Review: BeyondClothing Cold Fusion X soft shell jacket
I spent about a month researching various jacket options (soft shell, hard shell, systems, blah blah blah) and kept coming back to BeyondClothing because of the ability to order custom made clothing (more on this later) at a competitive price. The big frustration though is a seeming lack of useful information and reviews floating around the interweb. Hopefully this review will help someone out.
Picking a jacket and ordering online
Cruising Beyond’s website is an easy way to kill hours of your time and put off doing real ‘work’. They have great information on the science of the fabrics they use and will help pick out clothing based on your type of activity, body type (naturally cold, naturally hot, etc) or a combination of the two. Since my new jacket was meant to serve as a ski coat for the Tahoe area my priorities were light weight and freedom of movement over super warm. I was also really keen on getting a soft shell. Beyond recommended their “Cold Fusion X” jacket, which starts at $199. Style-wise I’d call this jacket “subtle”, though I’ve gotten several unsolicited compliments on it. By the way, Beyond makes jackets, pants, mid and base-layer clothing as well. Their catalog of products is very wide-spread.
Ordering is a straight-forward, multi-step process. Step one begins with selecting the main shell color and accent panels (5 choices for the jacket).
Step two moves on to the “a la carte” menu of jacket accessories. The shell comes with two very generous zipper shut hand pockets as standard, which are fantastic for warming up the hands on the chairlift. In addition to those pockets I added an outer chest pocket on the left side. This pocket, which sits just below the clavicle (higher than I expected, which I really like) is approximately 4” x 3” and also zipper-sealed and fleece-lined. I find it’s perfect for holding my iPod and collection of IDs and some credit cards. On the inside of the right chest is another cavernous pocket perfect for food, gloves and / or baklava. I didn’t opt for them, but other options are pit zips and bicep pockets. All pockets add $15 each to the base jacket.
Step three allows you to add other “enhancements”. I ordered the zip-off hood ($35), collar shock cord ($10) and YKK water resistant main zipper ($15). Step four is a quickie, selecting color and placement of Beyond’s logo as well as offering a second logo at no charge.
Step five is where the fun begins, so break out the measuring tape. As I mentioned, Beyond is unique by allowing a custom tailored fit, which they claim to be accurate 98% of the time but are 100% guaranteed. In the event you don’t like the way the garment fits, you can send it back free of charge and they will correct. Beyond provides guidance for how to accurately measure at 9 different points. In my experience, the fit was true to measurement and better for me than buying off the rack.
Step six allows more fit fine-tuning by selecting body type, fit preference and various lengths. I went with the “Standard” for layering, however I think I could have gotten away with the “technical” fit and still have layering options. I also opted for the jacket length to end 2/3 down the fly. I probably would prefer to end at the bottom of the fly, too.
So how long’s the wait and how’s the customer service?
Beyond’s website is pretty accurate in estimating how long building the new garment will take. I think in the lower order periods 2-3 weeks is a standard turnaround. I was silly enough to order just before Christmas and was told in my confirmation email that it would take 4 weeks. The next day, though, the website said wait times are currently around 5 weeks, which is exactly how long it took. Throughout the wait you can track your clothes’ progress through the manufacturing process with stages like “in queue, material being cut, sewing and post production” and a description of what each means. I heard complaints on Epic’s forum (here’s the thread) of poor customer service but I found that to be the opposite. Apparently Beyond’s marketing guy saw the same comment and quickly wrote me offering to update me on the status of my jacket. Dan was always responsive and seemed genuinely interested in helping out.
And…how does she perform?
After a long and anxious wait, my jacket arrived not one hour before I was planning to head to Tahoe last Friday. Packing the car it was raining moderately to hard and you could see the water beading and rolling right off (so cool!). In the snow, both deep powder and heavy wet snowfall I stayed warm and dry. During some of my spills, I didn’t even get snow up into the jacket! I’ve worn the jacket in temps ranging from 15 – 55 degrees with various layers and have been comfortable the whole time. Despite its water-repellent abilities, the jacket definitely breathes. Today I had it out on a road bike ride and could comfortably ride tempo at 32mph in 45 degree weather. Again, stayed warm, it wicked the sweat and I didn’t feel wind-chilled or beaten. This really is a 3 season jacket and suited for many activities.
In the end I paid $298 for all the add-ons, tax and shipping, which is at least a couple hundred less than comparable soft shells I was researching. While I’m sure I’ll pick up other jackets for more use-specific needs, this one will be the “go-to” guy - this jacket kicks ass!
