Columbia Heavenly Long Hooded Review

Columbia uses its patented Omni-Heat™ reflective lining in this jacket. It's wrapped in a relatively thin layer of synthetic down, made of polyester. The result is a very lightweight jacket winter jacket. The idea is that the silver dot lining bounces your body heat back at you, retaining heat without adding the bulk or weight of additional insulation. In practice, we find this thinly insulated jacket works best in milder winter temperatures.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

With less insulation than much of the competition, the Heavenly Long didn't score very highly in our warmth testing. Columbia's Omni-Heat™ reflective lining is meant to reflect heat back into the jacket, requiring less bulk to hold in warmth. In our experience, it just doesn't work well enough to keep us cozy in the coldest weather.

The jacket's thin layer of synthetic down does keep out the chill in milder temperatures. It does seem like the silver lining helps us build up heat faster than in most jackets when we're moving around. But that's when we need the help the least. When we're standing around in below-freezing temperatures, we feel the chill faster in this coat than many of the rest.

That said, on that late fall or early spring days when the weather makes it hard to choose between a winter parka and a lighter layer, this jacket is a great option. It has a number of cozy details to keep you comfortable. The generously-sized hood is large enough to tuck most of your face out of the wind and its fleece lining keeps your ears warm.

A mid-thigh hem holds heat around your bum and hips and microfleece-lined pockets make a solid refuge for your hands. But our favorite feature may be the soft wrist cuffs that keep the cold from sneaking up your arms and keep your hands happy with integrated thumb loops.

Weather Resistance

This jacket does a good job of cutting the wind and keeping that bubble of warm air around your body. Unfortunately, while the hood is big enough to provide a bit of lateral protection from the wind, it doesn't cinch down to stay in place. Because of this, a stiff breeze easily sneaks around it and blasts your face. Our favorite winter jackets for stunningly cold temperatures do a lot more to protect your delicate cheeks from harsh winter weather.

Columbia says this jacket has a water-resistant shell. When we stood in the shower for two and a half minutes, the water didn't sneak through at the shoulders or penetrate the jacket at any point. It did, however, really soak the face fabric, waterlogging the jacket. Water also soaked the front of our shirts through the zipper. So while we do suggest this for milder temperatures, we don't recommend wearing it as a rain jacket.

Comfort

We find the Heavenly really comfortable to wear. It doesn't hurt that it is one of the lighter-weight options in the test. It has a generous cut that gives you plenty of room to layer, feeling roomy but never sloppy. It's easy to pull on too, with that silver lining sliding right over flannel sleeves.

The jacket includes a number of comforting details, including those incredibly soft wrist cuffs and a fleece-lined hood. The pockets are also lined, making them much more pleasant for your hands.

Style

The Heavenly jacket has a pretty classic parka look. Its light synthetic insulation allows for a trim cut that tucks in at the waist subtly and flares out at the hips for a flattering profile. Chevron and diamond baffles add visual interest, as does the reflective lining itself. Any time you open the jacket you have a disco ball at your disposal.

The saturated color earned us a number of compliments and the fleece-lined hood makes for a cozy look. While fleece is good for comfort, it can be rough on your hair. Our lead tester has loose waves and it tended to make them look a little wilder than normal.

Durability

We stuffed this jacket in backpacks, took it camping in the Maine mountains, rolled around with dogs and kids, and then pulled it on to walk around town, no worse for the wear. After months of use, we don't see any signs of distress. The zipper can often be a weak point in a piece of gear, and we haven't had any trouble with this one.

We expect these trends to last. The seams seem solid and the jacket is very well-constructed overall. That said, the face fabric isn't as thick as some of the heavier coats we tested. That makes it wonderfully lightweight, but also more vulnerable to rough edges. With a reasonable amount of care, we think this jacket will earn its keep.

Should You Buy the Columbia Heavenly Long Hooded Jacket?

This jacket is reasonably priced, roomy, and exceptionally light. We really like this as a shoulder season layer, before the temperatures plummet in the high mountains or far north. If you live in milder climates, say the mid-Atlantic Seaboard or along the west coast, this could work for all your winter needs.

We don't recommend this jacket for anyone who wants a lot of weather protection from their jacket. The hood is roomy but doesn't cinch down enough to protect your face from wind or driving snow or sleet. With no weather flap to protect it, the zipper can also let moisture make it through to your base layers.

If you don't deal with overly cold or wet weather or need a lighter jacket for unseasonably mild winter days, this could be a great option for you.

What Other Women's Winter Jackets Should You Consider?

If you like the idea of Columbia's heat-reflective lining warming you up without the bulk of a traditional winter jacket, another option we tested is Columbia's Suttle Mountain Long Jacket. The Suttle Mountain is a little burlier than the Heavenly. It has a fur-ruffed hood that helps keep the wind and weather out, a flap covering its front zipper, and what seems like burlier, more durable fabric.

If you're looking for a great deal, but want a more traditional type of insulation, we suggest our Best Buy winning REI Co-op Norseland Insulated Parka. It has 238 grams of 650 fill-duck-down that immediately wraps you up in feathery warmth.