The 4 Best Windbreakers of 2025

Our Picks of Men's Windbreaker Jackets

Best Overall Windbreaker

Patagonia Houdini - Men's

Weight: 3.4 oz (size Medium) | Pockets: 1 zip (chest)

The Patagonia Houdini is an iconic windbreaker jacket. It is a repeat winner at the top of our podium and performs exactly as a windbreaker should: packing down and stowing away until you break it out to protect you from wind or light rain. The entire jacket stuffs into its chest pocket, resulting in a package about the size of a tennis ball. The packed jacket is so lightweight that it easily clips to a belt or a climbing harness or stashes into the smallest corner of your pack. It can even squeeze comfortably into the smallest saddlebags, making it a terrific companion for long bike rides. Our lead tester stated, “I love that this technical jacket has a design that's at home on a mountaintop but looks good enough to wear around town.” And even though it will never compare to a rain jacket, the PFAS free DWR coating is at the top of its class and has helped us through many passing rainstorms.

Measured Weight	3.4 oz (M)
Material	100% nylon ripstop, DWR finish
Pockets	1 zip chest
Safety Reflective Material	Yes, small reflective logo on chest
Stowable Pocket	Yes: chest pocket

While we love most things about the Houdini, its chest pocket is awkwardly small; barely large enough to accommodate a modern smartphone. If you want the storage, we recommend the Ortovox Merino Windbreaker, which has a larger chest pocket. However, the lightweight nature of every windbreaker makes carrying a heavy phone in the chest pocket annoying. Overall, the Houdini is a multifunctional jacket that's up for all-day alpine adventures, long walks with the dog around town, and evening mountain bike laps. The Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell is another similar piece that's even more lightweight (3.2 ounces to the Houdini's 3.4), but we don't love the fit quite as much as the Houdini.

Read more: Patagonia Houdini review

Best Buy for a Technical Jacket

Rab Vital Hoody - Men's

Weight: 4.8 oz (size Medium) | Pockets: 2 zip (hand)

The Rab Vital Hoody is a versatile, durable, highly technical windbreaker that somehow manages to undercut the price point of most other jackets of this caliber. Other models might weigh less, but the Vital opts for improved functionality thanks to a well-honed feature set. Unique design points like a neck snap let you completely unzip the jacket for venting while still keeping it in place, allowing you to dump heat or adjust midlayers quickly. A stiffened hood brim may look a bit goofy, but it offers extra rain deflection, while a fully elastic hood prevents it from billowing in the wind. “This supremely versatile jacket remains a mainstay in my pack, no matter the activity,” our lead tester said. The Vital Hoody features a fluorocarbon-free DWR finish and is one of the few lightweight windbreakers with zippered hand pockets.

Measured Weight	4.8 oz (M)
Material	20D Atmos woven nylon with PFC-free DWR
Pockets	2 zip hand
Safety Reflective Material	Yes, reflective logo on chest
Stowable Pocket	No

The Vital Hoody packs down to a small size, but it doesn't have a stow pocket. We use one of the zippered hand pockets to pack it away instead of a stuff sack, but you can't zip the pocket shut afterward. This is a slight drawback that doesn't affect the packability too much, but you can't hang this off your pack or harness as well as you can with the Patagonia Houdini or Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell. Nevertheless, no other jacket in our lineup offers this level of technical, lightweight weather protection at this price point.

Read more: Rab Vital Hoody review

Best Affordable Everyday Jacket

Columbia Spire Valley - Men's

Weight: 10.6 oz (size Medium) | Pockets: 2 zip (hand)

The Columbia Spire Valley is a very affordable jacket that's made of some of the softest, least slippery material of any windbreaker. It has a casual, not-too-sporty look that's at home on long walks with the dog through the park, evenings on a windy patio, and traveling to cities near or far. It has zippered hand pockets, elastic wrist cuffs, and a hood with cords to tighten around your face when you need a little extra protection from the elements. While not a super technical jacket, the soft material feels better against your bare skin than any other jacket we tested, with the much more expensive Fjallraven High Coast jacket being the exception. The High Coast is made of an organic cotton/polyamide blended fabric, but the Spire Valley's nylon fabric feels about as soft while costing much less than the High Coast.

Measured Weight	10.6 oz (M)
Material	100% nylon
Pockets	2 zip hand
Safety Reflective Material	None
Stowable Pocket	No

While the Spire Valley is super comfortable and has a casual look that we love for around town, it's not the most technical jacket. We wouldn't recommend this for long days in the alpine because it's heavier and not as waterproof as other models, such as the Stio Second Light Windshell. However, the Spire Valley doesn't try to be a technical layer, and it feels more like a cozy cotton hoody than the stretch recycled nylon ripstop used in Stio Second Light. “Sometimes you don't want to look like you just got off the mountain, and this jacket does just that,” our lead tester stated. The Spire Valley is an excellent choice if you're looking for an everyday jacket that feels good when you pull it on.

Read more: Columbia Spire Valley

Best Ultralight Option

Enlightened Equipment Copperfield Wind Shirt - Men's

Weight: 2.2 oz (size Medium) | Pockets: none

The Enlightened Equipment Copperfield Wind Shirt is by far the lightest windbreaker we've ever tested, weighing more than an ounce less than the next lightest model. “This is the jacket I reach for on ultralight missions, where every ounce counts,” as our lead tester put it. This bare-bones design has little by way of features (to keep the weight as low as possible), but it fits well. It has a cinch hood and toggle at the waist hem to provide just enough adjustability to keep the wind out. The 10D nylon fabric with PFC-free DWR coating does an excellent job of trapping heat, and combined with an ultralight puffy jacket, will keep you surprisingly warm when the temperature drops.

Measured Weight	2.2 oz (M)
Material	10D nylon fabric, PFC-free DWR
Pockets	None
Safety Reflective Material	None
Stowable Pocket	No

Though it's astoundingly light, the Copperfield Wind Shirt sacrifices any semblance of style to achieve this level of ultralight. “I try not to wear this thing unless I'm far away from other people,” our lead tester stated, “It kind of looks like a trash bag with sleeves.” For most people, the Patagonia Houdini is more than light enough and won't be a fashion faux pas if you stop in town after a day on the trail. However, if you're the type of person who really wants to save an entire ounce while carrying a wind-blocking layer, you can't be concerned with looks. If this is you, the Copperfield Wind Shirt is your best bet.

How We Tested

Since 2012, our experts have reviewed over 90 of the best windbreakers on the market. Through research and personal experience, we developed a series of comprehensive tests to evaluate each model side-by-side. We assessed how well each model blocked the wind, paying attention to any spots where wind could pass through. We wore each model around town and on outdoor adventures, hung them on climbing harnesses, wore them over insulating layers to keep warm in the winter, and threw them on for chilly evenings in the park. We tested them in front of a fan and under a garden hose to assess wind and weather resistance. We packed them down, sweated in them, and wore each one for months of testing.

We use 5 mutually exclusive metrics to dive deep into how well each windbreaker performs:

• Wind Resistance (30% of total score weighting)

• Breathability (30% weighting)

• Versatility (20% weighting)

• Packability (10% weighting)

• Water Resistance (10% weighting)

Why Trust GearLab

Our men's windbreaker jacket testing is led by Sam Schild. Sam is an avid backpacker, trail runner, and cyclist based in Colorado. He is a triple crown thru-hiker, and has completed the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Appalachian Trail, along with countless other long-distance hiking and bikepacking adventures.

Sam is joined by Aaron Rice. Aaron grew up on the Atlantic coastline, learning to ski in Vermont and Maine, and has lived up and down the Rocky Mountains for over a decade. He is familiar with all types of wind and weather and holds a bachelor's degree in atmospheric and climate science. Just ask him, he will happily tell you that “weather is his jam.” Aaron now lives in Santa Fe, NM, and wears many professional hats, dividing his work seasonally between farming and writing in the summers and ski patrol and avalanche education in the winters. Aaron often finds himself in some questionably windy situations, whether in the high mountains or out in the desert. If you don't know what we're talking about, visit New Mexico in the spring, and you'll understand.

Analysis and Test Results

We chose each model after comprehensive research into innovation, popularity, quality, and tons of other factors that make the best windbreakers. Our aim is to provide you with thorough and practical advice so you can make a purchasing decision that best suits your specific needs.

What's the Best Value?

It is essential to consider the value of any potential purchase. While it is often true that items that cost more often correspond with higher performance, this is not always the case. We have found time and again that some more affordable items perform nearly as well as the most expensive options and present a much better value for most people.

The Patagonia Houdini represents an exceptional value in this category. Not only is it our top overall scorer, but it is also cheaper than many other options and remarkably durable. We have used the Houdini for years across a variety of activities, and find that it has a level of versatility that only adds to the overall value.

The Rab Vital Hoody is a technical shell with a much more reasonable price tag than you would expect. This model performed nearly as well as the Houdini across the board, but has different strengths and costs slightly less.

The Columbia Spire Valley is an impressively affordable model, and while it isn't the one we'd choose for a mountain ascent, it's more than versatile enough to wear on a chilly hike and has a casual look that you can keep wearing when you go out to dinner afterward.

While the Charles River Pack-n-Go and Champion Stadium Packable each cost less than the Columbia Spire Valley, we weren't nearly as impressed with either of these models' performance. If you only care about finding the least expensive windbreaker, then you might consider these two. But we found the performance of the Columbia Spire Valley to be worth the few extra bucks you'll pay for it.

Wind Resistance

Wind resistance is perhaps the most crucial feature of these jackets. If a windbreaker doesn't block the wind, then it misses the whole point. We tested wind resistance on windy mountain ridges, on chilly days by the lake, during early morning runs and hikes, and while backpacking at high elevations. Most of these jackets do a good job of blocking the wind, and you'll feel the difference in warmth when you throw any of them on when the cold air starts blowing. However, some models make weak points - namely, in the zippers, hood, wrist, and waist hem - that start to show in more demanding environments.

The Ortovox Merino Windbreaker, which features a unique fabric made of a combination of Merino wool and polyamide, is one of the most windproof jackets we tested. While wearing this on a windy ridge, we could immediately tell that this jacket does an excellent job of blocking the wind. There was a massive difference in temperature after we put this on and zipped it up while the wind was ripping over the mountain.

The Enlightened Equipment Copperfield Wind Shirt is slightly more windproof than the Ortovox Merino Windbreaker. The Copperfield Wind Shirt blocks the wind so well that if you combine it with a lightweight fleece, it will be about as warm as a lightweight puffy jacket. We often carry this and a light fleece for summer backpacking rather than packing a down coat.

In addition to the nylon fabric weave used in construction, a couple of other factors are vital in a jacket's performance to fight the wind properly. Fit is critical; windbreakers work better when they fit close to the body. Features that help seal out the wind, like elastic sleeve cuffs and drawcords on the hem and hood, also make a massive difference if you are battling a strong, sustained wind. These are easy entry points where the wind can circumvent your carefully woven nylon barrier if they're not dialed.

The Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell is made of extremely windproof nylon ripstop fabric and has one of the best hood designs for blocking the wind. This jacket has a cinch cord that wraps around your head and lightweight stretch material around the face opening of the hood. These two features combine to seal out the wind very effectively.

The Patagonia Houdini and Rab Vital Hoody are each nearly as wind-resistant as the other models mentioned above. The Houdini is made of a very wind-resistant material and has a cinch cord that wraps around your head, much like the Black Diamond Distance. The Houdini doesn't have elastic around the hood's face opening like the BD does, which makes it slightly less wind-resistant, but more comfortable overall.

The Rab Vital Hoody is made of highly wind-blocking material as well. It has non-adjustable elastic material sewn around the hood's face opening and a velcro adjuster on the backside, allowing you to tighten the hood ever so slightly. This hood design isn't as effective as the adjustable cinch on the Houdini, but the jacket's overall wind-resistance is still very good.

Breathability

Since windbreakers are often used as an alternative, lightweight outer layer for high-intensity activities, we consider breathability and venting as important as wind resistance. A jacket with no breathability would trap all of your heat and sweat inside the shell, leading to a horrible cycle of overheating, soaking, and then overcooling.

Balancing breathability with wind resistance is a challenge since you're essentially asking a jacket to let warm air and moisture out without letting cold air in. In all our years of testing, we still haven't found this “unicorn” fabric, but many manufacturers include venting features to help overcome this challenge.

Besides the notes we acquired from field testing, we wanted to judge each jacket side-by-side in a situation that would not incorporate the sun's heat. To analyze which jackets offered the best ventilation and kept us from getting clammy, we did high-intensity activities in warm weather with each jacket.

All of these jackets are biased toward wind protection, so none of them breathe that well. Some jackets performed better than the rest, often for different reasons.

The most breathable models we tested were the Ortovox Merino Windbreaker and Fjallraven High Coast. The Ortovox uses a unique fabric that blends Merino wool and polyamide to create a very breathable fabric. Like the Ortovox's use of natural fibers, the Fjallraven High Coast uses a blend of cotton and polyamide. The natural fibers used in these windbreakers allow more hot air to escape when your body starts to heat up.

The Rab Vital Hoody is made of breathable woven nylon material. This fabric is woven tightly, so it isn't as breathable as it could be, but this tight weave creates better wind and weather resistance. Rather than sacrifice weather protection, Rab added a snap closure across the chest of the jacket so you can fully unzip it to vent without having the entire jacket flap around in the wind. This allowed us to keep the jacket on longer and saved us the hassle of the on-again, off-again game when we were warming up.

The Patagonia Houdini is a fairly breathable jacket, and the textured fabric doesn't feel as clammy as the smooth inner linings of most other jackets. We were consistently surprised at how long we could keep this jacket on during high-output activities on days when the hot sun was perpetually covered by fast-moving clouds, causing large swings in temperature. Even when we started to sweat, it took much longer to feel uncomfortably clammy in the Houdini.

Versatility

While some outdoor apparel is very purpose-specific, we love it when we can use our gear for multiple activities. We looked at how well each windbreaker fit in over a wide variety of environments and activities.

We checked how well each jacket fit, asking questions like: Does it fit over the top of thicker midlayers and puffy jackets? Are the sleeves long enough? How does the waist hem feel, and how do you adjust it? Too baggy or too tight a fit won't allow for a full range of motion in any activity. Checking the hood fits is also important if you plan to wear it over a helmet, beanie, or ball cap. We also noted features that annoyed us: hard-to-manipulate zippers, hood stowing systems that don't hold, drawcords that are hard to pull or release with one hand, and uncomfortable elastic cuffs and hood liners.

Some jackets are designed to be used as standalone layers, in which case we expect them to fit sleeker and closer to the body for optimal performance. Others are meant to be worn more as outer layers, in which case you'll want to make sure there is enough room to layer a light jacket underneath.

The most versatile model is the Patagonia Houdini. Many of the technical windbreakers we tested work nearly as well as the Houdini for technical climbing, mountain biking, and running, but most others didn't seem to fit in as well in the rest of our lives. The Houdini is technical enough to wear for long days in the alpine, yet stylish and comfortable enough to wear for drinks on a chilly patio afterward. It fits loosely enough to layer over a thick midlayer or puffy jacket. It isn't too baggy either, making it ideal to carry as the one layer you throw on over your shirt during summer hikes.

The Fjallraven High Coast and Columbia Spire Valley are also quite versatile. These jackets fit well, are not too tight or loose, and are all-around comfortable. Though they aren't as great for technical ascents of big mountains or other high-output activities, they're a good option for hikes and won't stand out at a restaurant in the way that the Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell would.

The High Coast and Spire Valley have a casual look that pairs as well with jeans as they do with athletic shorts, while the Distance Wind Shell's ultra-thin material is slightly see-through and looks out of place in any outfit you'd want to throw on for a night in town.

The Enlightened Equipment Copperfield Wind Shirt is one of the least versatile windbreakers in the lineup. This jacket is exceptionally lightweight and packable, making it the perfect layer for backpacking. However, beyond ultralight endeavors, the Copperfield Wind Shirt falls flat. Though it fits well and is fantastic for layering underneath, it is the least stylish jacket we've ever worn. Many of our outdoorsy testers aren't particularly concerned with style, and even they felt self-conscious while wearing this jacket at a coffee shop after a backpacking trip.

Packability

The lightest windbreakers already weigh substantially less than other jackets and will feel like light work comparatively. Every windbreaker in our review tips the scales at less than a pound, while several weigh less than four ounces. These jackets are not only exceptionally light, but they often pack down smaller than your average Nalgene bottle — so you have little excuse not to throw one of these into your pack for extra weather protection.

We rated each product based on weight and how easily it packs away, but weight isn't everything among a crowd of lightweight superstars. We also looked at other packability features that made them easier to carry on your next adventure.

Most jackets can be stuffed into their own pocket for easy portability. However, the size they pack down to is not equal, nor is the ease of stuffing or transporting them afterward. A smaller stuffed size is convenient for attaching a windbreaker to a harness on a long climb or fitting in a hydration pack for a long mountain bike ride or trail run. A few windbreakers have separate stuff sacks, but we don't like this as much because they are easy to lose, and they add weight.

The Enlightened Equipment Copperfield Wind Shirt is the lightest jacket in our lineup. It weighs barely more than 2 ounces. It has no pockets, which makes it lighter, but if you want to hang it off your pack or harness, you'll need to track down a stuff sack. For backpacking, we simply stuff the Copperfield Wind Shirt into an outside pocket, but we didn't find it as convenient for climbing, where you often want to clip a light layer onto your harness.

The Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell is another of the lightest jackets in this review. This jacket stuffs into a very small package in its zippered chest pocket. It's a full ounce heavier than the Copperfield Wind Shirt, but the Distance is a better option if you want something to hang off your climbing harness or backpack without using a separate stuff sack.

The Patagonia Houdini is a fraction of an ounce heavier than the Distance Wind Shell and packs into its chest pocket to about the same size. Though the Houdini is technically heavier, these two models are nearly identical regarding packability.

Most of the other jackets in our testing lineup also pack into their own pockets in one way or another, and many have zippered pockets that double as stuff sacks. The Rab Men's Vital Hoody, Columbia Spire Valley, Fjallraven High Coast Wind, and the Enlightened Equipment Copperfield Wind Shirt (mentioned above) lack a dedicated stowable pocket.

Past versions of the Rab Vital Hoody came with a stuff sack, but the current one does not. You can stuff this jacket into a hand pocket, though it doesn't have double-sided zippers to close it when inside-out.

You can also use the hand pockets to stuff the Fjallraven High Coast and Columbia Spire Valley in the same way, but these models are not nearly as light and packable, and their hand pockets are less ideal for using as a stuff sack.

The Champion Stadium Packable packs into its hand pocket, but the lining of the pocket is a soft white material that will undoubtedly show dirt and stains over time. While this isn't a huge deal, we do think it's worth noting since most of the other stuff sack pockets aren't nearly as prone to staining.

Water Resistance

While all these windbreakers purport to be water resistant, none are meant to be as waterproof as a rain jacket. It is a tall order to ask for a jacket that is already wind-resistant, breathable, lightweight, and packable to also be waterproof. We have yet to find such a unicorn, but we still found that many of these jackets were enough to keep dry under a light sprinkle of rain.

Most of these jackets come with a durable water-resistant (DWR) coating applied to the shell. DWR coatings are chemical applications that repel water while allowing the fabric underneath to breathe. But a DWR coating wears off over time, especially if you wear a pack over the jacket. Once the DWR coating is gone, these jackets will no longer be water-resistant, and you will get wet. Luckily, you can reapply DWR coatings at home pretty easily.

We set up a garden hose to simulate a rainstorm, threw on each jacket (with the hood covering our heads), and stood under the falling water for 30 seconds. We performed this test with every jacket and assessed how well each kept us dry in a short torrential rain. The results ranged from impressively good to very bad.

The most waterproof model is the Rab Vital Hoody. This jacket kept us relatively dry under our simulated torrential downpour. While it's still not as waterproof as a dedicated rain jacket, this model has very water-resistant material and thoughtful features that add to its stormworthiness. It has the most substantial brim on the hood, which will keep your face dryer during a rain shower.

The Ortovox Merino Windbreaker, Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell, Patagonia Houdini, and Cotopaxi Teca Half-Zip Windbreaker were also quite waterproof compared to other windbreakers. While on a day in the mountains, all these jackets kept us dry in brief sprinkles. They also took a full 30 seconds to begin to wet out on the shoulders under heavy water falling out of our garden hose sprinkler shower.

Water resistance is a nice feature in a windbreaker, but it is certainly not what these jackets are designed for. We wouldn't choose any of these jackets if we knew we were walking out the door on a rainy day, so don't let this be a dealbreaker.

Conclusion

Choosing the perfect windbreaker jacket can be challenging due to the nuances of sport-specific design. The products we reviewed here certainly did a good job of protecting us from the wind. Some were better suited to water resistance, while others were much lighter. The trick to figuring out which jacket to buy is to figure out how you'll use it.