Patagonia Nano Storm Jacket

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SIZING / FIT:

At 5’10”, 185 lbs., I’m kind of in between sizes. The medium is a slim, athletic fit, but it’s really short on me. The the length of the size Large is better for me, but it carries a significant amount of room throughout the waist and torso, more than I need. (I measure 42″ around the chest, 31″ around the waist, and I’m definitely swimming a little bit.)

Three of our reviewers in the 155-165 lb., 5’9” – 5’11” range all rock the size medium comfortably and really like the fit. If I’m just grabbing the Nano Storm to head out in a T-shirt and jeans, I’m happy with the medium. For skiing, however, I’d prefer to have the extra length, and I’d just deal with the additional roominess of the Large.

ZIPPERS:

The Nano Storm’s are fantastic. Often watertight zippers are stiff and actually sort of suck to zip and unzip. Not these. They are substantial, they don’t catch, they look great, and so far, they have allowed in no water.

BREATHABILITY (AND THE ABSENCE OF PIT ZIPS):

I find it interesting that Chouinard views the addition of pit zips as a design failure—a clear signal that a garment’s fabric isn’t as breathable as it ought to be.

I’ve always viewed pit zips as a ‘must have’ rather than as a ‘design failure,’ but I find his point compelling. And so, how breathable / versatile is the Nano Storm, given its lack of pit zips?

On warm afternoons (40+ degrees Fahrenheit) boot packing at both Las Leñas and in Taos, I would definitely begin to warm up. But in those cases, I was wearing a relatively light, wool base layer, and then in a stroke of sheer genius…I unzipped the jacket. Sometimes half way, sometimes completely. While my quick thinking and problem solving is certainly impressive, studies show that at least 86% of our readers (and I’m gonna guess at least 57% of our other BLISTER reviewers) would also be able to adjust accordingly.

Plus, when boot packing on warmer afternoons, if and when the winds kicked up, I’d zip up the jacket and never found myself roasting.

Furthermore, if you’re fortunate enough to own an unlined shell for warm days, and the Nano Storm is going to serve primarily as your cold weather jacket, then all of this is basically a nonissue.

But truth be told, I doubt that the Nano Storm’s fabric + laminate combination amounts to the most breathable option on the planet, but it is very satisfactory, and I’ve had no complaints. (Plus, the most breathable option out there isn’t going to come in at an MSRP of $299, either.)

WATERPROOFING:

So far, so good. Patagonia uses their in-house, H2No® laminate on the Nano Storm, and once again, I’ve had no complaints.

Once again: so far, so good. The exterior fabric feels tough. I’ve never given a single thought when shouldering skis around; it just never occurs to me to be careful with this jacket. Even when skiing tight trees and knocking branches out of the way, this just isn’t one of those jackets that I worry about. More points.

PACKABILITY:

For being a lined, insulated jacket, the Nano Storm is not overly bulky. But this also isn’t a jacket that will blow your mind with how small it will pack down. C’mon, it’s an insulated jacket with a hardshell exterior. So no, it doesn’t pack down to the size of an orange.

BOTTOM LINE:

As always, the clearer you are about how and where you’ll actually use a piece of gear like the Patagonia Nano Storm, the easier it’ll be to decide whether this particular jacket makes sense.

The Patagonia Nano Storm jacket is very comfortable, warm, stylishly minimalistic, and low profile. It’s the sort of jacket that I’ll wager you’ll end up grabbing all the time—whether you’re headed to the bar, or the gym, or the grocery store, or fly fishing or commuting to work or school, or climbing in the spring or autumn, or skiing in winter.

Of course, you really could go buy both a Patagonia Nano Puff and a Torrent Shell for about the same price and for greater versatility. They really are very good individual pieces.

But the truth is, I don’t always want to grab a couple of layers, I want to grab a single jacket and run out the door. So if you’re anything like me (and BLISTER photographer Ryan Heffernan, and reviewers Garrett Altmann and Joe Augusten), the Nano Storm could easily become your go-to jacket, simple as that.