Eddie Bauer First Ascent Point Success Fleece Jacket

This is a fleece jacket by First Ascent that I've been using since late summer. I got it in order to have a heavier insulating fleece jacket that I could wear standalone or use under a shell. I have several of these types of jackets, including the North Face Denali Jacket.

I like this jacket very much. It's made of two different kind of fleece materials - - Polartec Windpro and Polartech Powerstretch. The reason this is important is that the side panels and part of the sleeves are made from the Powerstretch which make the jacket extremely comfortable but allows for a tight fit. Some of the other fleece jackets I have tend to bind a little, especially for climbing.

First Ascent claims the use of the Windpro material makes the jacket more wind resistant than other fleece jackets. I did, in fact, find this to be the case. It is not totally wind proof like the "windstopper" style fabrics, but it lets very little wind in and is great for light to moderate conditions without a shell over it.

The advantage of this over the windstopper for me is it means the jacket breathes a little as well and let's some moisture escape. So I find it very good to wear for moderate activity in cold weather where I want to try to avoid overheating.

The other thing that sets this jacket apart is the zippers, which are very good. The main zipper has a rubberized type strip running behind it which seals it pretty well. The chest pocket zipper is good and easy to grab with gloves on.

The collar is also very good. It's lined with a microfiber type stretchy material that's comfortable around the neck. The collar is several layers of material which makes it warm, and is a little higher than a lot of other jackets which helps when it's zipped up. The top of the zipper has a zipper "garage" to keep the zipper from pressing against your chin when it's zipped all the way up.

The fit seems to be an "athletic" type fit, which works really well with the stretchy panels.

It's also a great around town jacket.

This is a very nice piece at a very good price point.

-g