I have a Marmot Reactor fleece jacket that has been my personal favorite for years. The Reactor is a lightweight jacket, suitable for layering or daily wear. It has no wind-stopping capability, is one solid color (black in my case), elastic wrists, and has a zippered internal breast pocket as well as two zippered hand pockets.
Most importantly the fleece has an adjustable elastic waist cinch cord accessible in each of the hand pockets. This feature is critical in the cold and allows me to keep the fleece snug at my waist. When wearing a backpack or (more critically) when used as a layer, nothing is worse than constantly having the need to pull the fleece back down around my waist.
Sadly, for the last few years Marmot updated the Reactor design and have eliminated the cinch cord (while at the same time adding that the jacket “doesn’t ride up” in their marketing material – LIES!). Marmot did add a zippered pocket on the left arm but this new addition hasn’t made up for the cinch strap removal.
I have three of the newer Reactors (seemingly great eBay find – serves me right for not doing my research) and I keeping going back to the old one despite the fact that the fleece is matted and there are a few friction holes beginning to form. Of course now I own an army of fleece jackets – so I am unlikely to waste the money to buy new ones. Perhaps I can somehow modify the new ones to add back the cinch cord?
/rant
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