Columbia Women's Arcadia Rain Jacket

This rain jacket has lasted me for years and I look forward to many more. It is comfortable, durable, and most importantly, waterproof and breathable. It has gotten me through many rainy commutes, dog walks, and vacations. The zippered pockets keep my items totally dry- I held over 5 cell phones once at rainy a football game and kept them all dry until it stopped. Additionally, I live in an area that gets pretty mild winters, and this plus a hoodie suffices on many winter days for me.A few minor complaints over the years-The velcro: The closure on the front and near the wrists is velcro. I wear this for work commutes and it just always seems to get stuck on my nice work clothes.The hood: I just couldn't get it to stay in a comfortable position on my head, even with trying to make adjustments to the hood velcro/closure on the back. The rain would just drip right in my face and the hood would slowly slip back on my head.

I liked this rain jacket for the first six months or so after purchasing it. I bought it in the light sand color, as I prefer a lighter color due to heightened visibility, and the color, look, and fit were (still are) great. The jacket also kept me reasonably dry throughout our tropical Florida downpours at first, though I will say that ventilation is basically not existent, and wearing a non-breathable rain jacket in tropical climate makes you sweat profusely. So you tend to be getting wet either way, albeit not to the same extent.After about six months or so, the protective coating of the seams had worm off, and the jacket has been useless in heavy rains ever since. It is still an okay-ish back-up during lighter rains, put for massive downpours, I had to upgrade to a Helly Hanson rain jacket at several times the price of this one.The bottom line is, you get what you pay for. If you live in an area with occasional or lighter rains, or if you're looking for a rain jacket to only last you one long hiking trip, this might just be perfect for you. But if you live in an area with regular heavy downpours and are looking for a rain jacket you can reliably trust for years to come, this is certainly not IT. I have learned my lesson the wet way.

The quality is what I expected, it is very light weight, in fact for a chilly day you need a sweatshirt under it. It is more like a nice wind breaker with some thickness, but not much. Now, about the size.....I am 5'1 and 110 pounds. I read the reviews and debated whether to go a size up but I stuck with ordering a small. For me it is big, so much so that I hadn't intended on wearing anything thick underneath it but will have to in order to stay warm. The cut is great, the quality is great, and I really have no complaints because even though it is a little big, the fix is too easy, layers! But for someone who wants a true fit with nothing but the jacket next to their skin, I would stick to your true size or go one down. Companies need to start stating the size of the model and the size of the clothing article worn by the model in there product description, I think that would help a great deal.

I needed a new waterproof, and wanted to get one that's "breathable."This jacket is certainly waterproof, but it's design makes the breathability very limited. I bought the large size for myself. I wear a US women's size 10 in clothing, and the jacket does fit me perfectly. However, there's no ease for anything even slightly bulky beneath it.The sleeves are long and have velcro wraps to keep them snug. That's a good thing, because otherwise they hang to my knuckles. But the underarm area is cut like a shirt, with no roomy part to accomodate a sweater. And that's where the breathability suffers, as many people will begin to heat in their armpits before most other places, and without any room, you can feel this waterproof fabric right against your skin, trapping the heat.I do like it, but I wish it were a bit roomier to allow for more than a simple tee shirt beneath it.

This is NOT about the product, I love Columbia's products, except for my comment re sizing at the end. About the SUPPLIER (this is not the manufacturer or amazon, as it was a 'fulfillment' item!!): poor quality control (!! !!), because...... Jacket 1) had no manufacturer's paper tag; it could have been accidently removed, but the plastic loop was missing; 2) there was dirt on one of the sleeves; 3) and this is the last piece of 'evidence' (haha), there was a 'receipt' in the one of the pockets that was written to a specific person for services rendered from a specific person with the address! (and dated!) So, needless to say, I am returning it....plus N.B. about the product: I am usually a medium, but when I stretched my arms around myself (the jacket was to have been worn (by me this time!!!) sailing, I would need a bit more flexibility!...

We head out to the Black Hills next week and I plan on trekking Harney Peak, which has its own atmosphere. Rain is a given, and I do not own a rain coat, so the search led me here. Some features I wanted in a jacket include an interior pocket, zippered pockets, an inner lining, and a hood. This jacket met all of those requirements so I ordered it.However, I was terrified that it wouldn't fit after reading all of these reviews. I ordered an XL because that is what I typically order in outerwear; I'm a size 14 5'8 woman.The jacket arrived within days and in plenty of time for my vacation next week. I pulled it out of the package and put it on immediately. It fit and it looks great. I added my Old Navy fleece active wear jacket from last season underneath for a layer (over a Tshirt and tank top) and it fit just fine; no pulling in the arms and it zipped up with ease. The zippers and velcro closures work fine and the arm bands have room to be tightened if I want to make them more fitted. Some reviewers said that the material is gross, but I disagree. It feels like thick vinyl and not cheap plastic, which is reassuring in that I won't get wet in a rain shower and it will hold up for years.I can totally see myself using this for bike riding and to work as a librarian. Fitted and functional; great buy and I'd certainly recommend.