Patagonia Ice Nine Suit Shell Jackets

Patagonia Ice Nine Suit Shell Jackets 

DESCRIPTION

Since its inception, this one-piece suit has presented a unified front against rimy conditions by eliminating the vulnerable juncture of jacket and pant. The Ice Nine is the capstone of the fully integrated Bombay/SuperFly layering system.

USER REVIEWS

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[Jan 04, 2000]
Sean R. McInturff
Mountaineer

This suit is absolutely gorgeous. I've never seen anything that comes close to Patagonia quality. The detailing and the stitch quality are unlike anything else I've ever seen (except perhaps on tailored business suits). I have never seen another garment with so many separate panels of fabric. (In other words, Patagonia has gone well out of its way to make the suit fit.) And every tiny stitch on every one of those panels is flawless. The Cordura panels on the legs are a nice touch, for crampon resistance. Half of the body is a very tough ripstop. The other half is a heavier taslan reinforcement. I think the ripstop might actually be tougher than the taslan. Patagonia should look into that...
The hood is spacious but can be adjusted to a much smaller volume. The bungee around the face can be slightly balky, but it is very easy to operate on the fly.
There are five pockets, all in the chest, so they're out of the way of pack straps, belt, harness, etc. Two of those pockets are big enough for one-liter Nalgene bottles. However, both of those pockets are on the outside. I wish they were both mesh pockets on the inside, so that I could keep bottles as warm as possible. (There is one inner mesh pocket, but it's not big enough for a one-liter bottle.) There are no thigh or arm pockets. This leads to a more streamlined design, but one also misses the convenience.
The arm cuffs are very simple to operate and very functional. There are no loops for idiot-cords, however, so idiot-cords have to be tied around the wrists.
The leg cuffs have good internal gaiters. My one complaint is that I would like to be able to adjust those gaiters a little tighter.
The bombay/superfly is the only good system for a harness, so I can't really complain. But it's not nearly as easy to use as a rainbow zipper. I tend to prefer to take down my trou, anyway, so it matters little most of the time. I suppose if I had a moment of desperation in a sleet storm, I would want to be able to open myself up very little and very quickly, in which case I would want a rainbow zipper. The problem with the bombay/superfly (the same as Marmot's wizzip) is that all clothing must be compatible. To pull down a standard pair of trou through the bombay can be a gymnastic accomplishment. To pull them back up is even tougher.
I cut one of the knees in a fall. (This isn't a comment on the quality of fabric. That fall cut through every layer I was wearing. It was an unusually sharp rock.) After a messy field repair that gathered-up some of the fabric, I can't notice the difference in the articulated knee. It still moves just as it should.
The top of one of the pocket zippers pulled apart. The slider didn't come off, and it was easy to repair with a pair of pliers. This isn't really a problem with Patagonia, however. Rather, it's a problem with YKK.
It may sound like I'm nitpicking the suit to death. Just the opposite. It's stunning. It just happens that in an item of gear that is so complicated, there are going to be some compromises. None of those compromises has been a real problem, but there are changes I would make were I to design a suit.
Patagonia has not offered this suit in their print catalogs in a couple of years, but they still sell it over the internet. It's at an unbeatable price: $550. That's about $300 less than competitors (and less than the price Patagonia used to charge for the same suit.)

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
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