TRuC Reviews

Out of the Bag:
Roadworthy: 5
Fit: 5
Construction: 5
Quality: 5

Final Eval: 5

5 - You better get this before you're the last loser on the planet without one
4 - You know that kid that you went to school with that smelled like used diapers, had perpetual big neon-green boogers and never brushed his teeth? You'll be that kid if you don't get this
3 - It's alright. Your parents might even think it's cool
2 - I like it, no, I hate it...no, actually I like it but sometimes I hate it
1 - Worse than getting kicked in the balls/boobies and tossed headfirst into a port-a-jon

I'll first start this off stating that I am an employee of Outdoor Research (OR). I'll follow that stating that this is not a bias review. Although I do enjoy many (if not all) of the OR products, you'll find only a few that I will consider putting on this page. A lot of their equipment goes without a need for a review, but you'll see a couple things here that are well worthy of mentioning in this blog. So moving on...

The Ferrosi Hoody came out for Spring 09' and has quickly become one of the coolest jackets I own. I probably own too many jackets, but this one has such a unique style and purpose to it that I think it's something that everyone could enjoy having in their arsenal.


Made out of a Cordura®/Lycra® blend with a weather-resistant DWR finish, the Ferrosi not only equates to a breathable shell, but more importantly, boasts 2 excellent features that any climber would want - full-stretch and durability.

Out of the bag, the Ferrosi looks like a way chill hoody with minimal frills and no loud colors or designs - something that OR has always managed to pull off. Putting this thing on is something else. The thought of a Cordura/Lycra blend against your skin conjures a cold, starchy and potentially abrasive feel. However, it's quite the contrary, while you can't hide the fact that it is Cordura, it feels like a tough skin of silk.

The fit is great - I've seen people of all shapes and sizes wear this jacket and it's neither a frumpy sweatshirt-hoody nor the skin-tight shirt my high school wrestling coach would wear. It's just right. No excess fumblage or flappage to snag on cat-claws or the like on the approach. The cut and fit of the jacket is designed for sure movement over stone as well as against it. At 5'7", I found that the small was a perfect fit.

As I mentioned before, this jacket really shines in the stretch and durability department. The lycra blend smoothly extends on those long dead points and allows plenty of flex for those ball-busting scrunch fests. Implementing stretch on climbing/performance clothing is nothing new to the industry, but where those companies zigged wrong, OR zagged right and instead of incorporating "stretch paneling" they implemented "full coverage stretch" (beer bellies rejoice).

On durability: Heidi, my wife, was getting thrashed on a feet-cutting dyno to a finishing jug that had a piranha-forearm-eating bulge to it. She sent after deciding to wear the jacket, which came out unscathed...the same could've been said about Heidi if she thought about it earlier! Me, I've worn this thing on roofs, slabs, offwidth approaches, stuffed it, stepped on it, rolled in the dirt, and beat chalk off of holds with it. A simple wash made it new again.

The Ferrosi isn't designed to be a warm jacket. In fact, this is a single layer soft shell with no insulating attributes. What it does provide is a decent wind barrier throughout and water repellency on the shoulders - not ideally what you'd want to wear climbing in a north facing dihedral in December (although with adequate layering you could probably pull it off). Any other season of the year you'll find yourself looking for any reason to wear it. The hood provides minimum to adequate coverage depending on the size of your dome - don't expect a monk robe style hood on this one.

You can check it out HERE.

See you out there,

T