#Trek-Iceland*: my Ultimate gear Guide

The Houdini is one of those rare pieces of gear that earns a permanent spot on the team. Light as air, tough as nails, and cut with a hood so good it makes other hoods feel like afterthoughts. Pull the cords, cinch it down, and you’re basically wearing a force field for wind. The ripstop fabric feels like it should belong on something NASA throws into orbit, not a jacket that stuffs down to fist-size. And for the price? It’s one of the best deals in outdoor gear, period.

I always carry it when I’m out hiking anywhere that isn’t the dead of winter. Toss it in a fannypack and forget about it, until the wind shows up, then you’ll remember exactly why you packed it. Pair it with a wool base layer or an Icebreaker 260 half zip, and you’ve got a system that’s hiker’s paradise. I’ve walked Iceland’s summer trails in it, fought the crosswinds along Denmark’s northern beaches, even sweated up the switchbacks in Switzerland, the combo never disappoints.

Now, it won’t keep out rain forever, and after a while it’ll start smelling (plastic does that). But that’s the trade: it’s not a raincoat, it’s a pocket-sized wind fortress. And the difference between carrying this and lugging around a “real” jacket? About three pounds and the nagging thought of “why did I bring this thing?”

Bottom line: The Houdini is exactly what its name says: there when you need it, gone when you don’t.

In the video on your left I’m wearing it during a Beaufort Force 12 (hurricane force, 42 m/s). The Houdini held. Sure, the fabric flapped like a sail, but it didn’t rip, didn’t unravel, didn’t even threaten to. Meanwhile I was the one about to take off. If a 100-gram wind shell can keep its composure in that, you start to realize it’s tougher than the guy wearing it. 

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