I was thinking about this jacket the other day, before this thread appeared. The thing I'm most impressed with the Atom is the range of conditions in which I'm comfortable. I've attributed it to the system being fairly wind resistant so the wind really doesn't matter too much and it moves moisture well so I never have that damp, clammy feeling. With a synthetic t-shirt and my 240 Peleton under the Atom, I've been very comfortable hiking in the Rockies in temps <10deg., riding my Mtn Bike on the hills around my house in VA in the 20s-30s, working in the yard, whatever. I had to cut some ice covered branches this morning to get out of my driveway and ended up wearing it to work over my business shirt and tie. Very versatile!
I have an old Mtn Hardware jacket that has windstopper and it too seems to work over a very wide range of conditions. I'm sure there are others, these are just two I have experience with. Whatever they've done with the Atom LT, they got it right for me. Even the color, Basalt, is just right for the woods. It's a discontinued color and basically matches the Kuiu brown. To Brad's point about the hoodie, while my Atom has one, I'd be fine without it. Just pulling the hood of the 240 over my beanie is sufficient. If I need more than that I'm adding my LPP over it all anyway. I might even look for an Atom without the hood.
In contrast, my Sitka Kelvin Active moves moisture quite well, has some insulating properties, but the temps at which I may be comfortable will vary dramatically if there is some wind.The times I wore it hunting I found it worked fine if hiking but I had to add my LPP pretty quickly if stopped, moving very slowly or around camp. It just felt like there was a narrow window of comfort. Perhaps just better suited to August/September archery seasons.
Random food for thought...
