Patagonia Triolet waterproof jacket | Tested and reviewed

In my eyes, this is what you get with almost all Patagonia products: they look on-trend and cool, have excellent eco and ethical credentials, and deliver solid technical mountain performance, but you’ll inevitably be paying over the odds for those Pata-Gucci fashionista points and sustainability upgrades.

That pretty sums up the Patagonia Triolet waterproof jacket, which the brand describes as “an alpine workhorse built to thrive in cold, snowy conditions”.

It’s a technical hard shell for winter with some excellent on-the-hill features and solid waterproofing stats, as well as first-rate eco credentials. It’s pricey at almost £400, but not astronomical compared to some, and of course it looks good with some appealing Gorpcore styling.

I do have a few minor gripes, however. If I’m being fussy, I’d say the Triolet is slightly heavier than ideal (520g, men’s medium) and for nearly £400 I’d have hoped for something a little lighter and more streamlined.

I find the main material a little on the stiff side too, which slightly reduces all-day comfort, and for me the regular fit is a tad loose and boxy, with too much room in the arms. But, then again, I do have a very slim build (perhaps I should have tested the men’s small rather than medium?).

Others might love the spacious cut, but personally I’d have preferred something more athletic and fitting, particularly when moving quickly through the mountains.

Arguably, the Patagonia Triolet also has a feature set and design style focused more on skiers and winter mountaineers, rather than hillwalkers. For the latter it might be overkill.

Having said all of this, I’m perhaps being overly pedantic and nit-picking at minor faults. In truth the Patagonia Triolet has a lot going for it.

It’s very protective and mountain-ready, with great all-round features including an adjustable helmet-compatible hood, Velcro cuffs, RECCO reflector, several pockets and integrated vents. It is Fair Trade and bluesign approved, features recycled materials and has Gore-Tex’s new ePE membrane, which is far more sustainable than older ePTFE membranes.

Or, in other words, the Triolet fits perfectly with Patagonia’s usual modus operandi. For hikers with deep pockets, who care about the environment, and desire a fine balance between trendiness and technical proficiency, Patagonia never fails to hit mark. If that’s not you, it’s perhaps better to swerve the Triolet - more budget brands will better cater for your waterproofing needs.

Waterproofing and construction

I’ve been impressed with the Patagonia Triolet’s levels of waterproof protection. It feels pretty bombproof and reliable, and it’s certainly a winter-ready jacket suitable for some rather atrocious conditions. I’d say it’s a notch or two below the performance of Gore-Tex Pro, which feels more rugged and thickly protective, but the 75-denier Triolet is certainly a robust jacket.

The Triolet is a 3-layer jacket – a construction style generally regarded as more durable and fortified than 2-layer or 2.5-layer jackets.  A 3-layer jacket has a waterproof membrane sandwiched between a face fabric and inner scrim. In this jacket the membrane is Gore-Tex’s new ePE membrane, the liner is a tricot backer and the outer has a PFAS-free DWR (durable water repellent) coating.

Gore-Tex often shy away from stating the official hydrostatic head ratings of its fabrics, explaining that the tests are “not relevant to real-life situations”, preferring instead to judge its products in its high-tech rain room simulator.

However I persisted with Gore-Tex’s PR representatives and they confirmed all Gore fabrics have a minimum hydrostatic head rating of 28,000mm. This is a premium rating and offers as good a chance of staying dry as you’ll find anywhere on the market.

On the note of Gore-Tex, this jacket features the new Gore-Tex ePE membrane, rather than a more traditional ePTFE membrane.

This can all get very technical (and we’ve got a deep dive on the topic here), but the short version is that ePE is more environmentally-friendly, using no harmful PFC chemicals in its manufacturing. To the untrained eye, the ePE membrane feels almost identical to older versions of Gore-Tex, and at least initially it seems to perform the same.

But there are some question marks over its longer-term performance. The criticism commonly levelled at eco-friendly waterproofs is that they won’t be as protective over time, with a noticeable drop-off in performance compared to old-school waterproofing methods.

The weakness is not in the membrane itself, which – despite being slightly thinner and lighter than ePTFE – should still prove adequately durable in a 3-layer design. The bigger issue is in the use of PFC-free DWR treatments on the outer. These eco-friendly DWRs just don’t last as long, causing your jacket to stop beading quicker than you’d like – a difficult pill to swallow when you’ve just forked out £400.

Arguably, they are more vulnerable to staining too, with things like mud, dirt, sweat and oil from your skin impacting negatively on the DWR’s performance.

Eco-friendly DWR treatments are only becoming more and more universal in the outdoor industry (Gore-Tex is entirely switching out ePTFE for ePE over the coming year), so these issues are relevant to lots and lots of jackets in the market.

The main impact on consumers is that you’ll have to wash and re-proof your waterproof jackets more regularly. If you’re like me, this seems like a humongous hassle (and, of course, there are inherent risks with washing outdoor kit), but sadly there’s no real way to avoid it. I guess it’s time to re-read the best practice for washing and re-proofing waterproofs (yawn).

Breathability and ventilation

I’d describe the breathability of this jacket as decent, but not amazing. It offers mid-range performance, rather than anything super-impressive, and – despite various features for improving ventilation and breathability – I still found it quite easy to over-heat in this jacket when working hard.

But I always find membrane-based shells do this to me. No matter what brands claim, I invariably find myself feeling clammy and sweaty inside hard shells. I like to walk fast and energetically, and have a tendency to run hot when my heart rate is spiking. Even with vents open, in jackets with top-tier official breathability stats, the shells still feel like sweatboxes to me.

With this context firmly established, the Triolet does have some very decent features to help you dump heat, wick away sweat and enhance breathability. Under each arm, you get “welted, watertight, two-way pit zips” for ventilation, when required, and each vent is 35cm long. But, if you’re anything like me, don’t expect the breathability to be faultless.

Weight and packability

On our scales, the Patagonia Triolet weighs 520g in a men’s medium size. This is slightly on the heavy side for a winter-ready jacket and it makes the Triolet feel a little sluggish and bulky compared to some others. Although for many hillwalkers these extra few grams might not be that noticeable.

For comparison, the Arc’teryx Beta AR, which features Gore-Tex Pro, weighs 431g (men’s small), while the Mountain Equipment Lhotse is 463g (men’s small). Both offer a slight weight saving compared to the Patagonia Triolet and feel a tad more athletic and streamlined.

However there’s not much in it. On the flip side, the Triolet is much lighter that some hefty winter hard shells, such as as the Paramo Alta III (834g, men’s medium) and Keela Pinnacle (634g, men’s medium).

The Patagonia Triolet packs down reasonably well and will easily fit inside your backpack without taking up too much space. But it’s certainly not as minimalist or compact as some other waterproofs – that’s to be expected, however, for a fully-fledged, protective winter shell.

Size, fit, freedom of movement and comfort

Patagonia describes the fit of the Triolet waterproof jacket as “regular” and “true to size”. I’d say the cut is somewhat relaxed and certainly not athletic or tight fitting.

There’s extra roominess than in some other jackets, which may polarise opinion – will you like or dislike it? Some hikers will benefit from the added space for layering underneath the shell, and the slightly over-sized, baggier cut may work well for them.

Others, however, will find the cut too boxy and baggy, lacking in the figure-hugging, freedom of movement they desire. I didn’t find the Triolet the most athletic or agile feeling jacket I’ve ever tested, but freedom of movement was still pretty good, if not spectacular. Similarly, all-round comfort levels were good, but not superb, in my opinion.

The Triolet is available in a wide range of sizes – from XS to XXL – in both men’s and women’s versions.

Features: hood, pockets, wrist cuffs, zippers and waistband

This jacket is definitely fully-featured: everything you’d expect is present and there certainly aren’t any glaring omissions. The helmet-compatible hood fits nicely, with a fine-tuned fit adjustable via drawcords in the usual fashion.

I particularly like the hood’s peak, which has a laminated visor and reinforced brim to ensure any droplets drip away from your face - it works well. In terms of pockets, you get five in total – two Napoleon chest pockets, two welted front hand-warmer pockets and one interior drop-in pocket.

The Napoleon pockets feature watertight zips and zipper garages; the handwarmer pockets, which are protected by stormflaps, have been positioned to stay clear of your backpack hipbelt or climbing harness; and the internal, stretchy pocket can be used to store smaller items such as phone.

The jacket’s wrist cuffs can be sealed tight via tapered hook-and-loop Velcro tabs, while the waist hem is similarly adjustable using two drawcord toggles. The waist hem has a “dropped” cut for extra coverage over your backside.

Another premium feature is the inclusion of a RECCO reflector, which is concealed within the underside of the hood. This nifty little device is best-known for use in avalanche rescues, enabling rescue teams to pinpoint your exact location using a corresponding RECCO detector, but it can be used in any manner of emergency situation in the mountains.

The RECCO device in the Triolet jacket could save your life, but it’s far more useful if skiing in the Alps or, perhaps, hiking in the backcountry of North America, where rescue teams routinely use the RECCO technology. If you’re only hiking in the UK’s wild places, a RECCO device is likely to be somewhat redundant. This is because RECCO detectors are not widely used by rescue services in the UK.

Sustainability

You can always trust Patagonia to deliver good eco credentials and the Triolet waterproof is no exception. It performs excellently across the metrics of sustainability and ethics, and is a guilt-free choice for environmentally conscious consumers.

Based on current technologies available, there isn’t much more the brand could have done. Here are the details.

The main material construction of the Triolet is a 3-layer, 75-denier, 100% recycled polyester Gore-Tex ePE performance fabric, with a tricot backer and a durable water repellent (DWR) finish made without intentionally added PFAS. This means the fabric, membrane and DWR finish have all been “made without intentionally added PFAS”.

The fabric is also certified as bluesign approved and the jacket is made in a Fair Trade Certified factory, located in Vietnam, meaning “the people who made this product earned a premium for their labour”, according to Patagonia.

On top of this, as widely publicised across the mainstream media, all of Patagonia’s profits are used to help fund environmental and climate change projects.

Verdict

A protective, fully-featured, eco-friendly waterproof jacket using Gore-Tex’s new ePE membrane – but it’s pricey and annoyingly requires regular re-proofing.

About the author

James Forrest 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.

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