Norwegian brand Helly Hansen has designed this hybrid jacket to bring customers the best of both worlds – the cosy warmth of a fleece and the added weather protection of a softshell, all in one jacket. Think of the Odin Pro Shield Hybrid, therefore, as a halfway house between two genres – a fleecy softshell, or a softshell-y fleece, or perhaps more accurately a softshell on the “fleeciest” end of the softshell spectrum.
Oh my, the softshell clothing category really is a confusing beast. However you see it, the Odin Pro Shield Hybrid is an excellent, versatile hiking jacket, combining warmth and windproof protection in a comfy design – highly recommended.
Pros
- Warmth
- Weather protection
- Hybrid design
- Good features
Cons
- Expensive
- No wrist cuff adjustment
| Men’s sizes: | S-XXL |
| Women’s sizes: | XS-XL |
| Weight: | 513g (men’s small) |
| Fabric: | 53% polyester, 40% polyamide, 7% elastane |
Fabrics & Stretch
This softshell is made from a durable polyester-nylon blend, with elastane for added stretch. The official fabric stats are 53% polyester, 40% polyamide (nylon) and 7% elastane. The outer of the fabric feels relatively strong and robust, and is recognisable as a softshell material. The inner is more fleece-like, with a gridded texture of tiny square tufts of fleece. This is soft against the skin, although the almost ribbed, ridged texture may polarise opinion, or take a little while to get used to. Across the “inside collar” – the part of jacket that cover your chin and mouth, when fully zipped up – there’s a brushed fleece for an even softer, smoother sensation against the skin.
An elastane content of 7% is quite high, ensuring the Odin Pro Shield Hybrid has good levels of stretch and flex. This improves all-round comfort and ensures the jacket moves well with the body during active endeavours. The fabric features four-way stretch, meaning it stretches both vertically and horizontally – a more premium option than two-way stretch, which only works horizontally or vertically.
All in all, the stretchy fabric used in the Odin Pro Shield Hybrid has a clever dual purpose. The fleecy inner and softshell outer provide warmth on the inside and weather protection on the outside – exactly what Helly Hansen is trying to achieve with this jacket. The fabric definitely feels tougher than a standard fleece or lightweight softshell too.
Wind-Resistance & Water-Resistance
This jacket is finished with a PFC-free DWR (durable water repellent) coating, ensuring it can cope well with light precipitation. Although, as with all softshells, we certainly wouldn’t wear it as an outer-layer in more persistent, heavier rain, when a hard shell jacket should be thrown over it.
The Odin Pro Shield Hybrid’s outer face blocks wind well too, thanks to its wind-resistant design. Helly Hansen says this jacket is ideal “when you need the durable weather protection of a softshell jacket and the cozy warmth of fleece”.
The fleecy warmth you get from the Odin Pro Shield Hybrid’s inner is a double-edged sword. If you run cold in the hills or will be walking in colder temperatures, it delivers similar warmth and breathability to a mid-weight fleece. But, arguably, many hillwalkers may find it easy to overheat in this softshell, particularly in warmer climes or on steeper ascents. The fabric’s good breathability helps to combat this problem, but for some it will still get sweaty quite quickly.
Fit, Comfort & Weight
The Helly Hansen Odin Pro Shield Hybrid weighs 513g. This is about average for a fully-featured, “proper” softshell jacket with a hood. It is well-cut with a dropped tail for a little extra protection over the backside. The fit is neither athletic nor baggy – instead it strikes a nice balance, with a touch of roominess but still streamlined enough to work well in a layering system. The only thing we noticed is that it felt a little tight around the backside, when the dropped hem was fully pulled down – but this may not affect all body shapes.
All-round comfort levels are high thanks to the stretchy fabric and the soft, fleecy inner. The jacket works equally well as a standalone outer on dry days, or as a middle-layer underneath a hard shell when the rain pours.
Ultralight enthusiasts may find the Helly Hansen Odin Pro Shield Hybrid a tad stiff and clunky, and will turn their noses up at the 513g weight. Certainly it isn’t an ultralight, super-minimalist mid-layer softshell for fast’n’agile adventures. But the pay-off is that - for the extra weight - you get improved warmth, weather protection and durability. For many hillwalkers, this will be a positive compromise.
Features: Pockets, Hood & Ventilation
An interesting feature in this jacket is an integrated RECCO transponder, which is housed on the underside of the hood visor. This is how it works. Perhaps best-known for use in avalanche rescues, a RECCO detector used by rescue professionals emits a directional radar signal, like the beam of a flashlight. When the signal hits a RECCO reflector, it is echoed back to the detector and pinpoints the rescuer to the direction and location of the victim. Such a device could be a life-saver and is certainly useful if hiking in the Alps or North America. But RECCO detectors aren’t widely used by rescue services in the UK, so the feature may be redundant for UK adventures.
Aside from the RECCO reflector, the Helly Hansen Odin Pro Shield Hybrid has a full range of features. You get two zippered handwarmer pockets with nice zip pulls, and a zippered pocket on the left breast. All three pockets are mesh-lined. The central YKK zipper is smooth and backed by a stormflap, although there is no zipper “garage” flap at the top. The waist hem is adjustable via a single drawcord toggle, and the excellent hood has a stiffened visor and is adjustable via a rear drawcord. The hood fits nicely, is helmet-compatible and offers good coverage across the face.
Helly Hansen describes the hood as having a “shapeable brim”, but in reality it only has one shape and can’t really be changed. This doesn’t really matter, however, as it has a good design. One omission is you don’t get Velcro tabs or any way of fine-tuning the fit at the wrists, although we found the stretchy, articulated cuffs fitted well. Finally, the jacket is a certified bluesign product, meaning it has been manufactured to certain safety and environmental requirements.
Verdict
A hybrid jacket that fuses the warmth of a fleece with the added wind and water-resistance of a softshell – but it may be too warm for some
About the author
James Forest writes regular features and route guides for Trail and has been one of our main gear testers for the last few years. James is based on the edge of the Lake District so when he isn’t off on his latest crazy adventure or challenge, he’s walking in his local fells.