Columbia Sportswear Shimmer Me III Omni-Heat® Jacket - Insulated (For Men)

This is an excellent lightweight jacket that can stand on its own, I would imagine down to about 5-10 degrees with a sweater on underneath, or as a warm liner for one of Columbia's 3-in-in Interchange jackets. I got tired of shivering below 10-15 degrees wearing my Interchange jacket with only the fleece liner jacket in it the past two seasons so I contacted Columbia, they confirmed that the Shimmer jackets have compatible zippers, so I ordered this one in the dark gray color that perfectly matches my navy and gray outer Interchange shell. It has the sleeve and collar loops to retain in the shell and does in fact zip perfectly into the shell's zipper, just as well as the original liner. Although it is quite warm and I suspect will extend the useable range of the Interchange system down to at least -10*F, it does not look any bulkier zipped into the Interchange shell than with the original fleece liner.

The jacket looks good in person, better than in the photos and while I doubted I'd use it for anything other than a liner when I ordered it, after trying it on, I like how it looks by itself and I will be using it as a solo jacket until it gets cold enough to zip it into the Interchange shell. It is pretty generously sized (I wear a size 46 sport coat) but not bulky. The outer shell is quite thin and does not seem like it would fare well being brushed too close to a thorn bush or barbed wire fence, but does seem fairly water repellent. The inner liner is quite cool looking, with a very shiny metallic gun metal color reflective fabric that is much softer to the touch than it appears. Hand pockets have very warm, soft liners. Comes with an inner chest pocket, but unfortunately, not an outer Napoleon/chest pocket that would be most handy for carrying a cell phone.

Overall, it's a very good jacket and with a price hovering slightly above a half c-note with 40% off coupon, it is an outstanding value.