Columbia Horizons Pine Interchange Jacket

Nice coat for street and trail.

In all I give the Horizons Pine a 4 out of 5; at under 200$ CAD It was a great buy IMO. Just note, I am not the most active person; I hike and walk regularly and I hope to increase my activities, and intensity, as I get into shape. As of now my activity is medium duration at low intensity. With that said higher activity people, or lower, may have different results.

Pros:

I say very water repellent and not waterproof because I can see where the fabric is absorbing water on days when it is really raining (say 10-15mm in an eight-hour period). But I still feel dry on those days; not sure what kind of wizardry is going on, but the water has not yet gotten through to the liner. I treated it with Nikwax Wash-In recently and have not had it out in the rain since to test or note changes.

Warm: when you are active it is very warm (as low as -24°C: as low as -32°C windchill) when active but when you are not active the coat starts to feel cool, especially on the coldest of days. I actually like this because when I feel like I am getting too hot I can stop for a bit and cool off quite quickly.

If I know I am going to be out in the cold with little activity for extended periods I add a light sweater and so far that has been fine. One very cold and very windy day, 80km/h with 100km/h gusts, I paired it with a hoody and I was warm; I had to strip down to just the hoody after 20min of snow shoveling.

The liner seems to compress really well. This is the first three-in-one where I actually use the liner as a coat or a bring along for when the nights get cool. It isn't down compressible but still stuffs smaller than fleece or wool liners.

I feel like I have good mobility for walking, hiking, sledding, snowball fights, etc... and I am not what you would call an "athletic build". There are cinch cords, but I don't use them.

Looks good; as I said above it doesn't look out of place on the streets or trails.

I am so far impressed with Columbia's Quality-to-Price ratio. All I can say is after asking around on forums about the waterproofing it was said that sometimes Columbia will ship jackets direct and forget/skip waterproofing and that it is a good idea to treat them with Nikwax (or similar) when you get them. If this is true that would be my only complaint with Columbia and perhaps why it seemed to "absorb" water more than repel it on my first rainy days. However, I was still dry so it didn't get through all the layers to me.

For me the shell works as a rain coat, but I like my rain wear to be a bit loose, so if you like it fitted then you might have to play with the cinch cords. 

Works as a wind breaker.

Cons:

I have the Burgandyish/Reddish/Purplish colour with a light grey liner. My neck sweat and dirt permanently stained the inner liner and it does look groudy. I would go for a colour with a darker liner or maybe a brighter liner... avoid the light grey liner unless you don't sweat.

No two-way zipper? I like the two-way zipper so that when I am driving I can open the bottom of the jacket. The cut of the jacket seems to allow it to shift up easy when sitting or driving vehicles so it isn't a big issue, but it would have been nice.

Hood! My biggest complaint! Do not use the hood and walk around town if you want to live! I cannot see what is going on around me unless I wear a tooq and a hood from a hoody and then the hood. The hood flops forward blocking my sight lines, dangerous when walking across roads or in the woods. All it needs is a small velcro strip on the top to adjust this and it would be fine. Very annoyed this wasn't added.

On a plus though the hood is removable but it uses snaps; I find snap on/off hoods lose their ability to hold on if they are removed too many times; zippers are better. I am sure though if you are wearing a helmet the hood would be fine, if you needed a hood over your helmet...

The Omni Tech insulator does feel funny on the skin, especially when cold or damp/sweaty. It isn't an issue for if it is cold enough for the insulator I likely have long sleeves/base layers. On the few times I wore it over a T-shirt it felt a bit sticky IMO; maybe it was just too hot for it.

If you hike, backpack, cross-country ski, snowshoe, and you don't downhill ski or snowboard enough to require a dedicated snowboarding jacket, then this is a good pick.

Cheers

EDIT 2019/05/15

Had the coat in the rain after the waterproofing; I tested the waterproofing by folding the shell into a pocket and pouring a glass of water in it. The water beaded off the material and formed a pool at the bottom of the pocket with no signs of seepage (250mm of water+-). In the rain water can be seen seeping into the fabric in places where it rubs but other than that it beads off. I am told this is somewhat normal for breathable waterproof fabrics. I think it will keep you dry in anything less than a downpour.

Lestoil will discolour the fabric on the shell; do not use it to remove stains. This likely applies to all Columbia jackets.

Dawn with some baking soda applied and left to set for a few hours before washing removed the grease stains from the shell and the discolouration on the collar of the liner with no staining or discolouration from the detergent that I could see in my case.

Background

Edit 2020: So after a year I am still mostly impressed but it has lost a lot of its water repellency along the left shoulder seam. Because of the lining I am not sure if the seam tape or sealer let go. The Nikwax product isn't sealing the spot. I am going to try a 3M product to see if it improves. May need to use a tent seam sealer in the spot.

From me to me Christmas present; it has seen snow, slush, ice pellets, rain, wind and temps as low as -24°C and windchills as low as -32°C. Could be warmer when you are not being active, and a good quality-to-price ratio.

Excellent jacket. Stays very, very warm, and very dry. Looks great. Stylish enough to go out to a bar or club in, and durable enough to ski in.

I don't feel like writing, but trust me, just buy it if you wanna look good for the girls and stay warm.