Patagonia Refugitive Jacket

Pockets / Vents

The pocket layout on the Refugitive isn’t revolutionary, but for me, it’s just about perfect. There are two nicely placed handwarmer pockets that sit just above the waist belt on my pack. They are both big enough to stash reasonably large skins.

On the left chest, there is a nicely sized pocket that is accessible while wearing a pack, and is large enough for me to store sunglasses on the descent, along with my iPhone 6, and a few other small items. It even has a small baffle that allows it to open a bit further. This is always my favorite pocket, because it seems like the place on my jacket that I can store fragile items with the best chance of not damaging them while skiing.

On the inside, there is a small wallet/key-sized inside pocket just on the inside in the same area as the outer chest pocket. I’d rather this was on the opposite side of the chest to decrease bulk in that area, but it wasn’t a big problem.

There is one stretchy pouch pocket on the inside that could also store skins easily, or a 1L Nalgene. I’d prefer one of these on each side to balance the load, but it’s nice to have at least one.

There are nicely-sized pit zips on the Refugitive. Some people feel like this is a waste of weight and complexity on newer, more breathable jackets but I’ve never used a jacket for skiing where I didn’t appreciate the ability to open the pit zips for a little extra cooling. The pit zips on the Refugitive are well sized and easy to access.

Hood

Designing a hood for a ski jacket must be challenging, based on how often they don’t quite work correctly. Ideally, the hood will accommodate a ski helmet, but will cinch down over a beanie or ball cap and still provide good protection and unobstructed vision.

While it looks similar to the Powslayer’s hood, the hood on the Refugitive works better for me, especially when used with a helmet. It adjusts easily with one hand and generally works quite well. I would put it on the same level as the excellent hood design of the Arcteryx Rush.

Other Features

There is no powder skirt on the Refugitive, which I don’t mind since I most often use some type of bib pant when skiing deep snow anyway. It does have a nicely thought out tab system that allows the back of the jacket to attach to Patagonia ski and snowboard pants. I haven’t tried this yet while skiing since the Patagonia Alpinist bibs I was testing in New Zealand did not accommodate this, but at home it matched up well with my PowSlayer bibs and should be more than adequate, even for deep pow in Japan this winter.

Waterproofing

I spent a few days in New Zealand riding lifts and rope tows during intermittent rain and snowfall, and in winds gusting into the 30 mph range. Throughout this, the Refugitive kept me completely dry.

I have had issues with coil type zippers like the Refugitive’s on past Patagonia jackets and generally prefer the more expensive molded zippers for both waterproofing and durability. But I have had no issues with leaking so far. It is my hope that we’ll have a normal, cold, snowy winter in Alaska this year, but I’ll report back if I get into wet rainy ski conditions and have any issues.

Breathability

It’s not often that I’ll do much hiking or skinning in a shell, except for short sidecountry hikes or in stormy conditions. But I did spend some short spells of high exertion in the Refugitive.

My initial impression was that the Refugitive’s fabric seemed to have the same breathability as jackets using the newer Gore Pro laminate. But one day, I switched back and forth between the Refugitive and the Sweet Protection Supernaut (made with Gore Pro) and the difference was not subtle: the Refugitive felt much more breathable and less warm.

(To be fair here, the Sweet Protection Supernaut uses a much heavier face fabric than the Refugitive, which should account for some of that difference.)

I’ll do some more direct back-to-back comparisons with some of the Gore Active and new Gore Pro jackets later this season and will update here if there any other remarkable differences.

Durability

Two weeks is not adequate time to assess the durability of quality outerwear. I can say that the velcro on the Refugitive’s cuffs seems to be higher quality than that on the PowSlayer, and I hope it will be more functional.

As I said above, I have my concerns about coil zippers, but have had no issues at all so far with this one. I can attest that the sleeves survived quite a few encounters with the tow ropes at the club fields and are none the worse for the wear. In addition, lots of time shouldering skis has had no ill effects on the shoulder areas.

Versatility

The Refugitive is an excellent ski jacket, but its weight and feature set are totally reasonable for 4-season use as rain gear as well. The fit might be a little more full than some people prefer for summer use, but it would be a top pick for me if I had to choose just one shell for year round adventures.

Bottom Line

I’ve only used it for a little over 2 weeks but, so far, the Patagonia Refugitive is my favorite all around jacket for a combination of front and backcountry skiing. It has a great fit for me, a reasonable weight for long, multi-day tours and 4 season use, and has all the pockets and features that I look for. I was initially curious about this shell due to its use of the new Gore C-Knit laminate, but ended up being generally impressed by a very well conceived ski jacket.