Customer Reviews Outdoor Research Ascendant Hoodie

Mostly for short hikes and exploratory stints in the woods. But I use it around town as well. One thing is that as the trend has gone for lighter weight products (a good thing) the zippers tend to be a bit of weak link. Not breaking, but getting caught or stuck. Easy to get working again, but kind of a momentary hassle. This jacket is warmer than the weight of it feels. Not sure about the aerobic performance claim.

Great jacket for Fall and Spring. If it starts pouring or the weather drops to winter conditions, I just add my Foray jacket on top.

Good for camping, hiking. Lightweight. Comfy. Trim fit. 5'10" 155 and I like the fit of the Large. The bad: the thumb holes are useless. Unless my particular jacket had a manufacturing defect, they are much too small (see pic). Note how my thumb is red.

I use this jacket as a middle layer when hiking. It's OK but not particularly warm even when I use a wind shell over it. Glad I wear rugby jerseys as my base layer.

I bought this a couple weeks ago based off reviews. I've used it for everything from walking the dog to a cover government layer during my casual weekend protection assignments. It's comfortable, keeps the rain off, fits well without my equipment on and with my duty weapon and radio. The inside is sort of terry cloths like. I haven't had my duty weapon right up against it (it's been a second layer), but I can see this possibly being a long term issue with equipment rubbing and catching or wearing out quickly. More on wear in a second. I used it in some heavy rain and it worked great for repelling water. The outer layer is soft enough to be comfortable and works on its own or with other jackets. I'm 5'8" And 160lbs in good shape and the Medium fit well. I usually have issues with shoulders being too small and sleeves too long. This has a more athletic cut, which works well. As far as cut, my only complaint is that the center stitching causes a bit of an odd fold when worn, not too pronounced though. The hood once tightened covers nicely. It also extends down far enough to cover my holster. On the negative side. It appears to not be wearing well with only two weeks, the stitches have already come undone on the sleeving and continues to pull out. It is also showing a bit of pulling on the front. Could be the trade off for being softer material outside. But given the price, the stitching should be reinforced better. So three stars, cause I don't know how long it will last if after two weeks the stitching pulls. Will update.

I bought this jacket after looking around for an insulating midlayer that was lightweight and breathable but was more weatherproof than a traditional fleece. I run warm during active activities so traditional puffies leave me overheated and sweaty. My intended uses were snowshoeing and cold weather bike commuting. The Good: This jacket is comfortable and stretchy. During active activities it provides just the right amount of warmth while still being breathable which helps you avoid overheating. The jacket isn't super warm when at a standstill; you'll definitely want to pack a shell for very windy conditions or another midlayer for more warmth if it is very cold. The jacket also has a lot of little details that make it more functional like the adjustable hood, adjustable hem, and chest pocket. The Bad: The jacket can be kind of itchy with the exposed insulation straight on the skin or poking through a thin baselayer. Also, the jacket does a pretty good job of moisture management but only up to a point. I wore the jacket with a light baselayer while bike commuting on a windy, 32 degree day. The jacket did a good job of keeping me warm and breaking the wind but as I said before, I sweat a lot even at those tempuratures. During the ride, the jacket got saturated and started to stick to my back like a wet sponge which was a very uncomfortable feeling. When I removed the jacket at my destination, I noticed that the water was beading inside and dripping down in large droplets. This may have been what was causing the feeling on my back. I have transitioned to wearing my OR Deviator hoody with a midweight baselayer for bike commutes at the same temperature and have had much better results. If you don't sweat a lot, this will probably be a great choice for you if you're looking for an insulating midlayer for active activities. If you sweat like I do though, I would be weary about getting caught in the backcountry with a drippy jacket.

I wear this jacket daily in the shoulder season when it's colder in the mornings/evenings and daytime temps are in the 50's. It's totally comfortable and non-restricting as I go about my daily routine. BUT I have to say I have never experienced a worse zipper in all of my years of wearing jackets. If you are wearing the jacket the zipper can be used 3/4 of the way before it snags - forget about it if you try to zip it up when it's not in use. I'm not sure if it is the fabric type, the design of the zipper draft flap, or what but this is super frustrating - I almost sent it back but will struggle with it because overall I like the jacket.

Nice and warm in the fall. I think it will make a great mid layer for rock climbing, and ski touring. Im worried about the durability of the loosely woven liner. Zippered hand pockets might be nicer and does it stow in a pocket?

After reading the reviews I thought I had found the perfect midlayer, but after using this not so much. I purchased this with the intention of using it as a cold weather insulation piece in the rockies. For the past couple weeks it's been hovering around -20C before windchill and I've been testing this jacket in a variety of sports. My overall comment about this is it works as a cold weather piece in low- moderate level sports. Works well for skiing and going around town, but not for the high exertion sports. I used this ice climbing and fat biking, and it pulls way too much moisture to the outside of the jacket. Works well to keep you cool, but in bad weather I need an outlayer jacket on, and after biking/climbing I had my outer jacket WET from the inside. On a multiday trip this would be a game ender to soak your jacket like that. With a soft shell jacket on top rather than a goretex jacket (like I was using) it might not be as effected, but with many winter sports you need the protection of a hardshell jacket. What I did love about this jacket was how windproof it was. It works great for approaches in bad weather and for tame ski touring. At the end of the day I will continue my search for the perfect mid layer. This is not it for me.

The Verdict is still out for this jacket, as I'm wearing my uberlayer more and more still. This jacket doesn't have pocket zippers, and thus I have has two days of pockets filled with snow when skiing. I am looking at installing zippers soon. Also, as for the fit, it's a bit tighter than the uberlayer.

Outdoor Research has hit it out of the park again with the Ascendant Jacket, unfortunately, it has no pocket zippers or inside mesh skin pockets, both found on the Uberlayer Jacket. I didn't find out about this until receiving the jacket as the external pocket are not clearly show online, not is the inside of the jacket. It would be nice if there was always an inside photo of each jacket. I will still be using my Uberlayer for skiing due to the pocket problem and this makes me sad.

This jacket is my first piece of "Active insulation". While I haven't put it to the true test of skiing or climbing with it yet, so far I don't seem to get clammy in the hiking I've put it through. Wearing a puffer is guaranteed to give you a bad odor after a day of hiking because of the moisture, and I think this solves it! Except for the fact that it won't replace your puffer in my opinion. While it is a warm hoody for its weight, its warmth is not comparable to a puffer, which is what I was hoping to get when I pay this much. Also, the shell material could have been a bit more protective. Wind seems to cut right through it, even though it advertises wind and water resistance. For this price, I expected a more. Not saying that it isn't a good piece of tech wear! Its a great price for the start and end of winter for sure. But I couldn't see myself running this piece solo for any winter activity. It does have great cuffs at each opening of the hoody to keep whatever heat is generated. and the hood can definitely house a helmet. I thankfully got a pro deal pricing for this, otherwise, I would have returned it once I saw how it was in person. Buy it on sale!

This jacket was way too long. I'm 6'2 and got the large - it was at least 1.5 inches too long, possibly more.

Skip this one

I used this jacket backcountry skiing, for the short time that I owned it. It did breathe well, but really is not warm for its weight compared to mid layers from Rab and Flylow. Moderate wind cuts through it. The fleece shed little plastic fibers off in my pack, sticking to my climbing skins. Not cool. I ended up having to warranty this jacket because the stitching came apart on the front in 3 places, after just a few days using it. Would not recommend to anyone.

No large sizes available. Definitely need a relaxed fit XXL option on more if you apparel!

extra warmth under other coat or with a vest underneath