Customer Reviews Columbia Whirlibird™ IV Interchange Jacket

Great jacket I use it almost everyday for my daily commute into work. It does well against the northeast elements and is durable

Looks great on. Husband loves it. Fits true to size

Excellent jacket for very cold conditions! I love Columbia's products and that the fact that they stand behind them. My personal experience has been that zippers have sometimes failed, but have been promptly repaired or exchanged from Columbia. My only reservation for this product is that the zipper does not seem to be very heavy duty, but it hasn't failed yet. But even if it does, Columbia will fix it or give credit towards another jacket. All in all, I do recommend this product!

Zipper is a little weak. Sucks when a whimpy zipper is used on a quality product and brings the whole functionality of the item down. Needs a more robust zipper.

Jacket arrived today, too large, smaller size out of stock, and company will not honor original price on a different color of the desired sizesame style. First (and last) purchase with this company. Stick with North Face.

The jacket is nice, but the measure guide does not works because I knew I was M, but in the measure guide I was L, so I bought L size, extremely large for me. I'm not happy with this purchasse speciffically.

Size too big for a S. Interior not so warm. Color ok.

Is a super coat and great buy. Except it has a complete piece of crap for a zipper. The zipper is now plastic with way smaller teeth and sometimes is very hard to start. I dont expect the zipper to last more then a few years. Wish i would have know this when i boughts it.

This coat has really cheap zippers and the snaps that hold liner to outer jacket are broken. This also seems to run small, I normally wear size 6 womens. I got a mens because the sleeves are longer and this one the body length was also longer. The fit around the hips seems right compared to a different size m mens columbia jacket with a liner also. I had a womens columbia coat and that one has a much better zipper and seems to be made better.

The jacket is fantastic. Flexible when skiing, keeps me warm. Enough pockets. Being able take out a layer on warmer days is ideal. I can also add a layer underneath without feeling pinched. The 3 in 1 gives me a jacket I can use at least half the year in Phoenix. According to the size chart I should take a medium. The medium was tight so I had to size up to a large, which fits fine without being baggy. I am 58 155, 40 chest.

The style of this jacket is great but one time outside realized it wasnt warm enough.

The style of this jacket is great but one time outside realized it wasn't warm enough.

First the good. Love the style, and the fit is great for me. The 3 in one is something I choose to never live without, as I am constantly using one of the 3, and this is my third 3 in one Zippered underarm vents help when I am doing something vigorous, like cross country skiing, and I like the pockets. The print design is awesome and makes me look 10+ years younger. The bad is the durability of the waterproofing of the Omni-Tech outer jacket. Waterproof/breathable fabrics require an outermost layer with a water shedding material with a high surface energy (yes I am a scientist ...) that will cause liquid water to bead up and roll off the jacket. Over time this layer will get worn and contaminated with lower surface energy molecules that will cause the water to wick into the jacket and lose its waterproofing. The jacket can be restored with cleaners and waxes such as NIKWAX tech wash. When I purchased the jacket, I noticed that water wasn't beading as much as I thought it should. Despite keeping the jacket as clean as possible, after only half a season it is starting to wick water and lose its waterproofing. I haven't been drenched yet after wearing it in the Portland rain, but that day is coming soon. I found the 2 other Columbia jackets I had lost their waterproofing after 2 years. I expect this one to last 1.

I had a previous generation Whirlibird jacket and compared to that, this jacket seems less well constructed and less insulated. The fit and shell are good, but the liner just seems really thin. The Omniheat does reflect some heat back, but if you're not moving and it's < 30F out, you'll probably be cold standing around in this. Once you start moving, or if you wear layers, it's much better. My main complaint with the construction is the zipper. Right now, it's new and it's fine. But with it being a longer jacket and a smaller zipper, I'm concerned it's not going to hold up well. Time will tell. I also feel like the sleeves are a little sloppy. The liner leaves aren't really cuffed and don't stay at the end of the sleeve very well even when hooked to the shell. I've had multiple interchange jackets and they were not like this. On the plus side, the color is nice and the general cut of the jacket is great (good hood length, nice tail, good sleeve length, not too tight for the more-barrel-shaped). Ultimately, I decided to keep this and just plan on layering more.

Columbia has cheapened the design of this product. 1: It no longer has a large inner pocket like the Whirlibird II jacket had. 2: The main zipper is cheap. It is half the size of the zipper in the Whirlibird II jacket .

Jacket seems to be very well built but not for me. Im 5ft 11in and 205. My Burton jacket is medium, fits well but this was too small and tight at the hips with just a t-shirt. I was also drowning in the large so I switched to the omni infinity ascent jacket in large, and that fit like a glove.

Comfortable for the size. It's waterproof, Lightweight and warm perfect for work. And best of all the color camouflage. Almost perfect for this winter. But the bottom hem stitch is coming apart. Only worn a couple of times. For the price I was expecting better quality.

I wish it had a metal zipper that opened from bottom.

I got this coat for my transplant boyfriend. He loves it, it's warm and looks great. Unfortunately the zipper keeps breaking apart at the bottom of the coat. We originally got him a large, but that was way too big. The zipper broke apart on that one and I was happy to have an excuse to return it. Then we got the medium and it has the same problem. I have the women's version of this coat, purchased at the same time. I have not experienced any zipper problems like he has. Pretty frustrating. I can't recommend this due to the zipper, but otherwise it is a great coat.

The big inside pockets are gone. The only inside pocket was in the shell, not the inner jacket, and it's not deep so plan on losing your stuff on the hill. That is if you only ski with a shell. So no ski gear storage if your wearing the full gear. Would of love to see the built in partial gloves. Wish they made a everything jacket.

It was tooooo big. I ordered for my son M , by it seems XL

Overall the jacket performs fairly well. However, the bottom zipper often becomes unzipped while in use so that the wearer is exposed to the elements. When trying to unzip to correct it, it takes a lot of effort and we are concerned about breaking it.

First I have to say the colors are great, out of the package the jacket looks and feels great. I tried it on a felt good. This is my second one I had to return the first in because it was too big, I usual wear a XXL I only needed a XL for this one. It's been unusually warm in the North East this winter so I just had the opportunity to wear this jacket today outside it's 17 degrees in NY and was excited to wear this while getting my daughter on the bus... big mistake. It felt like I was standing in a refrigerator. This jacket retained the cold rather then reflecting the heat back inside the jacket. I took the tags off so per Columbia's policies they will not take the jacket back, so I'm stuck with a jacket I won't wear. My last Columbia jacket was awesome and lasted me a very long time. I'm very disappointed.

Not warm enough but I'm not from a cold state so I didn't know ski jackets weren't as warm as a parka. I thought all the wind from skiing would mean this jacket was super warm in -30F wind chill. But probably my lack of knowledge. Return was simple I just took to the store. Nice you can return an online purchase to a brick and mortar store.

Im in my second year with this jacket and it functions exactly as proclaimed. I wear it as just the inner shell alone, the outer shell alone, or together as the weather demands. It's a very high quality coat. I even use it as an offshore coat on my boat, BUT, and it's a big but, the zipper too easily overrides the seam fabric, especially as you pull it past chest high where the neck flaps draw together. It jams so hard that the only way to release it is to take the coat off over your head and really work the zipper loose. I'd rate it 5 stars but for that.