Columbia Watertight II rain jacket for men is a very popular piece of clothing, suitable for various outdoor activities and for city life. It is fully waterproof, breathable, seam-sealed, and with the price which is hard to match. The jacket is available in 16 different colors and in many different sizes.
General description
Columbia men’s watertight II front zip hooded rain jacket is an enormously popular lightweight piece of equipment, with a microporous nylon outer shell and a very pleasant polyester internal mesh.
Regarding the weight, durability, and packability, this is a rather mid-range jacket. There are far lighter jackets available, see for example Outdoor Research Men’s Helium II jacket but you can be sure you will pay three times more, and they are not more durable at all.
However, with respect to the price and all the features taken together, in my view, this jacket is without a match.
The jacket is fully seam-sealed suitable for hiking and for general city use, in principle not for cold weather because this is not an insulated type. A piece of fleece combined with it will serve the purpose even in cold weather.
I have been using my waterproof jackets in that way for many years now. Having a waterproof lightweight jacket in rainy Belgium is a must, and the same holds for my climbing in the Alps. I never go without waterproof pants and a jacket of the same material.
You have three external zippered pockets (two at sides and one on the chest) and an internal pocket. The outer pockets are with storm flaps, and the same is with the front zipper.
This is a clever design: the jacket can be packed in its own internal pocket. You can see how it is done in this short (1:51) video:
The hood is dome-shaped and equipped with a cinch cord, see it on the right.
On the sleeves, you have velcro, plus elastic on the inner wrist side, very useful feature to use in case of more layers in cold weather.
Presently, at Amazon, you have no less than 16 different colors available, and three general sizes with many sub-sizes in each of the three.
The jacket is washable in the machine.
The material of this jacket is very pleasant, you have 2-layers water-repellent and waterproof fabric, plus a pleasant mesh inside. It is breathable, but as discussed in my another text, this is rarely perfect and your overall feeling when you wear any jacket of this sort will depend on your activity and on external conditions. But you can be sure it will keep you dry from elements.
There are no pit zips, but I have several waterproof jackets without pit zips, so this is not such a big deal in my view.
Summary of features
- Omni-Tech waterproof/breathable fully seam-sealed.
- Omni-Shield.
- Water and stain repellent.
- Attached, adjustable storm hood.
- Drawcord-adjustable hem.
- 2 zippered hand pockets.
- Abrasion-resistant chin guard.
- Packable into the hand pocket.
- Drop tail.
- No pit zips.
- Helmet-compatible hood.
- 100% Nylon 2L Full Dull plain weave.
- Machine washable.
- Colors available at Amazon: 16
All colors of Columbia Watertight II jacket.
Pros & cons, users’ experience
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Conclusion
I thank you for reading. It will be great to have some comment from you, there is a comment box below. Have a nice day.
Here is a short video (26 s) from Columbia about their Omni-Tech and Omni-Shield technology:
Richard Leon says
This no longer has internal pockets as per the amazon reviews…too bad.
Jovo says
Many thanks Richard, perhaps they modified it recently.
Richard says
Digging the packing video. Love the use of “Folding” instead of stuffing (which it kinda seemed like you were doing.) :p That is a great feature though that it is easily packed to a smaller size to be able to travel with.
I live in California, I don’t use a rain jacket very often, but there are times, like even today when we do get a little wet.
I hate getting home, and peeling my jacket and the rest of my soaking wet clothes and grabbing a towel to dry off when I get back inside the house out of the rain.
My son is really wanting to get into camping too, and this jacket seems just about perfect for California weather. Not too heavy since we don’t get too cold around where I live and still waterproof if we get caught camping in rainy season.
Even water resistant, not even water proof jackets at Walmart can be around 40 bucks so the price on this jacket is great as well.
Thank you very much for showing me this and helping me decide on a jacket that seems like it will fulfill all the needs for California camping.
Richard A.
Jovo says
Many thanks Richard, great to read your thoughts. This is a great jacket for occasional use and you have seen the price, hard to match with anything. Your boy is growing so it is pointless to spend a lot when it will be used for a relatively short tome. This is a great choice from every point of view. All the best.