The Marmot Venus Jacket Review

The Marmot Venus Jacket is a great layering piece. I originally bought this jacket to pull me out of fashion funk. I own a fair amount of technical clothing and somehow it always ends up being black, dark gray, or brown. I fully underestimated this jacket. The Marmot Venus caught my eye with it's flattering quilting construction and refreshing colors. I kept the jacket because everyday I am finding new applications for it. The Marmot Venus Jacket is a lightweight, high quality jacket. The Venus comes in at 340 grams. For those of you who don't think in grams, that is just shy of 12 ounces, or just under ¾ pounds. I say it is a great layering piece because the cut allows room for a fleece underneath or a shell over the top, or both. The arms are cut wide in an angel wing construction to limit the torso riding up when your arms are extended. It was a worthy effort, better than most, although it creeps a small bit. I typically cannot wear Marmot softgoods, as their torsos run rather short as a general. This jacket covers me, even post-creeping. The Marmot Venus has great pockets. It has the a front hand pocket on each side with zip closures. The zips have a contoured rubber tab that makes the zippers easy to manipulate with bare or gloved hands. On the interior of the jacket there are two HUGE bucket style pockets. I could conceal a Nalgene in each side if I wanted to, but so far it has been bags of M&Ms in the drafty movie theater, and granola bars that I didn't want to freeze in my pack while I was snowshoeing. While this jacket is great for high aerobic activity, the Marmot Venus is not a cold weather jacket. Yes, you see down parkas on the top of Everest and other high mountain expeditions. This is not it. Think of the Marmot Venus as a spring or autumn jacket, or a versatile layer. It does not stand alone in winter conditions. The Marmot Venus Jacket in a nutshell: High warmth for volume jacket 800+ down fill 2 hand front pockets 2 HUGE interior pockets Great layering jacket Not a winter coat Angel wing construction for full range of motion How does it provide warmth with so little bulk to the jacket, you ask? High quality, high fill down. The Marmot Venus filled goose down, and 800+ fill at that. This means that for ounze of weight the down fills 800+ mL of volume. This is the highest quality down available. Buy now from Moosejaw.com!