Tested: MEC Couloir Gore-Tex Insulated Jacket – GWC Mag

MEC‘s Couloir Insulated Jacket offers all-in-one warmth and protection for the wannabe minimalist in us all. Words :: Erin Moroz.

OK, I’ll go right ahead and say it: I’m more of a summer person. Heck, even a spring/fall person. Winter? Well, let’s just say when I step outside these days into the struggling afternoon light, I metaphysically will myself onto a beach somewhere in Central America. 

It’s not just locating the 19,843,829 individual pieces of gear a person needs to be outside in post-October Canada—it’s how uncomfortable it all is. Too-puffy restrictive coats, itchy headwear, bunched-up long johns, boots that never actually keep your toes warm after hours “on snow,” eyes trained on the bunny hill. But this year? It’s all coming up aces thanks to the MEC Couloir GORE-TEX Insulated Jacket (available for women and men). 

Sure it’s still cold and dark and today it rained in Canmore…in December. But despite it all—today I was prepared. The jacket’s breathable Primaloft Gold synthetic insulation blanketed my body in warmth keeping me toasty and the two-layer recycled nylon shell with GORE-TEX membrane easily repelled what should have been snow falling from the Rocky Mountain sky. And this isn’t your mom’s GORE-TEX—the MEC Couloir jacket is flexible and light, it bends with me and is easily compressed and stuffed into my pack when I duck indoors and out of the cold. Plus: the face fabric and lining/backer are made of recycled nylon. And the jacket is bluesign-approved.

The drawstring hem allows me to cinch in the heat and pull the jacket down over my butt—rendering the long, cumbersome coat of yesteryear obsolete. A well-thought-out and oft-over-looked feature that MEC nailed in the design of this jacket is the collar: tall enough to keep the bottom half of my face frostbite-free, yet flexible and wide enough that it doesn’t interfere with comfort—no stiff neck or wet zipper catching on my nose. And when the -40°C hits (and we know it will), this jacket will easily accommodate layering up.

When the snow does finally fly in these parts—later this week they say—I’ll be packing this jacket for all winter adventures: skiing, wild ice skating, schlepping kids, early mornings at the bus stop. The Couloir will replace my lined raincoat, alpine ski jacket and down coat—it is the go-to piece for the wannabe minimalist in us all.

And I almost I forgot to mention the RECCO rescue reflector tech. If the Canadian cold does drive me screaming into the backcountry, or more likely when I need to check out of society for a day or a few on an adventure—I can take solace in knowing I am detectable by mountain safety professionals by the radar-reflecting tech in my jacket—thanks, MEC!

Full details on the Couloir GORE-TEX Insulated Jacket here. You can also explore MEC’s sustainable down-insulated offerings, which we tested here.

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