Weatherproofness
This jacket, with its well-designed, close-fitting hood, will vacuum-seal you from any wind you encounter. The fabric, albeit a bit reminiscent of a garbage bag in appearance and texture, does a wonderful job beading up water and drying out quickly. Other than a couple seams at the back of the hood that proved more vulnerable to leaking, it fends off light rain with flying colors.

Breathability
As a company that’s long specialized in making apparel for highly aerobic pursuits like cycling and running, Pearl Izumi knows what it’s doing when it comes to making a breathable piece of outerwear. Well-designed vents along the upper back let heat escape without compromising the jacket’s weather resistance.

Function
A number of nice design touches round out this hoodie, including the cinching drawcord hem, which is very helpful is sealing out wind and water in particularly breezy storms. The no-frills hood stays pleasantly put when running. The ultra-thin fabric may be a bit susceptible to snagging on brushy, overgrown trails. An open stash pocket at the center rear is a nice touch; however, we’d prefer a more secure (zippered) option for stowing things in. Its mesh backing is also not ideal, as it lets any lower-back sweat migrate into the pocket. 

Fit/Comfort
This jacket has a trendy, flattering cut to it. It fits true to size. However, especially for ladies with larger chests, it runs a bit tight across the chest, which can feel restrictive in terms of full upper-body range of motion. Lacking thumbholes to keep them in place, the sleeves may ride up some in windier conditions, too.

Packability
This was the second lightest jacket we tested in this round, and it will scrunch down into next to nothing at the bottom of your hydration pack. It also takes no more than a few seconds to stuff it into its own rear mesh pocket.