Columbia Last Tracks Insulated Jacket Review: Pros And Cons

The Columbia Last Tracks Insulated Jacket is quite literally the warmest jacket I have ever worn and in this honest review of it, I’ll be showing you why that is both good and bad, as well as if this is really a jacket you really need.
The REI staff were not kidding when they said this jacket would be too much. After I put it on, it only took a few minutes before I literally started to feel the heat from it on the inside. This jacket is designed in such a way that it acts like an internal oven basically by:
Basic information on the Columbia Last Tracks Insulated Jacket:
- Company: Columbia
- Also known as: Columbia Omni Heat Jacket
- Price: $130.93 (Get it at REI.com)
- Colors: Dark blue, and black
- Is this jacket waterproof? Yes
- Is it windproof too? Yes
- How many pockets? 5
- Do I recommend the Columbia Last Tracks Insulated Jacket?
- For extreme weather circumstances, this jacket is perfect. Anything less than that, this jacket is overkill because it’s just too warm (I’ll talk about all of this in this review).
- My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Get the Columbia Last Tracks Insulated Jacket here.
How I got my hands on the Columbia Last Tracks Insulated Jacket:
I’ve owned this jacket for 3 years and got it in an REI store in Portland, Oregon. The same day I got it, I also bought an REI Co Op Stormhenge 850 Down Jacket and the reason I got both of these jackets the same day was because I couldn’t settle on which one was better for my needs (plus they were both on sale). At the time, I was headed up from the Northern California coast (where it was warm) and making my way into Olympic National Park. Halfway there (in Portland), I hit my first west coast blizzard (it was my first time in this area) and when I felt how cold it could get there, and how much colder it would likely get further north, that’s what made me hedge the risks and just get both jackets, figuring it was better to have a backup one in case the temperature got too cold. The staff there told me the Stormhenge 850 Jacket was perfect for the hiking expeditions and more than enough, but I still insisted on a warmer option just in case, after which they recommended the Columbia Last Tracks Insulated Jacket, but said it would be too much.My experiences with the Columbia Last Tracks Insulated Jacket:

- Insulating the weather from the outside.
- Using your own body temperature and the omni heat fabric to basically reflect it back at you.
- In the process, the more heat your body emits (from activity), the warmer it will feel inside this jacket and because it’ll be insulated, it’ll stay warm and even get hot at times.
- Feels great to wear.
- Is very comfortable.
- Is very weather proof.
- But it is only really good for truly extremely cold environments, which I will give examples of right now:
Pros:
- This jacket is perfect for ridiculously freezing temperatures (-20F).
- For skiing and snowboarding, it’s awesome.
- For climbing very high and cold mountains, it’s awesome.
- It has several pockets (in and out).
- It truly and fully insulates your body heat like no jacket I’ve ever worn.
- It only takes a few minutes for the heat to kick in once the jacket is on.
- Very resilient jacket (hard to scratch the outside).
- It’s pretty lightweight.
- Very weather proof (water and wind proof).
Cons:
- It gets too warm/hot for most cold environments.
- I would not wear this jacket on a cold hike.
- The REI Co Op Stormhenge 850 Down Jacket might be better suited for more regular weather environments.