Any thoughts on Coumbia's Omni-tech?

So my dad was at the Columbia employee store the other day and called me up because he remembered me saying I wanted a lightweight shell for wind/ rain proofing over either my down vest or jacket.

He grabbed a really nice Titanium fully seam sealed outer shell for 120 bucks (normally 290) for me. The only issue I have is that I thought it was going to be a super lightweight nylon or something and instead it's made of that kind of rough windstopper type material (columbia calls it omni-tech). On paper it looks like good stuff because it says it's waterproof and breathable, but i want to make sure that it's really truly water and windproof before I decide whether to keep it.

So anyone who's had experience with this fabric, is it going to be a solid shitty weather shell? I really like it, but if it's gonna be less than water and windproof, I've already got a shell that fits that bill. Thanks in advance.

I never had any problem with their omni-tech stuff when I had it. It always seemed quite waterproof and durable to me. The only thin I didn't like about it was the weight. Keep in mind this was probably 10 years ago when I bought one of their jackets so things may have changed.

Edit: and nothing is really that breathable. If you are working hard enough to get hot it is very unlikely that any jacket will breath enough to get rid of the sweat -- you're going to end up wet. Take off layers and open zippers (pit zips, etc) before you sweat too bad.

Cool, thanks for the info man. I think the weight was one thing that kind of threw me off initially. I was thinking I wanted a super light nylon hardshell, but with the amount of trees I ski/hit having something tough is probably good. Fuck it, for that price I think I'll probably keep it. It looks like the nicest piece of outerwear I've ever owned and was apparently made to work with my titanium down jacket. Plus it's a super understated dark green color.

Columbia is crapola is any real adverse conditions. There are so many manufacturers that are better and many of them have deep discounts this time of year.
I wouldn't buy columbia regardless of discount, but that's just my opinion.
I live in Portland btw, which was columbia HQ for years.

I wasn't all that happy with the one omni-tech TITANIUM jacket I had.

heavy and didn't breathe well at all, but it worked well enough for my cheap ass for a few seasons.

My columbia titanium pants tore right down my ass, don't use them for anything but walking around town in and hiking now.

I had great luck with the Columbia Selkirk parka - one of the best jackets I had. Not as breathable as some, but I never got wet from the outside. Columbia's higher-end offerings are in the "good bang for the buck" category IMHO. With that said, you can do just as well with Marmot, MHW, or TNF these days - they have fallen into that price point with a lot of their offerings.

I wonder if it's anything like PM Gear's Dore Tech...

I have this year’s new titanium jacket and I don't mind it. I have to say that when they designed the jacket it appears they cut a few corners to save money, E.G. velcro on 3 of the front pockets when they could have used snaps or better yet zippers. Have to say I still think their powder skirt is lacking as it has for years now. On a positive note it does a good job of keeping you warm and dry, only my fleece sleeves have been getting wet but their is not much you can do for that besides having gloves that cover the sleeves. I would however like to point out the fact that Columbia has a wonderful life time warranty which I am sure several of the better coat manufactures do not. I had a titanium jackets from 4 years ago and one of the zippers broke and some velcro was bad. I mailed them the jacket and 30 days later Columbia sent me a new titanium jacket and fleece so I have to say I am really liking Columbia right now. They also give 50% discounts for people who work in professional out door jobs, you just need to sing up at their web site for the propurchase program here http://www.columbia.com/who/propurchase-program.aspx

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Originally Posted by Tye 1on

I wonder if it's anything like PM Gear's Dore Tech...

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no, that would breath much much better...

The first year I was in the PNW I had the best Columbia/Omnitech get up that they made. I was poor and wanted good gear so after spending hours in shops looking at seams and stiching, pricing and all that I got the omnitech. It was bomber shit...especially the pants and the waterproofing was great. I've looked at there stuff since and it doesn't seem as bomber as that shit I had about 7/8 years ago. It burned up in a fire and my dad bought me new shit cause I was a broke kid...otherwise I probably would have bought the same stuff again.

I'll add I have had a pair of Omnitech Columbia pants that I skied over 200 days in and I think I can get another 200 days in them. Bought them for $19 at the Mt Park outlet. So I am happy.

Their CS was good a couple years ago. I haven't had anything by them in a couple years now. I tore the inside of my pants like always (note to self, change what leg I put it... No, stuff it down). Columbia said that they would take a look at them (Lifetime warranty?). I received them back in a week all fixed up with the seamstress' name signed off on them with a note about the repair.

Call it gaperwear if you like, but they satisfied me when I needed their CS. ttyl, Aceman