Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting What purpose does a soft shell serve?

I have been wondering this for a while and maybe someone can enlighten me. It isn't particularly warm like fleece, it doesn't shed rain like my hardshell. Is it just a layering piece. I don't wear mine out while in the wild much because I have other garments much better for that purpose. So what exactly is a soft shell's purpose?

I feel the same way. It does block wind don't better than a fleece (depends on the quality of the items you're comparing). I've been going with shell-puffy-light fleece-baselayer for a while. I'll use a heavier base layer and/or fleece in the later seasons. I was really wanting soft shell pants and jacket for a long time, but not sure how I'd work them into my system.

It is a replacement for a hard shell in 'mild' conditions, that don't necessitate a hard shell. I like mine and use it a lot, mostly for wind and light water resistance. It is a darn good urban jacket, when a hard shell is clearly overkill and a fleece is too porous. Multi day tips, a fleece and hard shell make more sense, especially if significant precip is in the forecast. It is also a good day hike jacket.

Layered over light fleece in the warmer weather in the mountains, Works GREAT!! Allows versatility to layer as the day or you warm up and a wonderful light jacket for evening in camp.

A general purpose do all. For me, I often take a soft shell sitka 90 percent for day stuff. For longer term I usually take more specific point products, like rain shell, puffy and fleece or wool to provide better overall protection.

Better at cutting wind, better in a light rain, and better in snow than fleece.

Thanks guys now I know, better!

The one I have is a little quieter than a hard shell.

As a top layer, the only thing I can think of is continuous activity in the cold, either moving on skis or bike, or activity in cold wind. By cold I mean below freezing, like XC skiing or snowshoeing in squeaky dry snow. They are heavy and have very little loft.

Worthless in the wet or snow at/around freezing temps.

Heavy for what they are.

I used one, once, on a wet high hunt in WA's north cascades. Never again, in 13 years of gram-weenie hunting from the Brooks Range to the Lee Metcalf, early August to late November.

I think you'll get more use out of a light puffy vest for cold activity (Patagonia puff or similar weight/loft) than a softshell, as it serves the same core windblock purpose in the cold, and won't accumulate snow on your shoulders to melt and wet out. I've certainly used mine that way, and it augments a puffy jacket well with very little added weight and noise (no rustling sleeves).

In cold snow, if dayhunting from the road, a filson jac-shirt or similar would do the same things better, yet would still be useful in precipitation at/around freezing.

Not all soft shells are created equal. Some are thick and densely woven and really good at blocking wind, others aren't. Some even have liners for added insulation. I use mine all the time with zero complaints. Probably the ideal application IMO is when it's cold and windy enough that you need something to block the wind, but you're doing something strenuous like climbing where you'd overheat or accumulate sweat with an impermeable shell.

I like Mission brand softshells. They don't break and spill all my taco filling in my lap, like those crunchy corn ones do.....

Personally, I like softshell sandwiches.

Google it!!!

I agree with most of the complaints about softshells mentioned above. Yet, it is my most used jacket during hunting season. Go figure...

Windshirts block wind and repel rain better (generally). Rain jackets are better in both rain and wind IME. Windshirts and rain jackets can both accommodate insulation layers well. My Houdini windshirt + Montbell EX Light down jacket weighs a crazy light 11 ounces and does everything my Kuiu Guide Jacket at 24 ounces will do and more. My Arcteryx rain coat + Western Mountaineering down jacket will work through the worst of conditions and still weighs less than the softshell.

Yet during hunting season I still use my softshell more. I haven't found a windshirt quiet enough to stalk a mulely in yet. I would never dare wad-up my rain jacket to sit on while glassing in the shale. The softshell seems to have the perfect balance of wind resistance / breath-ability during the fall hunting seasons in my area. I don't get too nervous wearing my softshell around the campfire. I would be hesitant wear either my windshirt or rain jacket through some of the brush I have to bust through, not to mention some of the snags that have literally pulled me to the ground and not damaged the softshell. So the softshell continues to have a place in my pack each fall, at least until something better comes along.

You seem crabby.

Nah, it's just that the only crabs Don's familiar with, you don't want on your samwich....

I know Vek's BTDT, and so have I. 50 mile days, leading water ice and multi pitch alpine routes, a few dozen backpack hunts, etc. He's likely done it it wetter conditions on average, and for sure that's where most softshells show their weakness.

That said, there are a TON of what can be called "softshells", starting with the original Buffalo shirt and shelled micropile that came out of europe. A fleece paired with a windshirt is essentially a softshell, as is a 2 pound LL bean monstronsity with a Gore Windstopper layer that keeps all your sweat from escaping.

It's all a matter of science, and comes down to air permeability, water permeability, face fabric, liner fabric, and DWR. Except for DWR, all the others are some version of a trade-off and are exhibited by the wide range of options on the market. DWR makes any shell (soft or otherwise) tick, because temperature and moisture gradients drive the whole process.

I'm not saying they are perfect for any and all conditions, but there's a lot more nuance to the softshell concept than trying one technology and having it not work.

In Idaho climbing, hunting, etc. a good soft tshell is very useful. I sweat like a maniac and my favorite soft shell(Patagonia Knifeblade, no longer in production, unfortunately) breaths very well but resists abrasion and protects against light to moderate rain very well indeed. Only thing about it that I would count as negative(s) is it is a bit on the heavy side, and doesn't "compress" worth a darn.

Kuiu's lightest softshell top weighs a pound, but won't loft like fleece. The same weight in fleece, or a bit less, won't block wind well but will absolutely hold moisture out against your shell in the wet, keeping important stuff inside dry. A softshell might do the same thing under a shell, but it will wet out and won't dry nearly as fast as fleece.

Wind strong enough to render ineffective exped-wt baselayer or fleece midlayer (when moving) is easily blocked by a puff vest, puff jacket or shell, and in that sort of wind, quiet clothes don't matter as much.

About the only place I can see for a softshell top is below 25F, crapping down snow, and you want to move quietly or otherwise hear more around you than the rustling of your shell. Take any one of those three conditions away, and you can do better, lighter, with other things, with a system that will handle the conditions at the possible expense of some rustle or swish.

Softshell tops truly have no place in the wet - their highest and best use is as pants, but only because whipcords are cut for people who don't squat. If someone made a simple whipcord wool pant that fit like Carhartt B159s and didn't have a bunch of really bulky belt loops and crap to bunch up under my waistbelt (like Sitka...), I'd own them. That there would be the pant of excellence.

Yes they have no place in the wet and don't loft like fleece, that's not what they're for.

They provide some weather resistance while being extremely breathable and drying quickly. A softshell that doesn't do that is useless, and there are some.

Dog hair doesnt stick to it like fleece.

I never use my softshell. I prefer a puffy jacket or straight up rain jacket.

I won't wear either of those when I'm climbing in dry weather.

I do not use soft shells for hunting generally. With hunting I control what I'm doing and can wear whatever the conditions call for. If I stop and get cold or it starts raining I can layer up. That's for jackets. I do wear really thin soft shell pants some.

The only time that I wear soft shells is for work. If I am limited to a certain set of cloths and the weather will be variable or unknown between 0 degrees and 70 degrees, and I do not control whether I can stop and change, and especially if I know that I will get wet-everything thing I wear will by synthetic and a soft shell jacket and pants will be the working layer. Soft shells are unmatched in "above 0 below 70 degree, constantly wet" environment.


Military patrolling use= best answer
Hunting western states= generally lighter, warmer options.

It's definitely a trade-off with the weight, but one I'm willing to make. When I'm hunting I can control what I'm doing to a certain extent, but there are times when I just need to haul ass and not stop to adjust what I'm wearing. Or, times when I'm climbing and need to take a short break, but don't want to take the pack off, dig layers out, and layer up when I'm going to be moving again in five minutes.

I hate to take off my pack unless static for>than 30 mins. My best combo for cold weather is all synthetics in several layers topped w/ a Marmot Precip jacket. Start out w/ all zips closed, a neck gaiter and a fur trapper hat. As exertion causes temps to rise the hood comes off, a more breathable lighter hat goes on, pit zips and neck zips get opened as necessary to control sweating as much as possible.

When stopping to glass or call reverse the process and add a primaloft or down jacket in which the caller, remote and extra batteries were wrapped w/ a chemical handwarmer. Yesterday when it clouded up and the wind started whipping I wore the Primaloft jacket under the rain shell for the downhill return to the truck. Temps ranged from 7* f to 24*f w/ winds from calm to about 15 mph.

I usually am w/ my wife and we carry extra stuff on an exterior pouch on our packs and assist each other w/ gear changes which is very efficient. Drink frequently, I use a timer in my watch and drink from my platy every 15 mins and do a Gu once per hour.

cold weather can be fun, somebody on this site has a sig line that states "there is no bad weather only bad gear.


mike r

I have 4 Gortex hard shells both 3 and 2 layer, two from Arcteryx, and I prefer wearing a soft shell most of the time.
Softshells are generally not fleeces, but exceptions exist in the case where fleeces have a wind/water resistant laminate
like Gore Windstopper which I have, but even then I found it accumulated a bit much condensation for some activities,
,so dropped it in favor of a plain more breathable soft shell from OR.

Aerobic activity in a hardshell and some soft shells still accumulate more moisture than I like to tolerate.

Activity in damp//lite drizzle conditions I will get less internal moisture from a soft shell than a hard shell.