Patagonia Triolet - Women's Review

The Patagonia Triolet was among our favorite all-around hardshells. No frills, nothing flashy–just great performance. It is smooth and sleek and made of the highest quality, recycled and certified Fair Trade constructed materials, in typical Patagonia fashion.

Performance Comparison

Weather Protection

The Triolet is made of 3L Gore-Tex fabric, the industry standard material for extreme weather protection. This jacket is a lightweight and high-performance alpine-ready layer. The material is certainly burly enough for the most rugged adventures on the planet, though the cut is not as generous as we like for the burliest of expeditions at high elevations and polar locations.

The Triolet is more geared towards movement in the mountains and less towards survival in the harshest environments. It has a slightly shorter back length, and the features are sleeker than they are burly, which allows for improved ease of movement in the jacket. That said, this jacket sealed out the weather and protected us well in our field testing during some rough weather on ski mountaineering adventures and through a variety of complex climbing movements.

Mobility and Fit

The Triolet is made of a thicker, stiffer Gore-Tex material, which is pretty standard in traditional hardshell jackets. More and more, companies are releasing waterproof/breathable fabrics with a little stretch which allows a closer fit and improved mobility. This jacket still provides an impressive range of motion, however, with care and attention to the panels and stitches in the jacket and the overall cut. Our arms are free to move overhead, the cuffs don't creep too far up our arms when we do, nor does the bottom hem of the jacket reveal our midsection.

We found ourselves grabbing the Triolet day after day, drawn to it for its simplicity and comfort. This jacket inserted itself into many of our favorite activities in the mountains. We knew that whatever the day threw at us, we would be well protected from the elements and comfortable and unimpeded in our varied movements, whether climbing, skiing, or hiking in cooler temperatures.

Venting and Breathability

Three-layer Gore-Tex is made for waterproofing and weather protection, first. This fabric is best suited for colder and stormier conditions. In these colder environments, the breathability is well-calibrated for active pursuits like alpine climbing and ski mountaineering.

In warmer or more humid environments, a three-layer hardshell jacket is not likely the best choice–it becomes much more challenging for your body heat to pump water vapor out of the pores of the jacket when the environment on the other side of the fabric is also humid. This is an important principle in the breathability of waterproof garments–if it is colder and drier outside the jacket, it is easier to pump water vapor from the more humid environment you've created inside the jacket to the less humid one outside. When this becomes challenged, it is helpful to have venting. The Triolet has excellent bi-directional pit zippers which meet in the center and allow you to open a little or a lot, under your arm or next to your core, to perfectly shed the excess heat and moisture when you get a little over-zealous on the skin track, without letting precip in, no matter what direction it is blowing at you.

Weight

The Triolet is a heavier hardshell jacket. The simplicity of features keeps this jacket light and compact, but the burly fabric limits the weight savings.

The Triolet's cut is also a little less generous than the burliest of hardshell jackets with a shorter overall length. While this limits its utility in extreme weather, it is well suited to those with shorter torso lengths and makes it a little lighter and less bulky when packing it in your backpack.

Features and Design

The Triolet is a relatively simple jacket, but that doesn't mean it's short on features. We appreciated most how the jacket still felt streamlined and supple despite having plenty of pockets and pit zips.

We loved the Napoleon-style chest pockets on this jacket. These are accessed externally and have waterproof zippers. Inside the jacket, there is a single, stretchy mesh bucket-style pocket that is great for keeping gloves warm and dry when you need to take them off for a moment or change to a dry pair and rotate a wet pair through your jacket interior to dry them out. The two hand pockets are high on the sides to allow easy access when wearing a harness, and they have a storm flap. We usually don't like these storm flaps, as they make jackets a bit heavier and stiffer with the extra fabric, but these were placed in such a way that we could keep them open and use them as hand-warming pockets without them filling up with snow when it was snowing. Thoughtful design!

The pit zips meet in the middle rather than opening from either end, which we also really liked. This allowed us to vent from the core or the arm and keep them as open or closed as we wished. The hem and hood adjustments are also minimally exposed to the exterior, which helps to reduce icing and improve functionality. And last but certainly not least, the microfleece at the collar and back of the neck is a winning touch.

Should You Buy the Patagonia Triolet?

The Patagonia Triolet is a remarkable jacket, especially for the price point. It is a high-performance, durable hardshell designed for technical mountain pursuits and keeps a relatively low profile both in terms of weight and in that it is cut well to allow excellent range of motion without feeling bulky or cumbersome.

What Other Hardshell Jackets Should You Consider?

If you're headed on an expedition, you might consider a jacket with more coverage, like the Mammut Nordwand Pro HS. And if your adventures usually involve higher body heat from faster-paced activities, check out the Rab Kinetic Alpine 2.0.