I recently bought a new Toyota Tundra. While filling out the paperwork, the salesperson asked me how long I thought I would keep the truck. My curt response: “The rest of my damn life.”
I was feeling guilty about spending $50,000, but I could live with the expense if I could get 20 to 30 years of use from it. Toyotas aren’t cheap, but their reliability is unmatched, which offsets the pricetag.
When I buy an Arc’teryx jacket, I feel like I’m getting a Toyota truck.
Like Toyota, Arc’teryx’s build quality is amazing, its features are incredibly well thought out, and its famed reliability is real. But when I’m purchasing one of their jackets for $300, $600, or even $900, I feel a similar low-grade financial stress. Should I be wearing something that costs this much? Is the gear investment worth what I get in return?
Are Arc’teryx Jackets Worth It?
The answer, for me, is always yes because Arc’teryx is in a category of its own when it comes to outerwear. For more than 25 years, the company has set the bar for how technical outerwear can and should be made. It started with their Alpha SV in 1998, a bombproof climbing jacket that redefined how durable, waterproof, and reliable a jacket could be. That Alpha SV, still in the line today, has gone through iteration after iteration, keeping pace with new tech and the ever-more-adventurous climbers who rely on it for protection in extreme environments.
Years ago, I had the chance to tour the Arc’teryx headquarters in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and saw firsthand how the brand’s success is created. Their designers are a bunch of obsessive geeks, in the best way possible, who take pride in producing designs no one else can touch. I got to meet the guy who spent years inventing the first waterproof zipper, the company giving him the freedom to perfect a feature that’s since revolutionized outerwear. They showed me their design center inside HQ, where prototypes of new products are made and immediately shipped to their athlete testers. This cuts out months of waiting for prototypes to arrive from Asia, helping to keep new designs on the cutting edge of innovation while still rigorously field-tested.
Nowadays, other jackets rival their quality, but I can still feel the difference when wearing a piece from this storied Canadian brand. The face fabrics and waterproof membranes are always high quality, the fit is perfect, and the designs are never overdone. Like a sloppy writer adding superfluous words, other jacket companies often add doo-dads to their jackets that look good in marketing materials but make no difference in the performance. Arc’teryx keeps things clean and sleek, only including features that matter.
When I reached out to the brand this year, Ashley Anson, VP of Product Design and Women’s Apparel, echoed this company ethos: “Our goal is to always have the most durable materials and constructions that stand the test of time. We don’t chase trends, we are simply committed to creating lasting gear, tested in the harshest conditions, when mountain athletes need it most.”
Here are my three favorite jackets from Arc’teryx’s current lineup.
The Best Arc’teryx Jackets
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