You know those pieces of gear that immediately become favourites the first time you put your arm through the sleeve, or turn them on?  The Canada Goose Hybridge Lite Hoody is definitely in that category for me.  I was immediately struck by the fit and look of this coat, and was happy to find that its function is just as strong.

The Canada Goose Hybridge Lite Hoody is a beautiful jacket, even laying on the floor

The Hybridge Lite Hoody in constructed with 800 fill down inside Nylon Superderm Ripstop front and rear panels, hood, and outside of the sleeves.  The sides of the torso and inside of the sleeves are Polartec Power Stretch to allow breathability.  This was my favourite feature of the coat as it made it much more versatile.  Canada Goose calls this thermal mapping – basically putting insulation where you need it, and not where you don’t.  The Polartec really increases the ventilation on this jacket, and on windy days you can feel the air flow.  I really liked this because it allowed me to use the jacket on warmer days on its own, or to pull a shell over top if I wanted to keep all the body heat in.  I have had this jacket for a few months, and am still using now for cool spring mornings and evenings.  The outer shell is treated with a water repellent finish and it has kept the water away from the feathers when I’ve been out in rain and snow for short periods with it.

The Polartec side panels, thumb holes, and integrated stuff sack pocket were a few of my favourite features.

The jacket fits me like a glove.  It is perfect with a shirt or two underneath and fits close enough that it is easy to layer it under a shell.  The sleeve length was good, and the thumbholes allowed me to keep my hands warmer when I didn’t have gloves.  I really liked the hood on this jacket.  It was deep enough to easily fit over my head, and snug enough around my face to stay where it should to maintain visibility.

Some of the other nice features on the Hybridge Lite Hoody were the integrated stuff pocket so I could pack it up and not have to worry about the last place I saw its stuff sack!  I also liked the reflective stripes on the hood to give this jacket the classic Canada Goose flavour.

This is the perfect pre and post race jacket!

The jacket is super lightweight but the Nylon Superderm Ripstop makes it durable enough to wear as an outer layer on a regular basis.  Obviously the thin nylon outer requires you to be somewhat careful if you’re hanging out around barbed wire fences and the like, but that’s the same as any jacket.  The feathers generally stay where they should, and the odd time that one pokes out of a seam, I just tried to pull it back inside where it belongs (never pull them out!)

The Hybridge Lite Hoody is at its best as an insulating layer on cold winter days, and before and after spring and fall races where the pre-start routine involves a lot of dark and cold, and the post-race cool-down typically requires something to keep the chills at bay.  Canada Goose knocked it out of the park with this jacket, and it will be a favourite for a long time to come!