Rab Vital Hoody - Men's Review

The Vital Hoody, a long-standing favorite of our testers. It's made of Rab's proprietary Atmos woven nylon with a PFAs-free DWR coating. This material is extremely durable and wind-resistant. This jacket has great weather resistance and is breathable enough for high-output activities. It's lightweight enough to throw in your pack and forget about until you need it, and is comfortable when wearing alone or as part of a backcountry layering system.

Wind Resistance

The Vital Hoody is one of the more wind-resistant jackets we tested. Rab designers employ super-fine yarns in the 20-denier weave of their proprietary Atmos fabric, providing more wind protection than your average nylon.

Zipping around on bikes, we particularly appreciated how this model employs several features to block the wind. A storm flap behind the zipper helps block a piercing wind, and a fully elastic collar keeps wind from running down your chest and the hood from flapping around.

We backed up our bike commute findings by taking the Vital Hoody to the top of high passes in the Colorado Rockies to test in a strong, wintry wind. Beyond a tight weave that keeps the air from flowing through the jacket, we also appreciated how tightly we were able to close the hem drawcords to keep the breeze from sneaking up the back.

The hood has an elastic face opening to hold it tightly around your face. While this elastic isn't adjustable, it's tight enough to hold the hood down without being uncomfortably snug. The half-elastic cuff easily slides over another layer and keeps the sleeves in place. Together, these seal you off from the wind very effectively.

In our wind resistance fan test (measured at home), the Vital Hoody had no weak spots in wind resistance. The storm flap on the inside of the zipper prevented air from passing through, and the 20D Atmos woven nylon only allowed a slight amount of air to pass through. When we placed it against the fan, the jacket billowed up as it prevented air from flowing through, and we could barely feel any air on our faces as we moved in close to test.

Breathability

While hiking and biking uphill, the Vital Hoody was fairly breathable compared to the rest of our testing lineup. It also has useful features that make it stand apart in terms of venting.

The snap closure across the chest is an unconventional yet extremely useful feature to improve breathability. It lets you keep the jacket in place, even when fully unzipped, while opening it for mechanical venting. Although it looks like a cape, we appreciate this feature because it allows you to dump a lot of heat all at once without losing your jacket to a strong breeze.

In high-output activities, the Vital Hoody feels slightly clammy when you start to sweat. It's not as bad as the least breathable models in our lineup, but it doesn't allow quite as much hot air and moisture to pass through it as the most breathable jackets, either.

Versatility

The Vital Hoody is an overall very versatile jacket. We ordered our true size, and found it fits tight enough that it won't get in your way as you move, and loose enough to layer on top of several other layers in cold weather. We wore this jacket while mountain running, hiking, biking, and for casual days around town. It performs well in all these pursuits.

While the most recent version of the Vital Hoody lost a useful internal pocket, it is one of the only lightweight technical windbreakers we've found that has zippered hand pockets. This provides extra warmth on cold days, and increases the usability into four seasons.

The Vital Hoody has a casual look that doesn't stand out from a crowd, making it a good choice for everyday wear. While this model excels in technical mountain activities, it doesn't look like it. This makes it an ideal jacket to wear more often than some technical windbreakers because sometimes you don't want to look like you just got off the mountain. You can “dress it up” with jeans and a flannel, or wear it with a climbing harness and your dirty crag shorts, and it's equally at home in both scenarios.

Packability

The Vital Hoody weighs 4.8 ounces in a men's size medium. This is impressively light compared to many other shells out there, but it is still about 20% heavier than the lightest windbreakers in this review.

When stuffed into its zippered pocket, the Vital Hoody is smaller than a Nalgene water bottle. While it isn't the absolute smallest stuffed size, it is about the size of a grapefruit, which is plenty small for most people.

The most recent update to the Rab Vital no longer includes a stuff sack for packability. It's also not technically designed to stuff into its hand pockets, although you can still do this. Since the pockets aren't designed to double as a stuff sack, you won't be able to zip the pocket shut once you've packed the jacket into the pocket. We're not disappointed that this jacket no longer comes with a stuff sack since it's hard to keep track of small stuff sacks while you're wearing a jacket, but it is worth noting that technically this doesn't have any packability features.

That said, it's more than lightweight enough to stuff in your pack for any adventure. By stuffing the jacket into your pack without stuffing it into a stuff sack, it's easier to pull out and throw on quickly when you need it anyway.

Water Resistance

The Vital Hoody has a PFAs-free DWR finish and a few other useful features that make it one of the most water-resistant windbreakers we tested. An exciting trend in technical clothing is the shift away from fluorocarbon-based water repellents, and this model's DWR treatment works better than most.

Although the ultralight Vital Hoody is still nowhere near a full-fledged rain jacket, the improved water repellency puts it on par with the most water-resistant windbreakers we've tested and is a useful perk to have in case you run into some unexpected rain. All lightweight jackets eventually soak through in places if the rain is heavy enough — usually around the shoulders. This is true of the Vital Hoody, but when standing under a man-made shower from our garden hose, we found the fabric of the Vital Hoody beads and sheds water better than most.

After 30 seconds under a simulated torrential downpour, our shirt underneath the Vital Hoody was still shockingly dry. When we shut off the water and removed the jacket, we shook off the beaded water. After that, we were holding a mostly dry jacket. Again, this is not a rain jacket, but it does shed water better than most windbreakers.

The Vital Hoody has a large brim attached to the hood. This brim kept water off our faces better than other windbreakers. Most windbreakers have at best a small brim, or no brim at all, while the Vital's brim is a full two inches long and has a stiffener built in so it holds shape better.

Should You Buy the Rab Vital Hoody?

The Vital Hoody is a highly valuable jacket for the athletically inclined. It is more than worth the price tag, and that price tag isn't very high to begin with compared to other technical windbreakers. It is lightweight enough to thrive in alpine endeavors but is equally at home at the bottom of your commuter pack. All things considered, this jacket strikes a nice balance between performance, affordability, and durability.

What Other Windbreakers Should You Consider?