Outdoor Vitals LoftTek Adventure Jacket – Trail Review

This channel is Agenda Free and is fully supported by the viewers.

It is time to review the Outdoor Vitals LoftTek Adventure Jacket. As with all of our reviews, this has been Trail Tested and isn't an info commercial like some of the other videos that you may have seen for this product.

Susan joins for this review and with the Outdoor Vitals LoftTek Adventure Jacket, there are problems.

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Price : $150 – Shipping around July 2019

Weight : Medium Size : 11.6oz

Sizes : Small - XXXL

Colors : When this jacket officially launches it will be available in multiple colors. Charcoal and a blue color.

Out material : 20D nylon Ripstop

Liner Fabric : 10D Nylon Ripstop

Insulation ; Lofttek Siliconized Hollow Fiber Synthetic Down

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I’ve had a number of issues with this jacket and I took a look on Youtube to see if anyone else has reviewed it and I found a bunch of videos that equated to INFO commercials which didn’t amount to much.

So what you are about to see isn’t a commercial but rather a true trail review of this jacket not only done by myself but with Susan as well. Man and woman perspective.

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Review :

Pros :

Light
Good stitching
Long pit zips
Good hood. Comfortable and easily adjustable in the right sports

Feature a water repellant treatment; this is a nice to have but you still wouldn’t want to get this jacket soaking wet. If it is, you will be warmer than traditional down but you won’t be running around amazed at how warm you are.

Cons :
Pit zips can be felt against your skin if wearing a tshirt.
Isn’t all that wind resistant -with gusty winds around 10 – 20mph, definitely noticeable especially on the front of the jacket and the arms. The back of the jacket and the hood seem to feature more fill than the rest of the jacket. OV claims told me directly that the wind resistance level is equal to that of a high level down jacket wind resistance which is far from the truth.
Fill material is coming through the outer material – Outdoor Vitals has stated that they are going to address this before the jacket is released as other complaints have been made.
Plastic sort of sound
Loose fit Boxy, non-flattering fit; Outdoor Vitals stated that it is meant for an Athletic Fit but I don’t see that with the jacket that I have received and not with the pictures that outdoor vitals has posted on their web site. Their own pictures so very loose, boxy jackets, not form fitting.

Hand pockets don’t offer that much protection due to the low amount of fill. Not vey warm.

Jacket as a whole is Not very warm. Seems underfilled. Very thin.
Temp range for woman is going to be higher than a man. At 45f and hiking i was comfortable enough whereas Susie was cold.
At 45 and with it being breezy i was never completely warm...due to low fill and thinness
Thumb holes are worthless. So small that my thumb wont even fit

Summary :

With my testing I would say that this is a 50f jacket; below that you will need a long sleeve shirt or warm mid layer to be comfortable in lower conditions for most people.

Outdoor Vitals claims that LoftTek™ is the world's most advanced synthetic down imitation. The loose fill nature of the fibers mimics down’s extreme weight to warmth ratios and packability, while the it’s synthetic nature allows it to stay warm in wet conditions! All of this may be true but with the jacket that I received is so thin that I can’t agree with these claims.

I’m hoping that the criticisms for this jacket are addressed by the time that this jacket launches; if they are, Outdoor Vitals will have a good offering on their hands but as it stands now, I’m not impressed. I truly hope that they succeed as I like all that I have seen from this company so far and I hope that they will ask that we review the release version of this jacket when the day comes.

If you are going to pay down prices for a synthetic jacket you might as well get a good down jacket as there are many out there for around this price point.

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[TheOutdoorGearReview]

2019!!!
Everyone be safe tonight and let's make this an awesome year!
- Luke

[dml]

Finally an honest review!!! So refreshing and it keeps the trust going as well...great to see Luke and Suzie!....This company ran a " free pillow" scam a while back and then this crappy jacket came out...it makes me angry .as far as I'm concerned a lot of people are set to drop a lot of money on some crap if they are not held accountable. There are a lot of small channels out there that are, unfortunately, adding to the issue by not giving an honest you!

[jimfosse]

Thank you so much for your direct honesty to what you liked and disliked about the jacket. I've purchase other products from them and felt their customer service as well as the quality of their products were done well. However, not ever product will turn out the same and it sounds like there is still a learning curve. I am excited to hear how they improve on the design because $150 for a jacket like this is a bit steep for me.

I really hope that Outdoor Vitals continues to boom! I greatly appreciate their mission toward affordable ultra-light gear...

[danielmartin]

Wow, thank you for that review. I hadn't seen this one back then, but today it's a completely different picture. I was one of the kickstarter backers and received my jacket. I have used it hiking high up in the mountains for some days this summer, but it was way too hot when the sun came out.
I wanted to thank you for this honest review, because the final jacket was somewhat improved. The insulation does not leak and the thumbholes are bigger (or my hands are smaller). The fit is still very "boxy", definitively not athletic. They must have improved the outer fabric, or put a better coating on it, because it was air tight and again, it was very hot. I hiked in it before the sun came out, but as soon as the sun was shining, I was sweating (with the pit zips open all the time). Overall, I really like mine; it's light and warm. I'm looking forward to testing it more in freezing temperatures this winter!

[coaroas]

First negative review on this jacket. Nice to see someone pointing out flaws.

[MrWillyp]

A good fleece sweater, dollar store tuke, and a Frogg Togg jacket costs way less and seems much warmer. And to mention, more durable around a campfire. Plus, it's layers instead of a one jacket option. Pretty sure the tiny weight difference isn't worth worrying about.

[JayWandersOut]

That's too bad about Thrunite but you guys are doing the right thing.

[rolfdenver]

You’ve got a very athletic build, so this jacket may feel boxy to you, but for a guy like me with just a few extra pounds this jacket fits very well. The pit zips were not a problem to me as far as for you, but I didn’t really see that much use out of them. I liked the long sleeves and how they could cover my hands. Most important thing was that this jacket was warm even when wet. It will now be my go to jacket for most of my overnights with my very light weight-not quite ultralight-backpacking set up. And I agree, the hood is fantastic. With it, I don’t need to take an extra hat. I wore this jacket every night while sleeping on the Colorado Trail, along with my lightweight quilt, and it was great.

[fleshrocker]

This review got me to hit the subscribe button. Really appreciate an honest review. Too often, myself also guilty, I see reviews of pumped up gear junkies who are excited about a product but haven’t put it through its paces.

[HIPPIETHUG]

So glad I watched this before purchasing. I had been seeing advertisements for some time and like many seemed blown away by the Outdoor Vitals statements. The cons outweigh the pros. The search continues
Thanks for another agenda free honest review!
🙏💪

[EuropaChronicles]

I really appreciate your honest reviews. From a customer’s perspective, paid/sponsored/“only positive” reviews are about 10% useful. They’re good for telling us about features, specs, etc… but after that there pretty much useless.

In truth, I don’t have much respect for channels that trade positive reviews for products. Mostly because I don’t feel that those channels actually respect their audience and would rather sellout to get free stuff.

[aaronfuentes]

Politely ruthless. This channel is legit. Thanks outdoor vitals, for supporting these channels.

[brettwatsonphoto]

I would have to almost say to ignore this review as the jacket was clearly a prototype. I just received one from someone that bought multiple through the Kickstarter campaign and the fabric weave seems to be tighter and perhaps even calendared (process that helps keep down jackets from 'leaking'). I see no signs of leaking. Also, I actually am really digging the fit...I'm 5'11 180 lbs and the size large fits me pretty good with enough room to layer. The droptail is a very welcome feature! I'm surprised at how well it works in preventing drafts when bending over. Thumbholes seem just fine to me and I'm sure a delicate balance in size has to be struck here to avoid an oversized hole that would allow drafts in through the cuff, which btw is sized near perfect IMO. But the fit overall seems to again strike a good balance as long as you go by OV's size up suggestion on their site. I'm typically a size medium and especially so with Columbia Sportswear stuff(very consistent sizing IMO) but with many other mainstream outdoor brands like Outdoor Research, Arc'teryx etc I have to do Large. This jacket is no different. And I certainly like the fit on this jacket better than my previously owned Enlightened Equipment Torrid Apex jacket! Which brings me to warmth....so let's be clear here, JACKETS DO NOT MAGICALLY MAKE WARMTH ON THEIR OWN. So this all comes down to factors such as our current metabolism, perhaps wind chill, and then how the jacket manages that heat/heat loss. Just like with my EE Torrid, ive only been testing this jacket so far while NOT having been recently active...just stepping outside with the jacket on with either long or short sleeved t-shirt on...I find that I can actually feel warmth being retained and I've even found myself using the pit zips. I honestly cannot say that I felt warmth when wearing my Torrid jacket in pretty much the same conditions. Not that I was cold but I just didn't feel any 'warmth'. Of course this comes at a slight penalty and my only negative for the Loftek so far, the weight. My size large comes in at 13oz😒 vs the 8.2 that my medium Torrid weighed but Im coming to terms with sacrificing a few ounces for function and even some style. I wouldn't hesitate to wear the Loftek jacket to work or out around town. Let me finally say that I am most certainly NOT a Outdoor Vitals fanboy...in fact I was ready to write them off altogether after the bad experience I had with their Loftek topquilt. (early trial and error of using the Loftek insulation where baffles were too big etc....). BUT contrary to what one of the comments says below, I received decent customer service and got a refund. All in all I'm currently feeling a sigh of relief with this jacket not seeming to be a total flop like this video and some other comments suggest. I think with all things there could be some sample variance but I've seen reviews complaining of the exact same things on much more expensive jackets.

[gyffesme]

So I've had the loft-tek coat ($130) for a couple of weeks now and here're my thoughts:
Insulation leaking seems to have been fixed. Thumbhole is tight, but I wear an XL glove, so figured it was me. PLENTY warm with Tshirt (those zippers though!) this morning walking the dog at 25º. Hands got too warm in the pockets (without gloves). Walked with zipper undone and pits open up and around the hills behind my house and barely avoided sweating. At 5'10, 200lbs with big chest and shoulders, the L fits snugly but not too tight. Yes, I run warm (ok, silly warm), but I think most would find this iteration of the jacket warmer than a 50º coat. Have yet to test it in windy conditions but think it would hold up as well as any of the puffies I own. It was definitely too warm on a night hike at about 30º the other night: I carried it while the sweat it had generated cooled on me and my t-shirt.
About those pit zips: I bought this coat bc of them (ok, I'm a sweat machine), but they are hard to open and close while wearing the coat. Initially there was a hard plastic thread at the top of one zipper that was SPEARING me until I melted it down with red-hot paperclip; not terrible, but one shouldn't have to do surgery to a $130 coat.

Bottom line, I don't think $130 is a lot for a good coat (having bought a couple of arcteryx items for my wife, this coat is positively cheap), and I feel pretty good about the purchase. Light, warm, water-resistant-ish, packable... ticks the boxes.

[Eric-ewjt]

THIS is why I don't jump on the Kickstarter ''Train'' I'll stick to the tried and true ones. Icebreaker, North Face, Arc'teryx Thanks for the honest no bull shit review cool hand Luke. Happy New Year !

[michaelgineo]

Thanks Luke you just saved me $150.00 I was interested in the jacket but no longer now. I was waiting for a true review and got it so thanks again. Maybe their gen 2 will be a better Option.

[OutLan]

Thanks for the honest review!

I have an REI Co-Op down jacket that I picked up for $100 and it is super warm. There are definitely better-priced alternatives.

Too bad about Thrunite. Ethics like that I can do without and I won't be purchasing anything from them.

[RonMTube]

Great review. You just saved me from a misguided purchase. However, I disagree about the synthetic comments. Down is unquestionably the warmest insulation but water is it's Achilles heel. Getting wet, whether from the outside or inside, is common and often dangerous during outdoor adventures, so I'd happily pay more for a synthetic that could overcome down's issues.

[prwoolrich]

A review should always be honest good or bad if a company is not prepared to accept your findings then they are not worth considering, thank you Luke and Suzy for always being honest and thorough.

[christopherdelihas]

I’ve heard seen and experienced nothing but bad things with this company. They are trying and they do have relatively OK customer service. But they have a long way to go! Thank you for the great video! And I wish you and your entire family a very happy and healthy new year!