If I were to try to peg it with only one word, I’d say “versatile”. I think OR came pretty dang close with the Ascendant. I seem to be on the eternal quest to find the “optimal” jacket for high exertion. So, you must decide: durability, or utter performance? Up to you. The result is that your skins pick up little bits of insulation, and your jacket slowly gets lighter and less warm. I like to shove my skins into my jacket to warm the glue up, and there’s a problem with exposed insulation – the glue snags it. I noticed that specifically while skinning. The key shortcoming with the exposed fluff is that it’s less durable. The other quibble is with the exposed Alpha insulation. But the objective benefit is that it shaves weight from the relatively svelte 13oz total weight. That’s a matter of personal preference, really. I guess the assumption is that you don’t need zippers on your mid layer’s pockets. For example, there are no zippers on the hand warmer pockets. The only quibbles I can find with the Ascendant seem mostly matters of judgment. Eric getting after it on a cold MTB ride! It’s not like you can’t overwhelm the fabric eventually, but it definitely puts off that feeling of saturation/heaviness. My forearms tend to sweat heavily and where other jackets bog down and get heavy with sweat, the Ascendant stays dry longer. It’s incredible how efficiently the Alpha Direct fabric transport moisture through the jacket to be evaporated on the surface. In actual use, the Ascendant is truly an alpine workhorse. This is partly because this is a fairly ‘light’ weight of the fabric – 95g/m2 just feels lighter and less oppressive than other weights. The jacket really resists getting saturated with sweat. When things heat up and you start sweating into the jacket, the fibers do a remarkable job at transferring moisture and drying out. To start with, the feel of the jacket is incredibly soft and comfortable, and it’s surprisingly warm for its weight. So, does it work well? Well, this will always be a little subjective, but in my testing it worked very well indeed. Active insulation gives it that fuzzy look and feel. That design protects the insulation while still allowing vapor to transmit easily through the jacket to the outside. In most jacket, the active insulation is protected on the inside by a layer of nylon or polyester fabric, often mesh. It’s pretty much the best thing since sliced bread. Polartec Alpha insulation is exposed on the inside of the jacket, giving it a furry look and a fleecy-soft feel. The bedrock of the Ascendant is the Polartec Alpha Direct insulation. One of its best features is its stretch, which combines with OR’s paneling to create a very comfortable piece for reaching, twisting and climbing. It’s a great fabric which we’ve seen before on other active insulators. Pertex’s Microlight is a soft, durable nylon fabric that’s hard-wearing and tear resistant, but soft and pliable enough to move well with the use. It’s Pertex Microlight, a 20D weave with inherent stretch. Obviously this is true of the Polartec Alpha Direct insulation, but let’s look for a moment at the nylon base fabric. Rip those skins, Kevin! First Take: Kevin talks (and loves) AlphaĪs is usual with Outdoor Research, all of the fabrics and materials in the Ascendant are top-notch, name brand stuff.
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