Patagonia recently announced the release of the Nano Air Hoody and Jacket – an entirely new kind of insulating garment. Offering excellent temperature regulation and four-way mechanical stretch, the Nano Air can be worn continuously during aerobic, stop-start activities in the mountains, and mitigates the need to adjust layers when the body heats up.

The jacket’s nylon face fabric has a DWR finish to repel precipitation, making it the ideal outerlayer or midlayer. The Nano–Air products are incredibly breathable, allowing airflow up to 40 CFM (cubic feet per minute) while still maintaining stretch and warmth, due to the exclusive combination of FullRange insulation and nylon fabric.

Last spring, Patagonia climbing ambassador Mikey Schaffer demoed the jacket in Chamonix.

“We were asked to the put the jacket on and leave it on,” he said, “for 5 days of running around the mountains doing everything from 3000+ foot alpine routes, to ice climbing, to skiing, to rock climbing. So that’s what we did. At first I was fairly dubious of the idea of wearing one jacket the whole time. No jacket I’ve ever worn or seen is that versatile. But I gotta say, after wearing the Nano-Air for 5 days of really diverse activities I was super impressed and convinced this jacket can function amazingly well in so many different environments.”

And here’s some technology background for the gear heads: FullRange Insulation is a multi-denier synthetic fill insulation made from several different types of polyester fibers, developed by Toray Mills in Japan. It’s built in much the same way as traditional fill insulation, but has a proprietary element that gives it added stability against fiber migration, and allows for great stretch and recovery. Nano–Air garments use a 60-gram insulation weight for versatility in a wider range of temperatures. Utilizing a blend of hydrophobic fibers that repel moisture, FullRange insulation will maintain its warmth and loft when wet, and dries fast.

The Nano Air Jacket and Hoody are available for both men and women, and can be purchased here.