REASONS TO BUY
Quality insulation
Very light for its warmth
Great protective hood
Hand pockets well out of the way of pack and harness
REASONS TO AVOID
Doesn't pack into own pocket
Haglofs Barrier Pro Hood Review
Our Verdict
This product has been discontinued and replaced with the Haglofs Barrier Pro II Hood.
The Haglofs Barrier Pro Hood is one of our favorite light synthetic insulated jackets. Haglofs, likely less familiar than other brands to the U.S. consumer, is a European manufacturer that makes plenty of quality mountain sport products. The Barrier Pro Hood has a good warmth to weight ratio, well-designed features and cut, and utilizes PrimaLoft ONE, which we find to be the best synthetic insulator. We find the Rab Xenon to be a slightly better light synthetic jacket overall, but the Haglofs Barrier Pro Hood is not far behind, and is one of the best light synthetic jackets around.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Warmth
Like the Rab Xenon and the Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket the Barrier Pro Hood has 60g/m2 PrimaLoft ONE insulation. This makes the Barrier Pro Hood a great all around, year-round jacket. The hood design of the Barrier Pro Hood is more protective of the face (coming up over the mouth to the nose) compared with the fixed hood of the Xenon, and is also adjustable for when the weather is really bad. We find that overall this makes the hood design warmer relative to the Xenon. Our European size Large sample is cut a bit longer than similar jackets like the Xenon and Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket while remaining slim in width.
Haglofs Barrier Pro Hood.
Credit: Molly Ravits
Weight / Compressibility
The total weight of 14.3oz for the Barrier Pro Hood is similar to other high-end light synthetics like the updated Rab Xenon (Xenon X), and the Arc'teryx Atom LT. The lightweight fabrics allow for good compressibility in the pack. The major drawback for the Haglofs, at least in the minds of rock climbers, may be that it isn't designed to be stuffed into its own pocket for clipping to the harness. The jacket is however, easily packed into the zippered chest pocket, but the zipper is then forced inside out, and there is no clip in point.
Features
While the biggest feature lacking may be the ability to pack it into itself and clip to the harness for climbing applications, the rest of the features on the Barrier Pro Hood are indeed well thought out for climbing, hiking, or any other back country pursuit.
Credit: Molly Ravits
The hand pockets, for example, are zippered and well above the line of your climbing harness or backpack waist belt. The zippered external chest pocket is generously sized. The hood is very well designed, and allows for comfortable face protection from the elements. It is adjustable on the front with two slender cinch cords that route the excess cord down through fabric away from dangling in your face. The waist and wrist hems are elastic and non-adjustable.
Weather Resistance
Though it's hard to notice a distinct difference, we feel like the fabrics used not the Barrier Pro Hood are a bit less weather resistant than those used on our favorite light synthetic the Rab Xenon. On the other hand we would prefer the hood design of the Barrier Pro Hood to the Xenon is the weather was super windy.
Mobility
like most all light weight synthetic jackets the Haglofs Barrier Pro Hood is light, and slim fitting enough to be comfortably worn during cold-weather activity, as long as you don't overheat. One major plus to the Barrier Pro Hood is the pockets which are designed to be out of the way so that even when wearing a pack or a climbing harness you can warm your hands.
Value
The Haglofs Barrier Pro Hood is similarly priced to its competition. It is a high performing light synthetic jacket with high-quality materials like PrimaLoft ONE insulation. there are cheaper alternatives in this review, like the REI Revelcloud Jacket which offers a similar design and insulation weight, but uses less warm (but earth friendlier) PrimaLoft ECO.
—
Chris Simrell
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