Patagonia Frozen Range Review

The Patagonia Frozen Range Parka packs high-quality down insulation into a burly Gore-Tex shell and does it with style to boot. It is a fully-featured winter jacket that performs well in most cold and wintery environments, from slushy days on the streets to the bitter, dry, and cold winds of the Rocky Mountains.

Performance Comparison

This jacket stood out from the competition and nearly took home the Editors' Choice Award. If the style of this jacket is appealing, look no further.

Warmth

This jacket scored highly for warmth compared to most other jackets in our review, scoring 8 out of 10. The Frozen Range Parka features lots of high-quality, 700-fill power packed into interior baffles, which means there are no thin spots in the insulation.

Down baffling continues through the hood, including an interior rib of down insulation around the neck, taking up any empty space inside the jacket and preventing cold air from entering through the top of the coat. The long hem provides warmth for the lower torso. This jacket is certainly warm enough for most winter conditions, especially if you start with a solid base layer. However, if you are one of the few that must weather the most extreme winters on earth, check out the Top Pick for Extreme Cold, the Canada Goose Expedition Parka.

Weather Resistance

This jacket features a coarse, burly Gore-Tex shell with fully taped seams and a highly protective hood to seal out any rain and snow, and block the wind with ease. We had no issues with water making its way through the jacket, and it earned an 8 out of 10 for weather resistance.

The long hem and stretch-knit storm cuffs add weather protection. The hood's unique "snorkel" design provides a significant distance between wind or precipitation and the sensitive skin of the nose and face, a feature many testers love.

One downside is the lack of any synthetic insulation in this jacket. When water makes its way into down insulation, the feathers can quickly lose their loft, bunch together, and lose their insulating properties. The Frozen Range shell will keep most water out of the jacket, but perspiration or light precipitation entering through the neck and pockets is inevitable. We wish Patagonia had included some moisture-resistant synthetic insulation around the neck and shoulders of this jacket.

Comfort

Overall, this is a well-fitting jacket that is easy to wear. It earned a 7 out of 10 for comfort, but some features get in the way of a perfect fit. The jacket is neither too slim nor too baggy, making it very comfortable when putting it on for the first time. The shell fabric is stiff but doesn't feel nearly as plasticky or crinkly as other models. The stiffness of the shell can be felt when bending over or sitting down, but the 2-way main zipper allows for opening the bottom of the jacket to increase mobility. The down baffled neck rib and stretch-knit cuffs are cozy.

Each handwarmer pocket has a small mesh cell phone pocket sewn into the lining, which gets in the way of a comfortable hand-warming experience. When the front zipper closes completely, the hood's brim is pulled into the back of the head due to the elongated snorkel design of the hood. These two features are slightly distracting but, overall, aren't that big of a deal.

Features

This jacket provides an adequate amount of features to make life easier in winter, earning a 7 out of 10 in this metric. Two large handwarmer pockets with soft woven linings provide refuge for cold fingers, but the mesh cell phone slots are overkill. There is no insulation between the outer shell and the pockets, and we often wished for gloves instead. The insulated and spacious chest pocket is cleverly hidden behind the large front zipper flap and provides plenty of room for modern smartphones. On the inside, the large elastic stash pocket has plenty of room for a pair of gloves, hat, scarf, or other winter essentials.

The hood was the most controversial feature of this jacket amongst our testers. The design may make or break the jacket in the eyes of most potential users. The snorkel design provides a large distance between the outside world and the face of the wearer, providing excellent protection from blowing snow and biting winds. It is clear that Patagonia designed this hood for the stormy winters of Chicago, Boston, and New York City. However, it can block all peripheral vision and is a questionable style choice, in our opinion.

Style

The Frozen Range Parka is designed with fashion in mind, and it earned an 8 out of 10 for style. It stands out from other products in this review as a sharp-looking jacket that is equally at home on Fifth Avenue as it is on the streets of Aspen. Style is personal, and this jacket is proof of that, as some will be enticed by its design, and others will immediately look elsewhere.

The jacket's cut, optional front button closure, and long hem suggest a trench coat look, and the snorkel hood is unique and polarizing. Our testers were dubious at first about the style of the hood, but over time, they warmed up to it and even appreciated the way this jacket stands out in a crowd. For this reason, this jacket scored highly in the Style metric, but not as high as the more universally styled Arc'teryx Camosun Parka.

Durability

This jacket is bomber. The robust shell fabric feels tough and is resistant to catching, tearing, and staining. The interior polyester fabric is thin but doesn't come into contact with any zippers, and none of the zippers in this jacket ever caught on nearby material during our test. The hood adjustment cord is hidden underneath a durable fabric panel and won't get snagged on anything. Overall, it earned a 9 out of 10 for durability.

The apparent weakness to the durability of this jacket is the large buttons, which are attached with a small sewn fabric strand. These buttons have the potential to get hung up when picking up the coat or walking through crowds. However, there is a stylistic component to them, and the front flap does a good job of protecting the buttons when not in use. Thin mesh cell phone slots in the handwarmer pockets are also a weak point and sometimes get caught on metal keyrings or car keys. These features prevented this jacket from being rated as durable as the Arc'teryx Camosun Parka or the Canada Goose Expedition Parka.

Should You Buy the Patagonia Frozen Range?

Keeping the cold at bay while keeping you looking sharp, the Patagonia Frozen Range Parka is an excellent winter jacket that barely missed the Editors' Choice Award. It is warm, comfortable, weather-resistant, and incredibly durable; almost everything we could ask of a solid winter coat. If the style of this jacket appeals to you, put it at the top of your list.

What Other Winter Jackets Should You Consider?

This well-constructed jacket is more expensive than any other option in our review except for the Canada Goose jackets. However, Patagonia is known for its quality, consistency, and warranty, meaning that this jacket can be considered a long-term investment that will protect you for many winters to come. Plus, the urban style of this jacket can compare to much more expensive tailored jackets from mainstream fashion brands. But if the style is not your top priority, you may be better off looking elsewhere. While a bit pricey, our Editors' Choice Camosun Parka is slightly more affordable than the Range jacket and is more versatile and durable. If you are looking for a budget option that will keep you just as toasty and protected, the The North Face McMurdo Down Parka is one of our favorite options.