Best Arc’teryx Jacket | Temperature ratings + much more

I'd like to start by disclosing that giving these recommendations is difficult. 

Because, not only the terms such as "extreme cold", "comfortable" or "weather resistant" are highly fluid and subjective, but also almost everyone has different intended uses. 

This is not to say that there aren't some facts apply to the vast, vast majority of us. And this is what I'll try to provide you with in this post. 

IMPORTANT: Typical settings correspond to the following. 

• Severe Weather: Where maximizing waterproofing and wind resistance performances are needed. 
• Variable Weather: Where a wide range of weather conditions are expected - but nothing extreme. 
• Mild Weather: Only light precipitation and/or wind. 
• Extreme Cold: The name says it all. 
• Variable Temperature: Used through multiple seasons. 
• Mild Temperature: Cool conditions such as breezy summer nights. 

I'd like to remind you one more time the importance of reading individual reviews of some selected pieces.

Now let's get to the typical buyer profiles for each purpose & setting. 

Some of the recommended products are discontinued (mostly temporarily), so you can't get them from arcteryx.com. Check out REI's Arc'teryx clothing section in that case. 

Multi-Use

Extreme Cold

• Insulated: Absolutely the Alpha Parka (Men's - Women's). It's the warmest Arc'teryx jacket. Stuffs into itself and comes with a two way zipper. Alternatively you can get the Thorium SV (Men's) or Thorium (Men's - Women's - read my review). Ceres SV (Men's - Women's - read my review) and Firebee AR (Men's - Women's - read my review) would be perfect alternatives but they are discontinued. 
  • If you're looking for a multi-use synthetic insulated jacket in extreme colds, then check out Nuclei SV (Men's - Women's - read review). It's the warmest Arc'teryx synthetic. Fission SV (Men's - Women's - read my review) once was the warmest Arc'teryx synthetic. But it got discontinued. 

Variable Temperature (& Variable Weather)

• Insulated: For literally any high output activity, I'd recommend the Proton (aka LT) (Men's - Women's - read my review) my eyes closed. This and Beta AR (Men's - Women's - read my review) are at the top two of my all time Arc'teryx favorites. 
  • Atom (aka LT) (Men's - Women's - read my review) is the most obvious alternative in here. It's slightly less warm and weather/abrasion resistant than the Proton. But owing to its side fleece panels, it's more breathable. Read more about Atom vs Proton in this article. 
• For stationary use in wet weather, I'd recommend the synthetic insulated Atom Heavyweight (aka AR) (Men's - Women's - read my review). It's a fantastic jacket that will almost never disappoint. 

Mild Temperature

• Insulated: For high output activities, Proton Hybrid Hoody (Men's - Women's - read my review) is probably what you're looking for. Think of it as a crossover between a softshell and an insulated jacket.
  • Both the Proton Lightweight (aka FL) (Men's - Women's - read my review) and the Atom SL (soon to be called Atom Lightweight) (Men's - Women's - read my review) would be the top alternatives to this. Cerium Hybrid is the closest down jacket alternative to these (Men's - read my review). 
• Insulated: For stationary use, I'd recommend the Nuclei FL (Men's - Women's - read my review).
  

Severe Weather

• Shell: Absolutely the Beta SV (Men's - Women's - read my review). It's currently discontinued but I'm confident they'll bring it back. Currently its alternative is Beta AR (Men's - Women's - read review). 
• If you'll be climbing a lot (say, 50+% of the time), then I'd recommend the Alpha SV (Men's - Women's - read my review). 
  • Both Beta SV and Alpha SV are fantastic jackets and neither of them are going to disappoint. They're extremely stiff, durable, weather protective and abrasion resistant. I'm 99.9% sure they will provide much more than what you need. In fact, in most situations, these two pieces are even more likely to come overkill than not enough. 
  • To read more about both Arc'teryx's Beta and Alpha Series, check out my Arc'teryx Alpha vs Beta article.
• Insulated: Absolutely the Beta Down Insulated (Men's). Just released for Winter 2024 and it's a stunning jacket. 

Variable Weather

• Shell: Absolutely the Beta AR (Men's - Women's - read my review). The alternative is equally as great, the Beta LT (Men's - Women's - read my review). 
  
• Further reading: 
  • Beta AR vs SV
  • Beta AR vs LT
  • Beta AR vs Alpha SV
  • Beta vs Alpha Series
  • Beta vs Zeta Series
• Insulated shell: The new member Beta Insulated (Men's - Women's - read my review). It's one of the very few Arc'teryx hardshells that come with insulation. 
  • On top of that, Beta Insulated Jacket is the first Arc'teryx jacket to offer pit ventilation (in this case, zips) and a two way front main zipper at the same time. This makes it even more unique, and hence it's being talked about a lot. 
  • Of course no single jacket can substitute the advantages of a layering combination, especially a stunning combination like the Proton + Beta AR, but Beta Insulated Jacket is as closest as one can get on its own. 
  • The greatest alternative to Beta Insulated is the Beta Down Insulated (Men's). 

Mild Weather

• Shell: Gamma MX (soon to be called Gamma Heavyweight) (Men's - Women's - read my review), Gamma (aka LT) (Men's - Women's - read my review) and Gamma Lightweight (aka SL) (Men's - Women's - read my review) are all great options for this. The difference between these three are smaller than the differences between the jackets that take part under the same line. 
  • Go for the Lightweight if you want trimmest fit in the body and hood, if you're OK with just two hand warmer zippers, and if you want something super light (11 oz or 310 g). Go for the MX (aka Heavyweight) if you want to maximize durability, want additional chest pockets and want helmet compatibility. If you want something in between, get the base (aka LT). 

Severe Weather & Extreme Cold

• Insulated: Absolutely the Nuclei SV (Men's - read my review). It's an amazing jacket. Kappa (Men's - read my review), Fission SV (Men's - Women's - read my review) and Dually Belay Parka (Men's - read my review) are mostly amazing alternatives for this, though they all got discontinued. That's why the links will take you to their pages on REI. Their availability tend to fluctuate throughout the season, so check back regularly.

By the way... 

I can't stop but mention that as long as the weather isn't something extreme, layering the Proton LT and Beta AR together would make a killer combo in almost any situation. 

Compared to getting just one piece at the price of Proton LT + Beta AR, getting two of them would also make your wardrobe more versatile... Something to think about if you ask me. 

Casual Use

I'll assume...

• Little output, 
• That the style is almost just as important as the performance and capability, 
• That layering is an option but not a primary preference because I'm assuming warm indoors and it's a pain to put the jackets on and off all the time. 

Extreme Cold 

Products below provide INCREDIBLE degrees of warmth. So much that it'd be foolish to wear them when it's fairly cold and not extremely cold because you're likely to overheat. 

• Top Parka: Therme SV (Men's - read my review) or Patera Long (Women's) would be the top picks in here. Therme (Men's - read my review) and Patera (Women's - read my review) are the most obvious alternatives, but I generally don't recommend the Patera because it's a bit of a risky item. 
  • Alessa (Women's - read my review) was a pretty good alternative but got discontinued as of Winter '24. 
  • In terms of warmth, the Thorsen (Men's - read my review) was the closest Arc'teryx has ever gotten to Therme SV. It was closer than the Therme Parka. But it's discontinued. 
• Top Synthetic Insulated Jacket: Again, the Nuclei SV (Men's - Women's - read my review) can be a pretty good option here. Kappa (Men's - read my review), Fission SV (Men's - Women's - read my review) and Dually Belay Parka (Men's - read my review) are mostly amazing alternatives for this, though again they all got discontinued. 
• Top Down Jacket: The warmest option is Alpha Parka (Men's - Women's). The top alternative is the new arrival Thorium SV (Men's). Ceres SV (Men's - read my review), Cerium SV (Men's - Women's - read my review) and Firebee AR (Men's - Women's - read my review) were once stunning absolute units but they got discontinued. 

Cold

• Top Parka: My picks are Ralle (Men's) and Coelle (Women's). Magnus (Men's) and Durant (Women's) are discontinued but they're still perfect alternatives to these. Other discontinued parkas in this department can be listed as the Koda (Men's), Radsten, Radsten Insulated and Sensa (Women's). I probably would go after the Magnus or Durant instead of these, though. 
• Top Synthetic Insulated Jacket: Atom Heavyweight (aka AR) (Men's - Women's - read my review). There is an alternative for men - the Kappa (Men's - read my review). Unfortunately, there's no true alternative for women. 
  • Atom AR is kind of unbeatable. It's one of the longest living pieces in the Arc'teryx catalogue, and it doesn't seem like it's stopping any time soon. Its popularity has almost always been increasing and it never gets old. It's a fantastic all-doer jacket. 
• Top Down Jacket: Alpha Lightweight (Men's - Women's) is your jacket. Thorium SV (Men's) or Thorium (Men's - Women's - read my review) are alternatives. 

Variable Temperature & Weather

• Synthetic Insulated Jacket: Absolutely the Nuclei FL (Men's - Women's - read my review). I took it to Iceland and tried it on during late March. Never ceased to fascinate me. An amazing jacket.

Mild Temperature & Weather

• Top Parka: Sawyer (Men's) or Codetta (Women's).
• Top Synthetic Insulated Jacket: Proton Hybrid (Men's - Women's - read my review). 
• Top Down Jacket: Cerium SL (Men's - Women's - read my review). Wouldn't be that suitable for wet weather though.

Hiking & Trekking

Arc'teryx used to have a line that is exclusive to hiking and trekking, the Zeta line. In Spring 2021, it has been discontinued and remains that way since then. 

Beta and Alpha lines will fill the bill even better than the Zeta line, though. So nothing to worry about in here. 

Severe Weather

• Top Shell: Beta Down Insulated (Men's) and Beta AR (Men's - Women's - read my review) are perfect for this situation. Beta SV (Men's - Women's - read my review) is a stunning alternative but it has got discontinued like I said. 
  • One thing to consider is that if you'll also be climbing a lot on the side (spending, say, 30+% of the time climbing), then you might also want to consider getting the Alpha SV (Men's - Women's - read my review) as well. Lots of people take it to hiking and it works just fine. 

Variable Weather

• Top Shell: Beta AR (Men's - Women's - read my review) or Gamma MX (Men's - Women's - read my review). Depending on your preferences when it comes to hardshells vs softshells. 

Mild Weather

• Top Emergency Shell: This is the only department where Arc'teryx doesn't offer any jackets currently. That's why you must get one of the discontinued products.
  • The Zeta FL (Men's - Women's - read my review) or Zeta SL (Men's - Women's) are both great choices - if you can find them. 
• Softshell: Gamma SL (Men's - Women's - read my review) or Gamma LT (Men's - Women's - read my review). 
  • I had recommended the Squamish (Men's - Women's - read my review) for this before, but I don't like what they did to it with the recent revisions. Its breathability now stands at below average. Read more about this here in my Houdini vs Squamish post. 
• Hardshell: Beta (Men's - Women's), Beta Lightweight (Men's - Women's) or Beta LT (Men's - Women's).