Core Concepts Cowboy Pow Full Zip - Outdoor Gear Review

As luck would have it, Core Concepts’s new Cowboy Pow Full-Zip jacket arrived just in time for the cool and wet fall weather in Seattle. The Cowboy Pow seems well suited for this climate, and the corresponding snowy weather in the mountains.

For those unfamiliar with Core Concepts, it’s a Boise-based company, with a love for the outdoors, and a passion to make functional clothing with style. And they do that very well.

The Cowboy jacket uses Polartec® WindPro® as an insulating layer, and Polartec® Hardface® as the outer layer. This makes for a formidable combination of fabrics. First impressions were good, leaving us marveling at its light weight, and cool styling, and well thought out fabric choices.

Like many of Core’s products, the Cowboy Pow is targeted toward the snow sports enthusiasts in all of us. It’s intended to be used for snowboarding, and skiing, and so we reviewed it with this intent in mind. Off to the backcountry we went in search in snow.

In the back country, the jacket performed well. The warmer weather allowed us to wear just this item will working hard, and required a shell be thrown over top on the way down, although the outer layer did a fine job of blocking out the wind. Its lightweight and light loft insulation translated to moderate warmth during less aerobic activities, and a good balance of venting and warmth during high aerobic activities.

We were impressed with the headphone port in the pocket. However, the pockets were not easy to unzip with or without gloves on. We did experience some fit issues with the particularly high collar, and slightly long sleeves. The sleeves were easily rolled over to make this a non-issue, and the collar helped keep the heat in, but it took some getting used to.