anyone who has the Houdini are you wrist cuffs loose or are they cinched at the wrist. Just picked up one from our local outfitters and noticed today that that cuffs are fairly loose

My Houdini fits very similar at the cuff and this has never been an issue for me. This is a item that goes on every trip regardless of season.

For foul weather trail and road running I prefer the Wildthings epic Pullover. The fit is trimmer, there is no hood to flap around and the cuffs are snugger.

I have the same Houdini jacket and the wrist cuffs are the same. I would prefer it if they were smaller, but it has not been a problem. I always carry it with me.

The wrists on my 2011 version fit pretty tight around my wrists. I have only worn it a couple of times though, and they may stretch out after I wear it a few more times?

My new 2011 Large (I usually wear between Med/Lrg for Patagonia), is only slightly loose. Not as extreme in your photo. You could sew a small stitch at the cuff to take it in a little.

I took my 2010 Houdini to a local alteration store that I found in the phone book. It cost me under $10 and now I have factory looking, but snug fitting wrist cuffs. I really like the custom fit now. The old cuff were driving me batty.

I had my wife's grandmother alter the cuff's on mine. It fits much better now. I'm OCD when it comes to those things so while it may not bother some folks I couldn't stand it.

The ocd thing is correct. I like the way the xl fits especially with something like a nanopuff under it. I'll have to find a local seamstress in the Pittsburgh area to cut an inch or two off the sleeve. Been spending wayyy to much on gear lately and hopefully this is my last although I'm looking for a lightweight 1 person tent. Heading out to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon or Dolly Sods in West Virgina in the next few weeks.

Haven't really noticed it, though sometimes I will pull the cuffs almost to my elbows. I've been thinking of installing "on-the-seam" side zippers for my hands, honestly.

I have three Houdini jackets .... two that are between 5 and 10 years old and the wrist openings are much tighter than the newest one I bought last year. The new one looks like your example. I prefer the tighter fit, personally.

Have the same experience as you do with the wrists. Haven't altered them yet.

Mentioned in this thread a while back.


http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=47744&skip_to_post=406898#406898

After wearing my 2011? version this Saturday it was nice to have the larger openings so that I could push up the sleeves. If the cuffs were any tighter I think it would have been uncomfortable.

I think the design rational for the looser fitting cuffs is it enhances the breathability of the Houdini.

thread looks pretty dormant, but my 2 cents anyway-- I like the loose cuffs for breathability. If it's cold enough to the point where I don't want any draft, I'll already have a long sleeve layer on underneath. To seal off the sleeves, I'll just pull the Houdini cuffs up an inch or so on top of my other sleeve, and that makes a nice snug collar that doesn't let wind up the wrist cuffs

I always figured the looser fit was so that you could easily move the sleeves up your forearms. I encounter this sometimes when rock climbing. It used to be part of their alpine line.

If you watch the video for the new version from the running line, they mention that the sleeves are designed this way.

I also found the wrist cuffs for the 2012 to loose. I was going to alter it, but after losing a bunch of weight there were other sizing issues so I sold it. I tried the 2013 Houdini... cuffs still too lose but it was to tight across the chest... so after almost 10 years of Patagonia windshirts I switch to the ArcTeryx windshirt which is a bit heavier but fits me correctly.

--Mark

If you don't like the loose cuffs, go to the local fabric store, and pick up some velcro dots. Sewn to the cuff, you can adjust the fit at will without increasing the weight of the jacket much. Can get in either sticky or sew-on, but unless the package mentions something about "industrial" adhesive, I wouldn't trust just the sticky kind. You can get velcro patches with industrial adhesive and cut them to size as well--industrial means it sticks, so place it right the first time!