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Good jacket, light weight, compact, and packable. Looking back, though, there's a reason it won all its awards in 2015. It still holds its own, especially at this price, but there are some interesting alternatives out there now that weigh the same or less and offer better function and more features. Patagonia's Storm Racer is one - similar weight and features, but stretchy. Arcteryx Norvan SL and North Face Hyperair, both using Gore Shakedry, are two others - no DWR on them, but possibly fragile. Again, all more expensive ($249-$299).
For under $100, the Helium kills it. If function trumps keeping your wallet full, consider others!
I'm tempted to return the Rhyolite and grab this jacket now that it's on sale (since it's lighter and more packable for my carry-on), but outdoorgearlab's review made it sound like the Helium was targeted more at being an emergency piece for runners/bikers/climbers than for regular use. I'm worried that it might not survive being used as a top layer on a snowboarding trip, for example. They also mentioned it doesn't have wrist traps and can sometimes let water in if you reach above your head.
Thoughts?
Back to the Rhyolite - I really like eVent (and NeoShell) and think that would be a great, light-weight shell for most any conditions. Only downside for snowboarding would be that (I'm guessing) the hood is not helmet compatible. For the price, it's a steal. But if it doesn't have the function you need, it's worthless.
http://www.switchbacktravel.com/reviews/outdoor-research-realm I'm looking at this thing now, the reviews for it are positively glowing. This is a total rabbit hole, lol. It takes so long to get a feel for outdoor gear that none of you guys have tried everything, so it's tough to get one-to-one comparisons from the same author.
I've been trying to get OR to let us try out AscentShell for months. No dice. On paper, the Realm does look awesome. From the video they have, it looks like the Realm hood may also be bike/alpine helmet compatible, but not snow. One of my pet peeves is when companies don't differentiate between the two. "Helmet-compatible" is a useless term when helmets are different sizes! Let me see if I can find out for you.
Any idea what the difference is between that listing and the full-price one? They both seem to have an identical feature list: https://www.rei.com/product/111470/outdoor-research-axiom-jacket-mens
Let me double check for you on the hood - pretty sure I'm right, but I'm going off memory of my own jacket from about five years ago.
My travel crew is going to Costa Rica next (we just did Quebec and we alternate destination types), but that photo you posted has me ready to go back to the mountains already... can't wait for next year.
OR says that some snow helmets can fit under the Realm and Axiom hoods, but it's tight and not designed for it.
The FL will last for a long time. Even though it's only 11 ounces, it's Gore Pro with N40p-X face fabric, which is 40-denier and surprisingly burly for its weight. I picked it up (on sale at sub-$300 from Backcountry) to replace a Beta SL hybrid, which was ok, but used Paclite, which sucks.
And now I'm even more jealous of your FL, that's a steal. I'll have to keep a close eye on Backcountry I guess. And thanks for the SL mention, that's been popping up a lot in lieu of the FL and I was curious what the difference was. I'll continue avoiding Paclite, lol
I picked up both a Rhyolite and a Helium 2 in the past few months. I've not put either through a major downpour, but have worn them enough to get a sense of them and realize they're very different jackets. The Rhyolite is almost 2x as heavy, much burlier, has exceptional breathability (plus hand pockets that double as ventilation), and is fully featured. It's light enough and compact enough that it doesn't bother me if I know I'll need it, but bulky enough and heavy enough that it would piss me off if I brought it on a trip and didn't need it. I think the cut sucks, but YMMV.
The Helium 2 packs down to nothing and weighs nothing, but it only has 1 chest pocket, no cuff adjustment, really the bare basics. It's also not terribly breathable and lacks pit zips to boot, so ventilation sucks. It's an emergency piece and I wouldn't trust it when things gets real bad.
I was originally considering returning the Rhyolite when I picked up the Helium, but I got good prices on both and have used cases for both. The Rhyolite's for when I know weather's going to suck-- but it's not quite light/compact enough that I'll take it with me everywhere. The Helium 2 is light enough that I keep it in my work bag at all times and during spring/summer hikes, just in case weather turns. But I realize its limitations and wouldn't rely on it to keep me dry in bad conditions.
You've actually convinced me to do the opposite and buy this to have as a carry-everywhere piece, and return the Rhyolite. I need something to keep in my carry-on and on my bike, first and foremost. I don't find myself in that many situations where I KNOW conditions are going to suck, you know? And since snow hoods are so damn hard to find, it looks like if I ever want to dive back into snowboarding I'm gonna have to have two jackets anyway. I don't like it, but the sensible thing seems to be buy this to have as my emergency piece, and pick up a more hardcore shell the next time I see a good one on sale.