The North Face Reversible Mercurial Jacket

The North Face has lots of innovative ideas (see the primo backpack), but this one is so simple, I just love it. The Mercurial Jacket is great for keeping you warm and for letting you cool off a little, which is great, especially if you're in the mountains where temperatures can swing drastically and quickly.

If you're cold, wear the black side out. Worn this way, the coat behaves like any ordinary insulated jacket. The black color absorbs more of the sun's rays and the coat's baffles are flexed inward to create an uninterrupted layer of insulation that traps warm air in.

If you're hot, wear the silver side out. The silver, made of Schoeller® reflective fabric, retains 39-47% less heat from the sun (or 39-47% more of the sun's rays are reflected) than when the black side is worn facing out. With the silver side out the baffles flex outward, which creates gaps between the baffles, allowing heat to escape.

What it comes down to is you get two jackets in one. Unlike other reversible jackets where you merely get to swap colors, the Mercurial actually functions like two different jackets: one for cold weather and one for warm(er weather... when you get kinda hot).

Bottom line: This jacket is da bomb. [$350]