Patagonia Torrentshell Review

Likes
The Torrentshell is a pretty solid little jacket. No standout features here, just solid all-around performance.

The jacket is highly waterproof. No leaks or seeps anywhere on the jacket. All the seams are neatly and solidly taped and all the zippers are completely and securely covered with storm flaps. The hood is bomber and has a great shape to it, though fitting a helmet in would be almost impossible.

All the zippers are smooth and easy to use, and the pit zips go down and up with one hand no problem. The cinch on the bottom of the jacket is easy to use and stays tight once adjusted to you liking. The cuffs are easily adjusted with a simple Velcro strap.

The pockets are made of the same waterproof material as the rest of the jacket so, while doing nothing for the breathability of the shell, they keep the condensation produced by your body from hitting whatever you’ve got in your pockets. The Torrentshell also packs up into one of its pockets and is easily clipped to a harness or the outside of a backpack for ease of transport and maximum packability.

Dislikes
The main dislike that we have with the Torrentshell lies in it’s breathability. Simply put, this jacket does not breathe or ventilate well. The pit zips help, but some of the other jackets we tested are much better ventilated. Read the note below for more info.

We also felt that the Torrentshell’s fit and cut could be a little better. We found that the front zipper folded in a strange way, giving us a pot belly look, and that when we raised our arms the waistline of the jacket rode up, exposing some lower back skin to the cold and rain. The collar was also the least comfortable collar that we tested as it has no fuzzy fleece in the chin area.

The final gripe we have with the Torrentshell is that the hood cinch (excepting the back cinch) is very difficult to use due to the fact that the loose ends of the elastic cord are located inside the collar. We found ourselves forgoing the two cinches for the rim of the hood and just using the cinch in the back.

A Note on Breathability:
None of the rain jackets that we tested proved to be very breathable. Almost all of the jackets boast a “waterproof breathable technology” of some kind, but please interpret these claims loosely. We found that when we wore the jackets for any kind of high exertion activity (and we pointedly took at least one hard one-hour run in each jacket in the rain, in addition to climbing in them, hiking in them, walking in them and biking in them) we found that we were promptly creating our own weather inside the jacket. The only thing that saved us from our self-made monsoon was the fact that each jacket we tested had pit zips to let out some of moisture.

Some of the jackets also had larger mesh-lined pockets that can be left open and, when coupled with the pit zips, significantly helped with the jacket’s breathability. The Torrentshell is not one of these jackets. As mentioned above, the pockets of the Torrentshell are made of the same “waterproof breathable” fabric that the rest of the jacket is. As such, the Torrentshell jacket was one of the least breathable jackets we tested.

Best Application
Any activity in wet or rainy conditions or just for around-town use. It can also cross over as a shell for skiing or other winter activities, but layer up. As with all rain jackets, breathability is poor so layer with a synthetic base layer in high intensity adventures or suffer the clammy consequences.

Value
At $120 this is not the most expensive jacket, or the least expensive, we tested. A solid Jacket that performed in the middle in all regards.

Other Versions
Patgonia Rain Shadow – Slightly Lighter, $60 more


A big part of Patagonia is the history, manufacturing process, and philosophy behind their gear that is told in A big part of Patagonia is the history, manufacturing process, and philosophy behind their gear that is told in Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard. Highly recommended reading.