I am 5'11 175 and wear a Large in Montbell Down Jackets. I am thinking of purchasing a Montbell Tachyron Anorak and am just wondering if this should be sized to go under my down jackets, or over? If over, should 1 size up (XL) be sufficient?

I have searched the forums and found 2 posts regarding this, both stating different view points. They were pretty old posts, so just thought I would see what people think.

Edited by HikeUltralight on 12/22/2010 21:35:45 MST.

I size my wind jacket for use over light insulation, and my rain jacket for use over anything.

I don't do much snow or pure winter BP'ing, FWIW.

I would definitely recommend sizing up to fit over a down jacket, as it seems to me to make a significant difference in warmth.

Seems to me a puffy or similar insulation should be the last thing on when on a "break" and the first thing off when I get moving again. I prefer my windshirt to be close fitting too to minimize wind flapping noise so wearing over my EX Light puffy risks compressing the down. I also think most makers assume a jacket will be worn over other clothing so build-in "up sizing" into their garments so tend to wear my normal XL size for all my clothes.

"I prefer my windshirt to be close fitting too to minimize wind flapping noise so wearing over my EX Light puffy risks compressing the down"

These were my main 2 concerns. It seems people are divided on this topic.

large enough to go over y base and a mid layer fleece/down sweater ... small enough to fit under my rain and/or belay jackets

it all depends on how much CF you want to deal with when swapping layers

size it normally if you plan to hate removing the windshirt all the time to add insulation and plan to use an "action suit" system ... ie, climbers, active sports, etc ....

size it large enough to go over everything if you enjoy taking it off all the time to add/remove a layer ... i dont, not when a climbing harness also has to be loosened every time

Edited by bearbreeder on 12/23/2010 07:46:36 MST.