I am so excited to see the winter season coming in, as it opens up a whole new world to us Southern Californians; The Anza Borrego Desert. If you have been keeping up with Outside San Diego for a while you know that the seemingly barren wasteland of the Anza-Borrego is one of my favorite places on earth. It is paradise on a micro scale. What seems to be emptiness is really a place teaming with life and filled with diversity. You just need to slow down and look carefully to see it. This is perhaps the reason I crave time in this desert, it forces you to slow down, and repace yourself from the frenzy we call modern life. I know when I step out of my vehicle after arriving into the desert, I literally can feel my head spinning in the vast silence that surrounds me. With concerted effort I can slow myself down and integrate myself into the silence.

The Anza Borrego is an unforgiving environment, and with that in mind it is critical to be prepared for just about anything. I have hiked in the afternoon sweating away in the ninety degree heat, only to set up camp to freezing rain and an unbelievable wind chill. One of the things I alway carry in my winter trips in the desert is a light weight way to stay warm if the weather turns cold. We think of deserts as hot places, but in reality they are places of extremes, and when it gets cold it gets really cold, just as when it gets hot it gets really hot.

The insulation piece I carried through most of this last winter was the Mountain Hardwear Nitrous Hooded Jacket. This extremely packable featherweight 800-fill power down jacket packed down to grapefruit size, and was (pun intended) light as a feather. Whats better it came with a hood to keep my noggin warm as well.

The jacket has been through a lot of trips in various environments, and has held up very well. In fact it still look pretty close to new despite being stuffed in every conceivable nook in my pack, roughly yanked out to get me warm, and then unceremoniously stuffed back in a dark corner. The jacket has been my impromptu pillow for numerous nights, and has even graced my 5-year old daughter as an warm dress as she pranced through the unexpectedly cold Laguna Mountains. When I received the jacket, I had some concern as to the durability of the fabric, as it was thin and soft, the last six months have proven this to be unfounded.

The Nitrous Down Hooded Jacket is not the most substantial insulation piece on the market, but it will keep you warm and comfortable when the thermometer drops. I have worn this jacket down to the mid-teens, and have been comfortable. The narrow horizontal baffles help keep the down spread evenly across the torso and arms, and make the jacket efficient. The hood also adds to the warmth factor and is big enough to wear over a helmet, but does not have any method of cinching it around the face to keep put the breeze.

The fit of the Nitrous Jacket is meant to be close. There is no room in the cut of this jacket to fit bulky layers underneath. In opinion, the jacket would benefit from a looser cut, allowing more flexibility when layering. Perhaps I should get narrower instead? The good part of the close cut, is that is does fit under a waterproof shell without bunching and pinching. I would suggest that you go one size up for all but the thinnest builds.

If you are looking for a light, warm technical insulation piece that will not break your back or fill up your pack, the Mountain Hardwear Nitrous Hooded Jacket may be the ticket to keeping you warm in the backcountry.