It is time for yet another review by @lazarskyy. Today’s review will take a closer look at the Helikon-Tex‘ Womens Cumulus jacket. A heavy fleece jacket of the female product line up. Enjoy!

Helikon-Tex Womens Cumulus Jacket – Heavy Fleece

Introduction

Upcoming winter winds are calling for a warm fleece, so the time has come for the womens version of the Cumulus heavy fleece jacket, which is already beloved by men. As fleece jackets might be my favorite piece of clothing made by Helikon-Tex, the Cumulus became the first one which lived to see its women equivalent. And it’s great, because it seems like that model characterizes the most universality, practicality and cosiness among other models.

Comfortable and loose fit at size S (174cm tall)

Overview

So, what do we actually get? The Cumulus is a heavy weight fleece jacket with a hood. There are four colours to pick from: Coyote, Black, Shadow Grey and Taiga Green. Again (as it was with the Wolfhound jacket) the cut is more anatomical for women, tapered at the waist.

Moreover, the sliders of the pockets where changed for smaller, more “discreet” ones. The weight and grammage is a bit reduced comparing to the men’s version – 750g decreased to 685g and 320g/m2 down to 310g/m2. Another change is the relinquishment of mesh under the armpits in the women’s model. The Cumulus fleece is intended to work as warmer layer under some outer layer or as a stand alone.

Specs

• Materials: 100% Polyester, YKK zippers
• Weight: 685g
• Grammage: 310 g/m2

Womens Cumulus Jacket

Features

The fleece jacket kept the pocket layout same as in the men’s Cumulus. Two outer pockets at the bottom of the jacket and two upper arm pockets – all closed with zippers and lined with mesh inside. Their size is satisfying, all of them can hold your iPhone. 😀

A look at the layout: two side pockets, two upper arm pockets

Mesh lining inside the pockets

Plus, there is some extra storage space on the inside of the jacket, namely on the back side of the pockets.

Inside storage behind the mesh pockets

Inside storage

Additional two ID panels made of soft velcro are provided on the arms, each 8,5 x 8,5 cm or 3,3 x 3,3 in – which basically means lots of moral patch place.

ID panels on the upper arms, note the discreet look of the pockets

ID panel in use and closer look at the upper arm pocket

The main YKK® zipper is two-way and finishes with a “zipper garage” on a nice high collar protecting your neck from cold winds.

Two way front YKK zipper

Zipper garage aka chin protection at the collar

The collar itself is combined with a deep hoody that is finished with a visor. The hoody is not adjustable, but that’s not a problem because it sits on the head quite well.

The collar, and the hood with the visor

The sleeves feature elastic cuffs with no possibility to tighten or loosening them up. Anyway, they adjust nicely to the wrists and after time there won’t be any protruding fasteners.

Elastic cuffs

Nylon reinforcements on the elbows and shoulders prevent the material from chafing – it’s a nice thing if you often walk with a backpack or bag, since the fleece won’t get worn out that quickly. Also, the amount of them is proper and do not affect the breathability.

Nylon reinforcments

Nylon reinforcements

On the bottom we’ve got two elastic drawstrings to adjust the fit even more.

Bottom of the jacket

Summarizing, the Cumulus heavy fleece is sewn really nicely, stitches and seams are clean – quality of the product is proper, and you have to admit the design of it is tiptop.

Size and fit

If you’re wondering which size would be perfect for you, go for your everyday size (in my case – 174cm height – I went for the S size). The fit is loose enough to wear something underneath it and well fitted at the same time – so you won’t look like a bag of potatoes and can wear an outer layer.

Comfortable loose fit at size S (174cm tall)

The back of the Cumulus heavy fleece is slightly extended for better thermal comfort – no one likes creeping cold on the lower back.

Longer backside

The length of sleeves is just right, definitely won’t be too short for you (I have slender-man arms and they’re ok). But if there’s a reason you want a really well fitted one – go for a size down.

Closer look at the sleeve length

In Use

Wearing the Helikon-Tex Womens Cumulus fleece jacket is perfectly splendid: The provided thermal comfort, the fit, the feeling you look nice in it…

Being serious now, the Cumulus’ universality is its strong point. Perfect time for using it is late autumn, winter and early spring. Wearing it while trekking makes you feel its breathability and during rests with some Gore-tex on top it will keep you warm and cozy. The next important point is you won’t get overheated while wearing it (unless you wear it in hot summer). A nice touch would be adding some zippers under the armpits for better heat dissipation – but as it is a fleece it’s not a must.

Helikon-Tex Womens Cumulus in the wild

I’m a fan of the weight – grammage ratio, it’s a heavier fleece but not as powerful as e.g. the Patriot double fleece. The offered weight does not make you feel overwhelmed with it while wearing and you won’t need much extra space in your backpack If you fold the Cumulus well.

But I wouldn’t be me and I wouldn’t be a woman if I hadn’t complained a bit. I have some issues with the zippers of the pockets, which Helikon-Tex decided to make smaller. Assuming wearing it during colder days and having gloves on your hands – it gets hard to grab such small zips. Also, the “hidden” feature of the pockets makes trying to open/close them with one hand pretty tricky. So, for me the zippers could stay just like they were in the men Cumulus.

Small zippers make for a tricky access

Conclusion

Overall, I like how the woman version of the Helikon-Tex Cumulus fleece jacket turned out. If you’re looking for a middle layer clothing – the Womens Cumulus is the thing. Also, if you’re a dynamic woman – you’ll find use for it in many activities. Perfect for winter trekking, colder range days or autumn forest walks.

But please, be careful around fireplaces with it – it might melt better than Belgian chocolate.

Thanks to Pine Survey and Helikon-Tex for making this review possible.

Take care!