Columbia Women's Mighty Lite iii Jacket

I've had a gray Patagonia Nanopuff jacket for a few years that I love, but I really wanted a black one and I am loathe to drop another $200 on a jacket I don't really NEED... enter the Mighty Lite III. While I was hesitant to order my usual size, I really needn't have worried. I have a Columbia raincoat and a Columbia fleece vest in a size medium, and the size medium in the Mighty Lite is perfect. There's more than enough room to wear a hoodie underneath if I need to (which I haven't yet). For reference, I am 5'10", 155 lbs, somewhat athletic build, with a large bust. The length of everything on the size medium is totally fine. Pros: The jacket is super warm, and ridiculously light weight. In a season where we've become accustomed to being weighed down, and struggles to lift our arms above shoulder level are commonplace, this jacket stands above the rest. I have not owned it long enough to comment on its durability, but I've had nothing but good experiences with my other Columbia purchases. The pockets are fleece lined and zippered, and I love that it's a matte black and not shiny. I also think the stitching it quite nice; sometimes the stitching on puffy jackets looks like little puffy squares, or a big rectangle pattern. I like the diagonal lines. Cons: Honestly, it's almost a little too roomy. I could probably size down to a small if I wanted to, but then I wouldn't have enough room for a heavy sweater underneath. I'm also basically an Amazon, so me wearing a small would indicate some weird sizing on their end. Being super hourglassy, I like it when my jackets flatter my shape, and that is one arena where the Nanopuff wins by a slim margin. The Mighty Lite is NOT at all a shapeless, puffy marshmallow. But it could be a tad more flattering. Also, the neck collar is kind of big, and doesn't quite lay flat if the jacket isn't zipped up all the way. I pretty much always wear a scarf in the winter anyway, so this doesn't bother me too much. Overall, it's a great coat and I'm excited to continue wearing it as the temperatures drop. It's such a nice and comfortable alternative to my heavy, stiff pea coats.

I have been shopping for most of my purchases online for a few years now, and Amazon is the site I buy from at least once per week. I have never written a product review before now, yet for all my purchases I look to the reviews of others to decide if it's a good buy. This jacket is so amazing it has compelled me to write my first review! It's a common joke amongst my friends that I am allergic to the cold. I live in Austin Tx, and spent half of my early years here and the other half in south Florida. When it's 70 degrees out I feel cold if there is even a slight breeze or if I'm not in direct sun- pretty sensitive to any cold temps. I bought this jacket for my Christmas vacation in Czech Republic and I am so pleased I did. I can wear this jacket with just a tee underneath and be fine in temps well below freezing, with snow falling and heavy wind gusts. The only cold I feel is on my hands but it quickly disappears as soon as I slip my hands into the pockets. This is a jacket from the future!!! It's no joke. I bought two there large heavy jackets- one a snowboard jacket with hood and fur liner, the other a long wool trench with hood and I haven't needed either as this jacket is perfect all on its own. Obviously the function is most important for this trip but I'd like to note the style is quite nice too. It's not at all bulky, allowing me to move freely while hiking, or in the car, or squeezing past other people in the bustling city areas. The bulk is just one of many things I usually dislike about winter anywhere, trips I'm the past with this kind of cold make me feel like I can't move much after putting on all of the cold gear and I hate that restrictive feeling. Not a problem with this jacket. I've noticed that it adjusts the temp to a comfortable level no matter what the surroundings are like. Never too hot or cold - as long as moving a little it keeps the temp regulated nicely. Lastly just for reference on sizing- I purchased a medium which fits very nicely, not too loose or tight and maintains a feminine look. I am 5'11" and 145lbs, bra size 34 DD. Could probably also go with a large and it wouldn't be too huge. A small would surely be too tight across my chest and not long enough in the arms (the medium is a bit short for my arms when I try to put my hands through the thumb hole sleeves, but otherwise the sleeve length is just fine. Definitely a good purchase!!!

First of all, I know that some people consider Columbia a cheaper brand, compared to The North Face or Patagonia, but when you're a bigger girl, you don't always have the luxury of buying the "best" name brand because they don't go past a size 14/16 (and that's being generous) or they're just too expensive! I've never viewed Columbia as a "cheap" brand because they're not. What they are is considerate to the fact that not all American women are a size 6. Columbia has been my go-to brand for outdoor gear for a long time. However, because I do wear a lot of their clothes, I was hesitant to buy this jacket in a 2x because I never know what size I am in Columbia. I always have to try their stuff on. I'm 5'9 and over 200 lbs (I'm also very active and tall), but I do have a Columbia dress that's an XL, and two fleeces that are XL (one pullover with a hood and one zip-up). However, I know that their jackets run small, and I wanted to make sure I had enough room to layer underneath it if I needed to. I'm so thrilled with my decision. It's just big enough that I know a fleece will fit under it, but not too big as to lose it's shape. It's very light. So if your a backpacker/hiker this is a great jacket to take on the trail because you can ball it up and stick it in your pack if you get too hot and it doesn't add bulk to your hiking gear. Also, the arms a bit long, which is perfect for me because I have a large wingspan. I'm in love with the wrist cuffs with thumb holes, and it has a hidden pocket on the inside of the left breast to go with the two outer pockets. It's water resistant and keeps in most of your body heat to keep you ultra warm. The color is just beautiful, too. It's pretty true to the photo, maybe a slight shade darker. If you need a quality, light weight, yet very warm jacket, this is the one for you!

I was super stoked to recieve this jacket after reading the reviews, and overall am pretty happy with it. I ordered a large, which for my frame (5'7", 150lbs) was slightly bigger than I had hoped for. Really had my heart set on a bit more fitted look, but it still looks fine. The images show the shiny lining inside, but it doesn't fully prepare you for how blazingly reflective it can be. Seriously, if you had a small flashlight and this jacket, you could probably signal for help from at least a mile away. Disco ball bright interior aside, its comfy and fairly warm considering how lightweight of a jacket it is. After wearing for a few weeks, we've experienced weather from 50 degrees all the way down to 7. Once you get past about 30, without a solid second layer of clothing underneath, you might be a bit chilled. Also on the subject of warmth, a scarf or hoodie are necessary to keep your neck from grazing against the collar, which can get pretty cold. My favorite thing about this jacket - as soon as you slip your arms into the sleeves, your hands immediately slide into the thumb holes, which are thin, stretchy and comfortable. Its even easy to slip them over a pair of leather driving gloves (or as my boyfriend calls them, my OJ Murder gloves). My least favorite thing - this jacket can whip up some SERIOUS static energy. I mean, full on zap the s*** out of yourself and others electricity. However, I got my hair cut into a shorter bob and this seems to have cut down a lot of the issue as it doesn't rub like crazy on the collar anymore. Maybe long haired ladies would do best to tie their tresses back. Its not the worlds most fashionable look, but it can even be pulled off with certain boots (which is a big "hooray," as a few of my moto style jackets are too short for certain tops. I'm 5'7", kinda short torso'd, and this hits me mid-booty). On that note, it will be a perfect packing jacket for an upcoming trip I'm taking. This thing can be rolled up into a tight little ball, and still fluff up with hardly any wrinklage. Overall, pretty stinkin' happy with it. Plus, less than 24 hours after I ordered it, the price dropped dramatically (like $20, WTF Amazon??) and I sent a rather angry email to customer service, who was happy to oblige a refund for the difference. Kind of an annoying thing, but if you catch it, most likely they will work with you on it. Three cheers for Amazon's customer service policies. Give this jacket a shot, its a nifty little lightweight packer to keep you toasty in moderate climates.

I've got to say, I'm really impressed by this jacket. Pros: 1. Truly light and packable. When it arrived, I thought it had to be something else. The package was a letter-sized Tyvek envelope and weighed less than a pound. That couldn't possibly hold a fall/winter jacket! But it did. I've never had outerwear that was so light. 2. Wide temperature range. The reflective Omni-Heat interior works as advertised. It's like it's there when you need it. I've worn this jacket in the 60s and been fine and in the 30s and been fine. It would probably work lower as long as you had layers underneath...it just hasn't gotten that cold here yet! 3. A lot packed into a little jacket. It's well-designed, with two zipper slash pockets lined with stuff that always feels cozy and warm when you stick your hands in, and an interior chest zipped pocket. It has wrist cuffs with thumb holes inside the sleeves. The collar is big enough so it can stand up if the back of your neck is chilly. 4. Great fit. Arms are not too long for once! Jacket has a great body-skimming cut that hits the top of the hips. It looks really flattering, and it's not so long that it needs a double zipper. Cons: 1. Not a windbreaker. If it's cold *and* the wind is blowing, you'll feel it if you're outside for a while. 2. It's barely water-resistant. I've been caught in rain before, and when the arms got wet they stuck to my skin in an uncomfortably chilly, clammy way. I probably would avoid wearing it if I were expecting to be caught in a downpour without an umbrella. 3. May be too in-betweener for some people's tastes. It works great in cool fall weather and warm winter weather. Still, those aren't enough to make me take off a star. I really like this jacket. It makes me feel stylish and attractive, and it works really well at bridging the gap between fall jackets and winter coats.

My 4th Columbia jacket with "omni-heat" and I own several other OmniHeat products from leggings, boots, base layers, vests, etc. I love the whole OmniHeat line of products. OmniHeat works with YOUR body heat to reflect it back at you to keep you warm and toasty. If your the type to go outside and do nothing (i.e. walking to and from car, walking the dog around the block, sitting outside at football game, anything fairly stationary thats not exercise related) this will probably not keep you warm on 30 degree days. BUT if your the type of person that does activity outside - hiking, backpacking, skiing, iceskating, shoveling snow, etc you will stay toasty warm in this coat easily in the 20s probably 0 if your wearing OmniHeat base-layers along with this coat. As you exercise, your heart rate increases (when hiking mines around 145-150 ppm), which in turn raises your body temperature. As your body temperature increases, it is reflected back at you thru the OmniHeat dots. I went hiking about 5 hours in low 30 temperatures wearing only an OmniHeat leggings with rain pants over top, and OmniHeat long sleeve top with this jacket over top and a OmniHeat beanie and gloves stayed toasty warm the entire time in low 30s :) Much of that time, I had the coat unzipped to let some cold air in as I was overheating! Its extremely lightweight and very smushable into a pack or anywhere else taking up hardly any room at all. No down fill, so you don't have to worry about it getting wet :) LOVE LOVE LOVE OmniHeat!

Love this coat! It does keep you warm, without the bulk. I haven't had it out on windy, frigid days (thankfully we haven't had one yet) but on those days I'll still probably wear my old Columbia "coat within a coat" bulky winter coat. However, on those 30-40 degree days when I'm running errands/going to work, this jacket will be great. It's much better to drive with this light weight coat on and much easier to move in. It's very (VERY) light weight. The reflective material does seem to really work-and like another reviewer said you have to give it a few minutes to "warm up". The fleece lined pockets are a nice plus for your hands too. I am very glad I went up a size from my usual shirt size as this coat runs a tad small (for a coat), especially if you plan on zipping it up. The zipper also magnetically locks down which is great for when you are scraping off your car. The collar is a little bit "in the way", but I knew it would be given this design. I really didn't want a hood, so you have to deal with a pokey collar no matter what. I will say that the picture made me really worry about whether or not the collar would be too pokey, but in reality it's very easy to bend the collar down (like a shirt collar) and it lays flat and out of your way. The size of the collar is a plus when you're cold because when you zip it up it goes completely over your mouth and up to your nose. I like colorful coats and was drawn to the purple color. However, the pictures don't really show much difference between quilll and hyper purple. So I went to the Columbia website which had better pictures of those two colors. Hyper purple is more of a "grape" candy color and quill is more of a men's pants color (think dark, dingy plum color-very subdued). I'm thrilled with the hyper purple. It's not too purple that you look like a 4 year old, but just a fun women's color. There is no draw string hem that you can adjust, but there is some kind of gathering material in the bottom hem so it gathers nicely. Coat very easily covers your waist so you're warm. So happy with this coat, I went back and got my hubby one.

So I heard good things about this lightweight but warm jacket and decided to go for it. I thought the 'coral' was a cute color in the photo, kind of more burnt orange than the usual orange-red that coral is. The color looked great and I thought, hmmm, "wonder why that's the only one on sale?" Well, lucky me! I bought it. A few days later a soft package arrived that was probably once gray, but was no match for The Coral. That jacket flamed right through the flimsy gray poly bag and made it look like there was a little chunk of cold fusion happening right on my porch. I was scared for a moment but figured that nobody would waste their Uranium 235 stash on a 30-something suburban mom so I went ahead and opened it. Immediately my ambient light-sensing porch lighting shut off because it sensed mid-afternoon light levels. Every deer in the entire neighborhood made a beeline for the river, panicked that hunting had suddenly become legal within city limits. The jacket shone so bright on the porch table that my poor husband, coming home on a bike, nearly crashed into the picket fence. Incidentally, I noticed that the jacket was shipped along with a note from the City of Charlottesville welcoming me to my new job directing traffic. My husband kindly risked searing his cornea while helping me stuff it back in the bag, wrap it with black tape, and return to sender. I'm awaiting my exchange for the 'quill' color and hopefully that will go well. The jacket was warm, light and true to size. My advice: don't get the coral unless you are a midnight jogger or work with legally blind people. Later update: The return process was smooth and I received the 'quill' about a week later. It wasn't quite the same as pictured but was still a nice deep purple. As a jacket it's great--I often wear it on a chilly morning bike commutes (15-35F or so) and I'm nice and warm. Well, my torso is. I gave the jacket one more star because if you get the right color, you will be surprised at how well this $70 jacket does in keeping you toasty. Enjoy!

A mi esposa le encantó esta chamarra es ligera, cómoda, elegante y cumple su función en temperatura. El corte para dama es genial, la talla quedo exacta.

Calientita, excelente calidad y super ligera. Para aquellos que busquen que esta sea una chamarra de nieve deberán buscar otras opciones o marcas especializadas, la funcionalidad de esta chamarra es mas casual para climas fríos de ciudad aunque seguro te protegen de una buena nevada con ropa térmica debajo. Simplemente la amo!

Nice and comfy jacket.

Es una chamarra ligera que gracias a su forro te permite guardar muy buena temperatura corporal a pesar del frío. Calidad Columbia indiscutible, sin embargo el corte viene slim, por lo que puede quedarte justa si la compras en tu talla habitual. También la parte superior viene algo estrecha, por lo que la debes considerar si eres de busto grande. La tela es de calidad, y los "guantes" incluidos en las mangas la hacen una excelente opción para tener en tu guardarropa para las epocas de frío.

Me encantó, la chamarra, el color azul brillante se ve muy bonito, ligera y calentita. Solo que la talla viene más pequeña de lo usual, sugiero que para que le quede bien se compren 1 o 2 tallas más grande. Chequeen la tabla de medidas. Ojalá les sirva el comentario.