and love it all, but the Fortrez was one of the first pieces of gear I've purchased that just didn't work out. I bought it online in both L and XL. I usually wear XL (6'5", 260lbs). The fit for both sizes was just weird. The XL was too large and fit strangely where the panels connect to one another. The L was too small. This isn't my first time buying both sizes to figure out which one fits best and returning the one that doesn't. The difference in the L and XL is large enough that you could fit another size in between the two easily. I was sucking in with the large and the neck/chest area was tight. On the XL, the shoulders fell way far off my shoulders and the mid-section was way baggy. The fit I was looking for is something with just enough room to fit comfortably over a Rho LT or Rho AR XL base layer, but not baggy. The other thing that was very very weird about the Fortrez was the sleeves. In both sizes, there was an unusually billowy large amount for room in the forearm that would only fit well if you had Popeye-shaped forearms. The only other criticism I had is that the hand of the face fabric used is pretty harsh for a fleece. Seeing as the fleece is midlayer and comfort layer, I would have expected the hand to be softer. A fleece is the kind of thing I might plan to wear in my sleeping bag over my baselayer to extend the range of my sleeping bag, but I don't think I would be comfortable sleeping in the Fortrez hoody. I can't comment on its technical performance as I did not keep it. Anyways, this was my experience with it. Mostly posting this to get the feedback back to arcteryx product designers. Other people seem to be really happy with this hoody so it may be worth trying out to see if it fits your body shape well.

I own a lot of Arcteryx gear and love it all, but the Fortrez was one of the first pieces of gear I've purchased that just didn't work out. I bought it online in both L and XL. I usually wear XL (6'5", 260lbs). The fit for both sizes was just weird. The XL was too large and fit strangely where the panels connect to one another. The L was too small. This isn't my first time buying both sizes to figure out which one fits best and returning the one that doesn't. The difference in the L and XL is large enough that you could fit another size in between the two easily. I was sucking in with the large and the neck/chest area was tight. On the XL, the shoulders fell way far off my shoulders and the mid-section was way baggy. The fit I was looking for is something with just enough room to fit comfortably over a Rho LT or Rho AR XL base layer, but not baggy. The other thing that was very very weird about the Fortrez was the sleeves. In both sizes, there was an unusually billowy large amount for room in the forearm that would only fit well if you had Popeye-shaped forearms. The only other criticism I had is that the hand of the face fabric used is pretty harsh for a fleece. Seeing as the fleece is midlayer and comfort layer, I would have expected the hand to be softer. A fleece is the kind of thing I might plan to wear in my sleeping bag over my baselayer to extend the range of my sleeping bag, but I don't think I would be comfortable sleeping in the Fortrez hoody. I can't comment on its technical performance as I did not keep it. Anyways, this was my experience with it. Mostly posting this to get the feedback back to arcteryx product designers. Other people seem to be really happy with this hoody so it may be worth trying out to see if it fits your body shape well.

Dsol, c'est le seul produit d'Arc'teryx que j'ai achet dont je ne suis pas satisfait. Les coutures de la veste la base du coup la rendre VRAIMENT inconfortable porter. Elle a t rvise cette anne, j'espre sincrement que ce point qui a ncessit une rvision. Je vous conseille de l'essayer avant de l'acheter avant de l'acheter en ligne.