Performance
During our trip to New Zealand we experienced a whole slew of conditions: cold, strong winds; rain, sleet, and snow. With a light T-shirt base layer and mid-weight fleece hoody beneath the Odin Mountain, I was quite comfortable when temperatures hovered around freezing.
In temperatures above freezing, I found that the Odin breathed very well. On our second day of skiing, we spent about 30 minutes hiking to get to a neighboring club field. It was raining slightly, very windy, and the temperatures were above 32 degrees—a good recipe for working up a cold sweat under your jacket.
When I unzipped the front of the jacket and the pit zips, I found that the Odin worked very well in these conditions. It was just as breathable as my Westcomb Apoc NeoShell jacket. After a few more hours of skiing in foggy, rainy conditions, I took the jacket off to see if there was any accumulated moisture inside the shell—it was dry, impressive on such a humid day. The Odin is remarkably light and breathes very, very well.
Comparisons
My go-to jacket over the past year has been a Polartech NeoShell jacket from Westcomb called the Apoc. It’s a great jacket that wicks moisture away from my body and keeps rain and snow out. In my time with the Odin so far, I’d say that the Helly Hansen Professional fabric works just as well as the Polartech NeoShell fabric.
The Odin is also relatively lightweight. I’ve used the first generation Marmot Zion, a Polartech NeoShell jacket, and while that jacket blocks the rain, it simply feels heavy when you’re skiing in it. With the Odin, I almost forget I’m wearing a jacket.
Bottom Line
I would definitely place the Odin among the best jackets I’ve used in terms of performance, fabric feel, and functional features. As comparison, the Odin breathes about as well as my Polartech NeoShell jacket.
For someone looking for a breathable, warm, lightweight shell with some nice ski- and-climbing-specific features, the Odin is a very good choice.