[Review] The Lifaloft Hooded Insulator Jacket by Helly Hansen

If you’re traveling and you can only take one jacket with you on your adventure – this should be the one. The Lifaloft Hooded Insulator Jacket by Helly Hansen will keep you warm without the bulk, is windproof, water resistant, and looks good on. Insulated with Lifaloft Insulation, this insulator jacket will keep you warm and cozy on even the chilliest of days.

The Lifaloft Insulation is a notable feature of this jacket. It’s a synthetic insulation that has been developed in cooperation with Primaloft. Compared to other synthetic jackets, the Lifaloft Hooded Insulator is lighter and less bulky. Lifaloft also brings more to the table with the fact that it does not absorb water. Even in wet conditions, Lifaloft will insulate and keep you warm.

While it’s not a waterproof jacket, the outer shell is water-resistant so will help keep you dry in mild rain. I’ve found that when it’s lightly raining or continually misting, this jacket performs just fine and even if it does get wet, dries rather quickly. There were many rainy days on our most recent Europe tour and instead of layering my rain jacket over this jacket, I wore it as my sole layer. It outperformed many other synthetic down jackets that I’ve tried in particularly wet conditions.

The Hooded Insulator also has a unique quilt pattern – something I wasn’t sure I’d be too keen on – but it has really grown on me. The quilt pattern makes the jacket feel less bulky and I haven’t experienced any clumping or areas that feel under insulated.

I like the look of this jacket and it’s just a very clean and simple looking jacket. It’s definitely a jacket that you could wear with more formal clothing (think over a suit, to the office, a winter wedding etc.) but you would still have the warmth of an insulated jacket.

It’s probably worth mentioning that while I like the color, the dark blue showed up and seemed a bit more purple than I had expected. This jacket is also consistent with all my other Helly gear in that I usually wear a size large. I’m 6’0 feet tall and 200 pounds and the large is a perfect fit. The two hand pockets are equipped with zipper closures, which is a bonus when you’re traveling.

So far I think one of the most impressive features of the Lifaloft Hooded Insulator Jacket is the fact that I wore it on our Europe trip for four weeks straight and it didn’t start to smell. I wore it to sleep, wore it in wet conditions, sweaty conditions, and stuffed it behind the van seat during the dry days and after 4 whole weeks it didn’t collect any nasty smell. I have a similar jacket and even after 3 days of wear, the armpits really start to grow a stench. This adds to the value of this jacket being the best one and only jacket you’d need for traveling.

The one and only downfall I’ve found with the Hooded Insulator Jacket is the hood. It’s a bit oversized (great if you’re trying to fit a climbing helmet under it) but does tend to get in the way when I’m just wearing it outside. If there was just a little bit of adjustability, this would not be a problem at all. There’s no way to adjust the hood down though and so I often find it falling in my face.

If you’re looking for that one jacket to fit many needs I would highly suggest looking into the Lifaloft Hooded Inuslator Jacket by Helly Hansen. It’s relatively lightweight, super warm and cozy, a comfortable fit no matter what activity you’re pursuing. The Hooded Insulator Jacket wont start to stink when you’ve worn it extensively and the quilted pattern will keep the insulation even.