Arc'Teryx Stingray Jacket
Dec 01, 2008 · 10:56 PM · permalink
I'm about halfway through the jackets I'll be reviewing and I have to say, it's starting to become really interesting. I'm focused on light, breathable technical shells which tend to be very expensive, very well made, and of very similar materials. But if you thought they'd all be the same, you'd be mistaken. Case in point: the Arc'Teryx Stingray jacket.
Vancouver-based Arc'Teryx is known for making precise, highly technical gear. They pioneered innovations like die and laser cutting, heat lamination and bonding, and urethane-coated zippers which has given them a reputation for extremely quality at extreme prices. Having spent time with the Stingray jacket I can vouch for the beauty of its simple design and perfect construction, but also for its unsuitability to my purposes.
Arc'Teryx doesn't make it easy to write a review. No discussion of features will serve since the Stingray attends obsessively to minute details, but not features. So, here are some words on details.
It has five pockets: two largish, zippered hand pockets, two smallish, zippered inner pockets, and one mediumish (left) shoulder pocket. All the pockets are perfectly finished and perfectly integral so they cannot flop around. But they are all utterly generic pockets--bereft of features such as size or position that would suit them to snow sports. Storage and access to gear is critical whether skiing in the resort or the backcountry, and the Stingray fails to address this need by an absence of specialized pockets--such as for skins, food, electronics.
The YKK zippers all work perfectly, zip easily, and are integrated into the shell--sealed at top and bottom with little molded hoods to cover them when closed. Unlike many shells, the two-way pit zips can be operated one-handed by pulling on their lanyards. Yet the front zip is a one-way zipper: somehow, Arc'Teryx engineered easy-to-operate pit zips, but neglected the need to unzip the bottom of the jacket to fiddle with powder skirt and perform other critical operations in that latitude.
The jacket fabric is supple with a slight stretch. It's comfortable although for my 5'10", 150 lb frame, the medium is a little too short and a little too broad (but the small was noticeably constricting). The shoulders, especially, seem excessively roomy and broad. The jacket feels light which, at 753 grams, it is. It moves easily with even full layering without binding or constricting.
On the whole, the workmanship of this jacket is sublime. The joining together of the separate panels would make a master quilter weap and there are none of the usual imperfections in the stitches. (I've left my photos at extra high resolution so you can see for yourself.) No doubt, this jacket is perfect for someone. It eschews features but perfects its details and workmanship. It possesses a certain less-is-more stoicism that will appeal to purists. But for $500,I actually expected more. Minimalism and economy aren't had merely by eliminating the extraneous, they also must satisfy needs and wants through new integrations of form and function.
Or to put it more plainly: when I bought a $500 Arc'Teryx jacket, I didn't expect to be left wanting, I expected to forget that I ever had certain wants.
| Specs:Arc'Teryx Stingray Jacket | |
| Price as tested | $499.00 |
| Shell | 590N Gore-Tex Softshell Low Loft |
| Weight | 26.5 oz 753 gm |
| Sizes | S, M, L, XL, XXL |
| Colors | Cactus (green), Copper (orange), Mahogany (brown), Mineral (tan) |
| Features |
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