Patagonia Simple Guide Hoody review

What is the Patagonia Simple Guide Hoody designed for?

The Patagonia Simple Guide Hoody is a basic soft shell hooded jacket designed to be worn on cooler days. It's stretchy, breathable and wind resistant and water resistant, so it's ideal for everything except the coldest weather when you're fishing.

What's it made from?

The Patagonia Simple Guide Hoody is made from recycled plastic bottles and worn out clothes which have been spun into a stretchy polyester soft shell material. The soft shell fabric is fairly light and is treated with Patagonia's Deluge Durable Water Repellent (DWR) finish to help it shed water in showers.

How windproof is it?

Unlike Patagonia's more expensive Adze soft shell, the Simple Guide Hoody isn't designed to be fully windproof, however, it is fairly wind resistant so it does keep the chill off fairly well.

And the waterproofing?

Again, it's not designed to be a waterproof jacket, but the DWR coating does help it shed light rain. It's fine with a bit of drizzle or light rain but it eventually gets a bit soggy if you fail to put a waterproof jacket on over the top.

What's the fit like?

The Patagonia Simple Guide Hoody has a conventional straight fit and gives you quite a bit of room, so you can wear other stuff underneath it quite easily. I sometimes wear my Patagonia Nano Puff Hoody beneath mine in chillier weather.

The sleeves have plenty of room in them and the fabric is elastic so it won't impede casting. The fit is a bit more roomy than some other soft shells, and when combined with the stiffness of the fabric, that can make the jacket look less fitted than other soft shells.

How many pockets?

There are two good-sized hand warmer pockets, plus a pocket on the chest for your phone, keys, a small fly box or spools of tippet and stuff. The zips are decent quality and also get the DWR treatment which prevents water soaking you through the zipper.

How's the hood?

The Patagonia Simple Guide Hoody is equipped with an extremely capacious hood for a soft shell jacket, as it's meant to be big enough to fit over a climbing helmet. The hood is not like that of your everyday hoody - it is much more like the kind of expansive hood you get on a typical outdoor jacket.

This soft shell's hood provides plenty of protection for the side and front of your face. There's a bit of a peak, and a pull cord on the back to hold the hood in place when the wind picks up. Unfortunately, there's not much protection under the chin and there's only one cord (not the three-point variety you see in some other jackets) so it could be more supportive on windy days.

And the cuffs?

The cuffs are quite baggy, so can get in the way a bit when you're fly fishing. Thankfully, there are some velcro fasteners to pull them tight down against your wrist - these are OK, but not a patch on the ones you get on the Simms Guide Jacket. Gloves will go underneath, but you'll need to fasten tightly if you want to keep the cold out.

How much is the Simple Guide Hoody?

The Patagonia Simple Guide Hoody costs £110 from Patagonia and comes in two colours: grey and electric blue. You can pick them up for less if you shop around. Mine's been great to wear either as the top layer or beneath a waterproof jacket when it's been wetter.

Available from: Amazon