Men's Nilas™ Jacket 4.9 5 13 13
Excellent Parka I purchased this jacket several weeks ago and have been very pleased with its performance. The fit is excellent, it is very warm, and blocks wind like a champ. The hood is adjustable and fits great even when I'm wearing a climbing helmet.My only complaint is that the down makes me itch. When you're wearing it over several layers of climbing gear no biggie, but when its just a base layer and the jacket, it gets a bit itchy.This is, however, an excellent jacket and I would never give it up. March 3, 2013
Warm Cozy and Lite 5'10" 165 lbs. This is the warmest jacket I've ever owned and my favorite of all. It's amazing how the body heat is trapped within the jacket. By this I mean, on a cold day pull down the zipper and sticky your hand inside the jacket. It feels as if your hand is in front of a heater. I am so lucky I live in Portland, Oregon and have access to the Mountain Hardwear employee store. If not, I would still pay $500 for this jacket. In addition, I love the 2 large pockets inside the jacket. Thank you Mountain Hardwear for the Nilas Jacket. February 4, 2013
Great Jacket Snowboarded in 10 degree F conditions. The Nilas was warm the entire time. I wore a t-shirt underneath and the cold didn't get to me at all while several others in the group had multiple jackets on. The Nilas held up really well. January 15, 2013
Blew my mind! I have the Nilas jacket in a size large, which is true to fit (5'11" / 190lbs). Even for full price, I have to say that this beast earns every bit of its reputation with respect to weight, warmth, compressibility, comfort, durability, usability, and style. I also own the Chillwave Parka, but the major differences that I noticed between the two were weight and compressibility. Compared to the Chillwave (which still holds a place in my gear lineup), the Nilas feels like you're wearing next to nothing but will keep you just as warm. I recently used it on Pico de Orizaba in Mexico at camp, on breaks during summit day, and when the wind picked up to 40 mph, dropping the wind-chill to somewhere around 0 F. Even so, I had to unzip it on numerous occasions b/c I was trapping more heat than I needed. I used the stuff sack that comes with the jacket and the Nilas fit into it easily. You could probably fit it into a much smaller one, but might risk over-compressing the fill if kept too long (not sure). Either way, it lofts quickly and fits into my pack with the stock stuff sack. Considering the durability of the material, it's extremely comfortable. The chin guard was smooth and never chaffed my face in the slightest. The "Butter Jersey" cuffs are not only comfortable even while using the thumb loop, but stay in place and block cold air from entering the sleeve without the loop and when gloves/mitts are off. Also, the jacket's outer shell is tough and held up to numerous brushes against coarse rock and ice without a hint of wear on the material. The draw chords and zippers both feel flimsy, hold up nicely to repeated punishment. The only drawback here (doesn't rank high enough to change my mind about the jacket) is that the waist draw chord is only on one side, thus it has the tendency to bunch up on that side. I don't notice that it affects the function of the jacket, but can look a little weird. Even so, you can still work the material around so it's somewhat dispersed and looks normal after adjusting it. I have little to add for the hood, as it worked great and was a non-factor. It was warm and fit perfect with and without a helmet. I have the "Shark" color scheme and I love it. Not only does the Nilas earn its keep in adverse conditions but also looks stylish doing it.I would recommend this beast to anyone who knows they're headed into the backcountry in adverse conditions or to anyone who lives where it gets downright cold (easily fashionable enough to wear around town). If you care about equipping yourself with only the best gear to cut no corners, this is the best bang for your buck!I would have included a picture on the route, but this trip was solo. Yet another reason I was glad to have the Nilas since I didn't have anyone else to rely on if I got into trouble and needed to keep warm.Sets the bar high! January 9, 2013
Warmth and versatility in a lightweight package. Great piece. Super lightweight, very warm, yet incredibly versatile. I've worn this in weather ranging from -5 and snowing to 36 and broken clouds, and all with minimal layering. Temperature regulation is amazing, even w/o the pit zips, and the jacket is so light that you don't feel any bulk at all. I can't really attest to the ability to shed water, but for quick light squalls, the jacket worked great with water and snow beading up and shedding quickly. It never felt stuffy or over-bearing.. just nicely insulating and warm. January 8, 2013
Perfect for the Arctic! I have been wearing this jacket for a couple of weeks now. Temps have stayed at 10 to 20 degrees below zero during the day and the jacket has performed wonderfully.This jacket is amazingly light and comfortable! The low profile hood does not flap in the wind when down and the chin guard keeps neck drafts at bay. When up, the hood conforms very nicely.I cannot wait to wear it cross country skiing... December 7, 2012
Got it for Chicago Weather (and much more) I live downtown Chicago and walk a mile to work everyday. I got this jacket for the Windy and Cold Winters. It is super light and comfortable and I like the color combo being an Oregon State grad. It stuffs into my bag easily too. I also am a big football fan so I am sure this will keep me nice and warm at those. Finally, when I make it back to the NW for winter steelheading, it will keep me warm and toasty on crisp cold winter days. July 10, 2012
Sweet, Sweet Nilas After 10 years I finally decided to upgrade my nearly destroyed, recently hood-less and finally mostly nylon Sub-zero Parka. My Nilas arrived just in time for me to take it to Kahiltna International Airport, where I used and abused it for a week.The Nilas was everything I wanted in a down jacket. It was plenty light enough to keep in the pack and fit perfectly over my jacket at belays. The hood fit comfortably over my helmet and the sleeves were plenty long enough. The shell repelled moisture perfectly and it even survived a few direct hits with falling ice. No tears, nicks or cuts, and I'm not the most careful with my gear.This is a perfect on route, alpine jacket. In camp though, I found myself often going for a chest pocket that wasn't there, and wishing for fleece lined pockets. Still, even without these nice-ities, this is the best puffy I've ever owned. May 6, 2012
Surprisingly Warm. Crazy Light. When I first got this jacket, I was skeptical that it would be warm enough for extreme conditions given that it is insanely light and not very bulky. I was pleasantly surprised! In fact, I'm guessing this jacket would put up a good fight next to an Absolute Zero.TESTING:I used this jacket on a cold & windy ascent of Mt. Shasta's Casaval Ridge in April 2012. It was pretty cold - I would guess sub zero with the wind chill. Winds were reported by NWS to be ~40mph, gusting to 80-85mph+ (which felt about right). I was wearing a Capilene 3 base layer and Mountain Hardware's Densa Hoody (which I also love).WHY I LOVE THIS JACKET:1. It's super warm. You'll doubt this given that the jacket feels too light & thin to pack much warmth, but it does. I would throw this on during a rest break and at camp - and would immediately warm up.2. It's crazy light. It's hard to describe, but it just feels like it's going to float away (in a good way). You hardly know it's there.3. It's tiny. It packs up in the included stuff sack (which I didn't use on this trip) or can easily be stuffed into a backpack (which is what I did).4. It lets you skimp on the sleeping bag. I opted for bringing my warm weather bag (Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32) even though temps were in the single digits. I ended up sleeping with the Nilas Jacket on and was perfectly toasty the whole time.5. It has great pockets. The two interior pockets hold a Nalgine bottle - I threw a water bottle in one and some snacks in the other. On breaks, I would just pull out the jacket and have water and snacks that weren't frozen.6. Butter cuffs rock. The soft cuffs (with a thumb hole) completely rock. They're very comfortable, feel great, and make it easy to throw a mitten or glove over the jacket sleeve if needed.CONSIDERATIONS:A few things to be mindful of:1. Trouble getting hood over helmet. I was wearing the Nilas Jacket on top of a Capilene 3 base layer, the MH Densa Pullover, and my Arc'teryx Alpha LT hardshell (all of which have hoods). I tried various combinations of wearing / not wearing certain hoods but had some issues getting the Nilas hood over my helmet. It would fit over but not snugly - and kept blowing off no matter how I tried to cinch it. Could just be the combination of layers on my part.2. I wish there were two hem adjustments vs. just one side. I agree with AARosie's review that it tends to bunch up on one side. It's not a big deal, but it's slightly annoying.LAST WORDS:I totally love it. And highly recommend it. I am curious how the Nilas compares side-by-side to the Absolute Zero - but I wouldn't be surprised if it holds its own very nicely. And, with much less bulk. May 5, 2012
So light, so warm! I bought this jacket as an alternative to my current winter jacket. At 22oz, it is far lighter than my 3-in-1 ski jacket and much warmer. In fact, it's probably overkill and a tad too warm for my purposes.I recently took this jacket for a few days of snowboarding in ~20oF weather and ~20 mph winds. Not bad conditions, but with just a thermal layer underneath, I never felt the wind or a tinge of coldness.It packs into a small stuff sack, included, which makes for easy packing, since it is quite puffy. The internal pockets are great, and though unzippered, seem to hold onto things quite well. They are large enough for large nalgene bottles, etc.Though technically not waterproof, I did not have any trouble with snow melting through the jacket. To further test that would require warmer weather, which this jacket would probably be too heavy for.For improvements, I do wish it had is a 2-way zipper in front. April 18, 2012
My new favorite jacket This jacket is my favorite. Not only does it weigh next to nothing, it is packed with features and is super warm. Don't even try and wear this if it is warmer than 32F. It doesn't feel bulky because it is so light. It is so light and warm, you forget it is cold outside. Comes with a great stuff sack and if you want, you could fit it into an even smaller compression sack -- small enough to take "just in case".This jacket fits great. I wear a large in everything and it fit just great; there is still room to layer underneath. Lots of great adjustments. The butter cuffs are properly named. They are so smooth and soft. My only suggestion would be to have someway to pull the excess cord at the waste line into the pocket like many other jackets so it doesn't hang down when tightened.Last bit of advice; make sure you get the arms long enough. If not, when you use the thumb holes ( I don't use them very often as it is usually on top of my other layers) it will pull a little funny. It is hard to explain but cuff isn't sewn into the end of the sleeve. It appears to be sewn into the first "joint" between the baffles and pulls funny at that point if the arms are long enough. I felt like mine fit perfect, besides when I'm using the thumb holes, so I stuck with the large.In summary, this is an incredibly warm, wind-proof jacket. The quality is superior. This jacket will not disappoint. March 22, 2012
Super warm for its weight This thing is incredibly warm. I understand it's built to be as light as possible, but personally I can think of a few improvements that would add just a tiny bit of weight:-Increasing the diameter of the pull cords (the cords are super thin, I'm a little concerned about them breaking with extended use)-Adding a second hem adjuster (there is only one on the right side, and the hem tends to bunch around it when pulled)Other notes:-I love the butter cuffs, they work great with our without using the thumb holes-The hood fits very well with or out without a helmet. It's also easy to adjust-I usually wear a medium size. I am 5'11" and about 180 lbs and the large seems like the right size for me.I haven't used it in seriously cold conditions yet. It will see some action on Shasta soon and in Switzerland this summer.Based on previous experience I would feel comfortable taking this to Denali as my warmest layer. Not so sure about the Himalaya - if you're like Ueli and doing speed runs up those things I'm sure it's fine but for the rest of that don't have super powers I'm not sure it would be warm enough. All in all a great jacket - light as heck and super warm. March 15, 2012
Hyper light, Super warm This jacket is unbelievably light, weighing in at about the same weight as a windbreaker, yet providing as much warmth as the heaviest winter parka. Crushes down to the size of a grapefruit for easy storage in your pack. My only qualm is that the shark color looks black on the website but is really a dark grey color. February 23, 2012
