Yet the Alpine Houdini completely exceeded my expectations, keeping me mostly dry through a heavy downpour of rain, hail, and gropple (see video below) on a day when staying dry was incredibly important. Layers as thin as this one have never performed well in my experience in heavy precipitation, excelling instead on those typical '30-40% chance of rain' summer days in the mountains when the most you'll get is a light shower. While Patagonia touts the jacket as highly water-resistant, I had my doubts. What makes the Patagonia Alpine Houdini such a virtuosic shell is that it actually sheds light precipitation quite effectively, in spite of being so lightweight and breathable. To see how it stacks up, see our comparison table and article on the best rain jackets. Below we break down the Alpine Houdini's weather protection, weight, features, and more. I don't even entertain the notion of leaving the Alpine Houdini at home - this layer goes literally everywhere I go. The result is an almost magical answer to my prayers for a lightweight do-it-all layer for highly aerobic mountain activities. The Patagonia Alpine Houdini is a thoughtful revamp of the legendary original. The Alpine Houdini is basically the same as the original Houdini jacket, but with the added benefit of a waterproof/breathable membrane, and seam taping added to the interior of the nylon shell.

I've had one kind of wind shirt or another for 5 years now, and it's one of my most trusted and relied upon layers for climbing. It is incredibly lightweight, blocks wind better than you would expect such a thin layer to, packs down tiny into its own pocket, and can even be clipped to a carabiner.

For mountain athletes, this layer has been a game changer like none other. Nearly ten years ago, Patagonia released their lightweight wind shell, the Houdini jacket.

Houdini's jacket