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| Big Agnes Ice House Hoodie on right |
Table of Contents
What We Love: Heat-Keeping Features, Thoughtful Details, and Hydrophobic, ethically sourced down
Thoughtful details make the Big Agnes Ice House Hoodie ideal for winter outdoor fun. Unlike other down jackets that have horizontal baffles (sections), the Ice House is constructed with vertical baffles to contour to the wearer’s body to keep her warmer. 650 fill down makes the jacket amazingly compressible and warm; a great combo for those days when you end up packing the kids’ jackets because they got warm cross country skiing, snowshoeing, or running up the toboggan hill. The jacket can be stuffed into its hood taking up hardly any space in your pack and weights only 291 grams (size small). We also appreciate the fact that the down is water repellent and ethically sourced.
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| The Big Agnes Ice House Hoodie is light in weight, but big on warmth! |
The YKK zipper has a no draft flap to keep cold air out and warm air in, a chin guard, and zipper pull to make for easy on and off. Other heat-keeping features we love include the insulated hood and adjustable draw cord. On its own, the hood does a good job keeping our daughter warm, but when it’s super cold, we pull the hood up over a beanie or balaclava. The hood’s stretch hem keeps the hood on even when it’s windy, and keeps heat in. To keep cold air from seeping in the bottom of the jacket, we simply adjust the draw string with the toggles on the lower hem (one at each hip). This can be done before or after zipping the jacket up.
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| Big Agnes Ice House Hoodie |
Sleeves have stretch hems at the wrists to keep warmth in, with the added bonus of thumb holes. My daughter uses the thumb holes when putting her mitts on so she doesn’t have that cold gap between her mitts and jacket, then removes her thumbs from the thumb holes once her mitts are secure. It’s a useful feature we wish their other down jackets had!
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| Big Agnes Ice House Hoodie pockets, thumb holes, and draw cord toggle |
Hand warmer pockets have zipper pulls so little ones can get ski passes out on their own, even with gloves on. A mesh pocket inside the jacket holds larger stuff like a neck gaiter or emergency package of hand warmer packets.
The outer shell is ultralight rip-stop nylon that is wind and water resistant. While the material is fairly abrasion resistant – it has stood up well to snowshoeing through bushes (no rips yet!) – we reserve this jacket for mountain adventures due to its light weight and use a different jacket for school since our kids are quite hard on stuff.
Last, but not least, the Ice House Hoodie’s breathable lining keeps our daughter comfy and dry when doing higher output activities (but we always unzip or remove the jacket before she gets to hot to prevent condensation/sweat build up).
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| Helping with the dishes at the backcountry hut |
Know Before You Buy
The jacket fits a bit small, so we recommend ordering the next size up. If your child is long and lean like my 7 year old daughter, use the sleeve length in order to get the right size. Based on chest and hip measurements, we ordered an extra small, then found it was too short. We replaced the jacket with size small (her size in other brands) which was just right.
Verdict
As expected, award-winning Big Agnes’s Ice House Hoodie has all the features you could want from a mid-weight down jacket. If you’re looking for something warmer than a down sweater that isn’t heavy or bulky, this is the jacket your child needs to stay toasty all winter.
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| Skiing in the Big Agnes Ice House Hoodie |
Where to Buy
Purchase the Big Agnes Ice House Hoodie and other high quality outdoor gear from All Out Kids Gear (Affiliate link – I get a small commission at no extra cost to you!), an awesome family business located in central Alberta.
Disclosure
I received the Big Agnes Ice House Hoodie at no charge from All Out Kids Gear for testing and review purposes, but all words and opinions are my own.
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