The Cotopaxi Teca Part-Zip Windbreaker is a half-zip windshirt with a entrance kangaroo pocket and a zippered stash pocket. It has elastic bindings at the hood, cuffs, and hem with a again panel vent for enhanced airflow and straightforwardness of motion. The jacket is made with a 100% repurposed polyester taffeta with a DWR end and 600 mm PU backer that gives water resistance however reduces breathability. Brightly coloured, the Teca Part-Zip could also be to be had in a variety of sizes and could also be a just right choice for giant and tall or petite-sized people.
Specifications at a look
- Gender: Males’s (Girls’s type to be had)
- Weight: 5.0 oz. in a males’s dimension XL
- Subject material: polyester taffeta and polyester ripstop
- Hood Adjustability: No
- Hem-Adjustment: No
- Stuff into Zippered Pocket: Sure
- Vents: Rear, 1
- Wallet: Entrance, 1
Windshirts, also referred to as wind shells and windbreakers, are poorly understood through many hikers. Worn over a mid-layer, they’re an ultralight clothes layer that forestalls chilly wind from stripping away your frame warmth whilst trapping it so that you keep heat. They’re in particular helpful in windy mountainous terrain, in particular in cooler months and in iciness. They supplement a water-proof rain shell however are lighter-weight and typically a lot more breathable. I incessantly lift each.
Maximum wind shirts are made with nylon and feature a fundamental hood and stretch cuffs at the wrists. Fancier ones would possibly supply hood controls to shrink the scale of the hood opening to dam drafts from getting into, a chest pocket, full-length zipper, hem adjustment wire, or zippered handwarmer wallet. Those added options make a large distinction in difficult environments.
The Cotopaxi Teca Part-Zip Windbreaker has a half-length zipper, an outsized non-adjustable hood, stretch wrist cuffs, a kangaroo pocket within the entrance that you’ll be able to insert your arms into with a zippered pocket on best that’s to hand for wearing maps or a Smartphone. I’ve been the usage of it for mountain climbing however I truly can’t suggest it for a couple of causes.
The Hood
The Teca Part-Zip hood is non-adjustable and easily huge. Wind blows in across the aspects and makes an enormous flapping racket. It’ll paintings higher when you’re dressed in a large ski helmet to absorb the quantity. I give the hood a thumbs-down for mountain climbing or backpacking use.
Awkward Hipbelt Compatibility
The Kangaroo pocket and the zippered stash pocket are successfully needless when you put on a hipbelt over them. You’ll’t put your arms within the wallet and the stash pocket quantity is nearly unusable.
If you happen to’re extraordinarily motivated, you’ll be able to run a hipbelt throughout the kangaroo pocket in order that the middle buckle is roofed and you’ll be able to nonetheless stick your arms throughout the pocket to stay heat. That is awkward to do, however now not unattainable. The zippered pocket layered on best of the kangaroo pocket loses about 1/2 its quantity although and turns into an increasing number of tricky to zipper close for the reason that zipper does now not lay flat among the scrunched cloth round your waist. The zipper doesn’t paintings neatly, even while you’re NOT dressed in a backpack hipbelt and persistently jams while you attempt to zipper it close.
Horrible Breathability
When zippered close, perspiration and condensation abruptly building up at the internal of the Teca half-Zip. I characteristic this partially to the PU external coating which most probably seals the outside cloth. The rear vent is just about needless when dressed in a backpack because it’s pressed closed.
Review
I’d give the Cotopaxi Teca Part-Zip Windbreaker a go when you’re in search of a windshirt for mountain climbing or backpacking. The too-large non-adjustable hood and the deficient breathability are show-stoppers proper off the bat earlier than you even issue within the awkwardness of the usage of the windbreaker with a hip belt. The Teca Part-Zip is adorable, however simply too informal for mountain climbing use. There are such a lot of higher wind shirts and windbreakers to be had lately, that you simply’d be at an advantage purchasing one thing else – See the SectionHiker Tools Information: The ten Best possible Windbreakers and Wind Shirts, for our best suggestions.
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