---
title: "Clouds of warmth: a review of the Enlightened Equipment Torrid Pullover insulated jacket"
description: "One piece of clothing you can't do without on long treks and high in the mountains is without doubt the Enlightened Equipment Torrid Pullover insulated jacket."
canonical_url: "https://gramino.com/blog/review-enlightened-equipment-torrid-pullover"
last_updated: "2024-02-11"
---

# Clouds of warmth: a review of the Enlightened Equipment Torrid Pullover insulated jacket

Authors: Tomáš Roztočil

Date: 2024-02-11

One piece of clothing you can't do without on long treks and high in the mountains is without doubt the Enlightened Equipment Torrid Pullover insulated jacket.

In late summer 2023, I finally got around to a trek I'd had on my mind for some 20 years. You know how it goes – first you tell yourself you lack experience, then money, then gear, and finally time... But this time, I was reminded once again that the only thing usually standing between us and mountain adventure is a simple decision – pack your bag and take the first step.

## **The EE Torrid Pullover Insulated Jacket**

I won't go into detail in this article about my own route across the Pyrenees, roughly combining the **GR11, HRP, and GR10** long-distance treks. I'm convinced pieces of an adventure like that are better shared over a pint of good beer. If you're curious about my Pyrenees story, look me up and ask in person. But know this – a crossing of the Pyrenees like that is a serious trek, and you'll run into all kinds of challenges along the way, from endless exhausting climbs, through extreme swings in temperature and weather, to navigation trouble in tough terrain.

[Enlightened Equipment Men's Torrid Pullover](/p/enlightened-equipment-mens-torrid-pullover.md)

[Enlightened Equipment Women's Torrid Pullover](/p/enlightened-equipment-womens-torrid-pullover.md)

In this article, though, I've decided to focus on how the ultralight **insulated jacket** [**Enlightened Equipment Torrid Pullover**](/p/enlightened-equipment-mens-torrid-pullover) from Gramino's range held up for me on this month-long trek from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Despite bold claims from manufacturers, many of us worry about how lightweight gear holds up over time, and whether it can handle extreme conditions on remote mountain ridges where we often genuinely need to rely on our gear. So let's take a look at how this synthetic jacket for cold mornings and evenings performed in real-world use.

*Enlightened Equipment Men’s Torrid Pullover Navy*

## **Long-Distance Treks Made Lighter**

Long mountain crossings have been trending in recent years, and it's no wonder – with the pace of work and life picking up, a lot of us are looking for a chance to escape into nature for as long as possible, and thru-hiking offers a warm community of people who support each other through such demanding undertakings. One of the key pieces of advice that pretty much every long-trek veteran will give you is always to “lighten your pack”. Lighter gear lets you go farther, higher, and with a lot more joy, especially on long treks.

Many people worry that lightweight gear must necessarily be flimsy and unsuitable for long treks. The opposite is true – ultralight gear was actually pioneered by long-trek enthusiasts, and from the very start, its development has focused on designs and combinations of modern technical materials that hold up even in extreme conditions without costing you unnecessary grams. So today we're looking at a jacket that seems minimalist but is in fact brilliantly thought out, and which I think serves as a textbook example of what today's ultralight world has to offer – uncompromising functionality and durability at a minimal weight.

*Enlightened Equipment Men’s Torrid Pullover Navy*

## **Clouds of Warmth in Rough Weather**

One piece of clothing you can't do without on long treks and high in the mountains is, without a doubt, an insulated jacket. You'll need insulation especially in spring, winter, and autumn, but if you're moving and sleeping at altitudes around two thousand meters, you won't escape the cold even in summer. Let's take a look at the ultralight yet wonderfully warm Torrid Pullover insulated jacket from the American brand [**Enlightened Equipment**](/b/enlightened-equipment), which rightfully enjoys the favor of countless enthusiasts of the world's longest treks.

The company Enlightened Equipment first made its mark on ultralight history with its down **quilts**, like the [**Enigma**](/p/enlightened-equipment-enigma-quilt-20f-6c) or [**Revelation Quilt**](/p/enlightened-equipment-revelation-quilt-20f-6c). But while looking for the ideal lightweight insulated jacket for a month-long trek across the Pyrenees, I came across the brand's name in connection with jackets too – across many tests and reviews, the Torrid Pullover came out as the clear winner in terms of warmth-to-weight-to-price ratio. For a while, it looked like I wouldn't manage to track down this jacket from the American brand in time, but then, as if on cue, David from Gramino wrote to me that they were just about to restock it, and I managed to pick it up on my way to the airport. Heading off for a month in the mountains without gear you've tested usually isn't a great idea, but I bet on the generally enthusiastic reviews, and this time the bet definitely paid off!

- [Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt 40°F (5°C)](/p/enlightened-equipment-revelation-quilt-40f-5c.md)
- [Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt 30°F (-1°C)](/p/enlightened-equipment-revelation-quilt-30f-1c.md)
- [Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt 20°F (-6°C) – Draft Collar](/p/enlightened-equipment-revelation-quilt-20f-6c.md)
- [Enlightened Equipment Enigma Quilt 40°F (5°C)](/p/enlightened-equipment-enigma-quilt-40f-5c.md)
- [Enlightened Equipment Enigma Quilt 20°F (-6°C) – Draft Collar](/p/enlightened-equipment-enigma-quilt-20f-6c.md)
- [Enlightened Equipment Enigma Quilt 10°F (-12°C) – Draft Collar](/p/enlightened-equipment-enigma-quilt-10f-12c.md)
- [Enlightened Equipment XWide Pad Strap](/p/enlightened-equipment-xwide-pad-strap.md)
- [Enlightened Equipment Elastic Pad Straps](/p/enlightened-equipment-elastic-pad-straps.md)

## **Snuggled Up in Future-Proof Insulation**

As for the insulation you can bundle up in while pitching and packing camp, and while walking through cold evenings and mornings, the folks at EE went with a **synthetic material**. Instead of down, the Torrid Pullover insulated jacket uses **modern technical insulation** [**Climashield™ Apex**](https://climashield.com/applications/outerwear/#prod_apex), which has several advantages – it **performs great even in extremely damp weather**, **resists dust better**, **dries quickly** and **holds its loft for a long time**. Besides being easy to care for, though, I think the key advantage of this material is that it's made from continuous fibers, so the finished jacket doesn't need to be quilted and divided into as many baffles as a typical down jacket – a lot of heat escapes through the seams between individual baffles. Thanks to its one-piece construction, the Torrid Pullover offers a great **weight-to-warmth ratio** that easily matches any down insulated jacket. Compared to down, synthetic insulation will always have a somewhat shorter lifespan (on the order of years), but on the other hand, it **insulates well even when wet**, which I appreciated not just during endless Basque rainstorms, but also in the morning fog and the constant battle with condensation.

I obviously suspected the jacket had great insulating properties from the manufacturer's official description and online discussions, but the warmth that wrapped around me moments after putting it on genuinely surprised me – once you zip it up to your neck and cinch the hem, almost no heat escapes the jacket, and you can enjoy your morning cup of coffee at sunrise like you're sitting by a stove. And if a really sharp wind is hitting you, or it's turning bitterly cold high in the mountains, all you have to do is pull up the roomy hood, which cinches easily around your head, and in an instant you're literally wrapped up like you're in a duvet. The jacket also has a genuinely **generous, roomy, and comfortable cut with raglan sleeves**, by outdoor-clothing standards, so you'll feel properly bundled up in it while still having complete freedom of movement.

*Enlightened Equipment Men’s Torrid Pullover Navy*

## **A Kangaroo Pocket for the Ridge**

In Gramino's range, you'll find a version of the Torrid Pullover with a **large, practical kangaroo pocket** on the front, where you can comfortably tuck both frozen hands, with room left over for electronics that don't tend to enjoy freezing temperatures either. I quickly grew fond of this particular detail on the jacket, and I definitely wouldn't trade it for the full-zip version. **When you're standing around in the cold morning or evening**, having warm hands is priceless. The kangaroo pocket also adds one extra layer of insulation to the jacket. For exactly that reason, I'd only recommend it for active movement in genuinely freezing temperatures. You can of course adjust the warmth by unzipping down to the pocket, but even so, the jacket insulates really thoroughly, and with a pack on your back, you'd quickly overheat unnecessarily in it. So I mostly wore it during morning routines for the new day, and in the evening while setting up camp, cooking, and sitting around the tarp. But I often pulled it out of my pack to enjoy the view from a cold summit or ridge, too.

As for the outer material used, the EE Torrid Pullover is sewn from **lightweight**, **quick-drying nylon**, which, thanks to its **DWR treatment**, protects you not just from cold wind but also from morning condensation and a bit of rain or snow. The coating comes in handy the moment you crawl out of your tarp or tent in the morning and properly “bathe” in the unavoidable condensation. At first glance, the outer fabric seemed really thin and fragile to me, but after putting it through several unintentional durability tests in bushes and on rock, I'm not worried about its toughness at all anymore. That doesn't mean, of course, that you should treat an insulated jacket like this the way you would a heavy expedition down jacket meant for polar expeditions – a certain amount of caution is definitely warranted, but you don't need to worry about it on long treks.

## **Almost Perfect – A Few Small Gripes**

One of my complaints about the EE Torrid Pullover concerns a certain “**stickiness**” of the nylon used, which the material picks up especially when damp and when worn directly against bare skin. If you try to put the jacket on while sweaty or with wet hands, the material catches unpleasantly on your skin, drags, and generally resists your arms sliding through the sleeves. Another, fairly minor, downside I'd note is the **somewhat unresolved sleeve hem design**, from under which the lining tends to slide out. One of the last blemishes on the jacket, for my large hands, is a fairly **tiny zipper**, though I'm not worried about its durability, partly because it only ever zips up as far as the kangaroo pocket. Details like these are, however, a completely minimal price to pay for this kind of combination of lightness and packability, which I'm more than willing to pay. Just wear a thin long-sleeve shirt underneath the jacket, and the problem's solved.

## **Verdict**

I simply fell in love with the Torrid Pullover, and after testing it in the Pyrenees – where it still looks brand new – it's completely replaced the lightweight down jacket in my wardrobe. I can't wait to take it on another really long trek, or try it out as a light insulating layer under a shell on some winter ski touring outings. It's already clear to me that this unassuming-looking jacket is going to keep me company on plenty more mountain trips, and keep me warm through many sunrises and sunsets to come.

- [Enlightened Equipment Torrid Booties](/p/enlightened-equipment-torrid-booties.md)
- [Liteway Choonie Apex](/p/liteway-choonie-apex.md)
- [Yate Emergency Blanket Silver](/p/yate-emergency-blanket-silver.md)
- [Moonvalley Oats & Dates Bar](/p/moonvalley-oats-dates-bar.md)
- [Sea To Summit Mat Coupler Kit Loops](/p/sea-to-summit-mat-coupler-kit-loops.md)
- [Kula Cloth](/p/kula-cloth-pee-cloth.md)
- [Gear Aid Tenacious Tape Silnylon Patches](/p/gear-aid-tenacious-tape-silnylon-patches.md)
- [Sea To Summit Head Net](/p/sea-to-summit-head-net.md)
- [Sea To Summit Field Repair Buckle 2 Pin](/p/sea-to-summit-field-repair-buckle-2pin.md)

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