The Mountain Hardwear Dragon is a lightweight, comfortable, and fully-featured ice and alpine climbing softshell. Uninsulated Gore Windstopper, zWeld watertight seams, pit zips, thumb loops, high hand pockets, and a huge hood make the Dragon ideal for cold, windy, dry days swinging tools or high up in the mountains.
An alternative to the Dragon is the custom-made Beyond Clothing Cold Fusion Shock jacket. This is made specifically for your own body so it fits very well. It’s also made of a warmer material. We recommend this over the Dragon if fit is a top priority and/or you venture into colder environments. Although both the Dragon and Cold Fusion Shock are great for the vertical world, they’re not well suited to skiing and general purpose winter activities. For a more versatile jacket, look instead to the Arcteyx Venta SV, our top-rated do-it-all softshell. A cheaper option is the OR Alibi, which has inferior vents, zippers, and a more restrictive hood. These two jackets will climb ice nearly as well as the Dragon, but ski and ride much better. The best ski-specific softshell, however, is the bombproof and well-featured Flylow Higgins. If you’re looking for a casual softshell, get the North Face Apex Bionic.
Hands-on Gear Review |
Street Price:
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Pros: Lightweight, great mobility, awkward hood. Cons: Poor hood closure. Best Uses: Ice and alpine climbing.
Overview
OutdoorGearLab Editors' Hands-on Review
Likes
The Mountain Hardwear Dragon is a lightweight, comfortable, and fully-featured ice and alpine climbing softshell. The Dragon is made exclusively from Gore Windstopper Soft Shell fabric. This is a three-layer laminate that’s completely windproof, breathable, and water resistant. It performs very well in cold, windy, and dry environments, but poorly in most others. In this respect, the Dragon does what few others do – it exemplifies the true definition of a softshell. No insulation adds to this claim and makes the jacket better for cold weather because you can layer accordingly. Other features make the Dragon good for alpine pursuits. Pit zips ventilate, thumb loops keep the sleeves secure, adjustable cuffs close tightly over gloves, high hand pockets accommodate a hip belt, watertight zippers keep snow and ice out, and a free flowing main zipper makes getting in and out a breeze. The Dragon also has die cut patterned velcro cuffs (see photos) and our favorite zipper pull of any softshell reviewed here (they’re thin, light, and grippy).  The Mountain Hardwear Dragon approaching Mt. Whitney Credit: Max Neale Dislikes While the Dragon is great for ice and alpine climbing it’s not so good for other winter activities. The hood makes it bad for Nordic skiing and most alpine ski conditions require a more waterproof jacket. Snowshoeing and hiking are okay but not ideal. The Dragon’s specialty lies in the vertical realm. Other jackets are better for all-purpose activities. The hood can be troublesome. It’s very large and covers a helmet well, but without one it’s titanic and can obstruct your view of the world. We usually flip the brim back when we’re not wearing a helmet. There’s also only one draw cord (most softshells have three), which doesn’t adequately tighten the neck area. The hood on this company’s Keppler jacket is much better. Another minor fault lies with the tiny zippered interior pocket. This can hold a key or ID, but not much else. We’d like to see a slightly larger pocket here. Despite the poor hood closure and small interior pocket, the Dragon is our top choice for ice and alpine climbing. Best Application Ice and alpine climbing. Value The Dragon is reasonably priced if you only need it for ice and alpine climbing. — Max Neale
OutdoorGearLab Member Reviews of Mountain Hardwear DragonMost recent review: March 29, 2011
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 Mountain Hardwear Dragon Credit: Mountain Hardwear
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