A jacket you can wear every day, all day is pretty much the ultimate jacket, right? From backcountry skiing, to hiking, fishing and going out for drinks, I know I want something that is versatile enough for all of that. After testing the new Basin and Range Guardsman Full-Zip Jacket, I think I found what I’ve been looking for.
Basin and Range is the new in-house brand at Backcountry.com. Located right here in the Wasatch, the company makes exclusive apparel with Utah geographic names. Jackets like the Cardiff, Spiro, Silver Fork, and Summit Park will all speak to the outdoorsy set around these parts. The Guardsman, named after Guardsman Pass, is no different.
The Basin and Range Guardsman features,
- Polyester stretch fabric
- Regular fit
- Full-length front zip
- Zippered hand pockets
- Zippered chest pocket
Simple, right? Well, that’s because it is. On the surface, the Guardsman looks and wears like a casual hoody. The material is soft and comfortable… buttery even. So at first, I primarily wore it around the house, at the office, or doing yard work on chilly evenings. Adding to the comfiness is the interior fabric – a checkered fleece that keeps the body nice and toasty. Warm hand pockets are great for chilly fingers, and the zippered chest pocket is sufficient for stowing a phone. Plus, I really dig the off-set color zipper material that gives the hoody some pop.
So the Guardsman is awesome as a casual piece. But what about as a 3-season performance layer out-of-doors? To test, I took it to the La Sal Mountains for some spring backcountry skiing. Skinning up Geyser Pass Road with a heavy load, I noted how well the jacket breathes, especially considering that it is fleece lined. It took me a while to overheat and strip down to my base layer. But halfway to the Geyser Pass Yurt, we got caught in a hail storm. I considered putting on my Gore Tex hard shell, but decided to see how the Guardsman would hold up…. and it did fantastic. I stayed warm and dry as the hail went from hard pellets to graupel. Even light rain rolled off my shoulders and sleeves.
For the entire trip, the Guardsman became my go-to layer. I wore it climbing mountains, and kept it on for the ski down. The stretch polyester allows for ample dexterity while moving through mountains. Atop Manns Peak, we encountered a heavy, cold wind. While enjoying summit brews, I was happy to find that the Guardsman keeps out the wind like a champ. So there was no shivering while downing a beer on this mountain!
If there is anything negative to say about the Guardsman, it is this: the “regular fit” makes it feel baggy around the torso. In a size medium, the shoulders felt a smidge tight, but lower down, around my gut, I could have sported a giant beer belly and still would have been able to zip the jacket up. I suppose this makes sense from a “casual jacket” standpoint, but really, I would have preferred a more athletic fit.
Finally, I appreciate that Basin and Range doesn’t litter their jackets with logos. It actually took me a while to find one, and it’s there, near the hem – a tiny logo that looks like a tent. Kudos for not making me look like an aggro billboard… classy move right there.
The Good: Very comfortable for a somewhat technical jacket, looks great, stretch material for when you’re being sporty, withstands an impressive amount of weather, wind doesn’t cut through this puppy, keeps things on the down-low with no logos, absolute versatility.
The Bad: Relaxed fit = baggy.
Final Word: The Basin and Range Guardsman Full-Zip Jacket is pretty much the ultimate layer for the Wasatch Mountains for spring, summer and fall. Wear it in the skin track. Wear it around the camp fire. Wear it at the brewery. Wear it to bed! I can’t think of a single situation where I wouldn’t want to have my Guardsman on hand.