Arcteryx Beta Jacket Review

The Arcteryx Beta is a pretty simple Gore-Tex shell, with pretty much just the minimum amount of features you need to get by.

I bought this because I was looking for a simple and lightweight shell jacket, that I could use for snowboarding but would still be useful for riding bikes, rain, hiking etc.

I have had a few Gore-Tex jackets before, but they were always loaded with snowboarding features, that add a bunch of weight and lining, that make it much less useful outside of snowboarding.

The Beta is quite a basic jacket. It has the new Gore-Tex ePE (expanded polyethelene) which is PFC free.

It is (for me anyway), very lightweight, and packs down to a pretty small size. There are a couple of pockets on the outside, and one small one on the inside of the jacket.

If you compared it to the features of a regular snowboarding jacket, the Beta doesn’t have wrist gaiters, a powder skirt or underarm vents.

The powder skirt doesn’t bother me, I never use them anyway, but the underarm venting would be nice. (The upgraded Beta AR has them).

Fit

I get all my snowboarding outerwear in large, and I don’t mind if it is a bit baggy. I wouldn’t say that the Arcteryx Beta is overly big, but there is enough room to add warm layers underneath if I need to.

It isn’t a super long fit, its a little bit boxier which I like.

The movement in the jacket is very good, even with plenty of layers underneath. I never feel like I am getting restricted in how I can move by the shell.

Weather Protection

This has the newer Gore-Tex ePE, which still has the waterproof ratings of the older Gore-Tex, but it does use a friendlier (for the environment) DWR. Technically, with this DWR you will need to wash the jacket more often, and when the water stops beading on the surface re-apply it.

So far I have used the Beta in quite a lot of different conditions, so I have a pretty good idea of how it performs.

Quite a lot of time was spent in Japan in light dry powder, which isn’t a hard test for any jacket. Seeing that the snow was quite dry, it basically just bounces of the jacket, no matter how deep it is.

The toughest tests have been in Australia, in horrible rainy conditions on the mountain. By this point I had worn the jacket for about two weeks, in what I would call moderate use (snowboarding/general wear).

The worst has been in constant rain, for 4-5 hours. As you would expect, the fabric held up fine, and for the most part water beaded off the whole time. By the end, there was spots where it did start to wet out, but although the outside was wet, I was dry inside.

When I got back to my car, taking the jacket off and shaking got rid of almost all the water, I think that it did a pretty good job.

Following their care guide, I definitely should have washed the jacket by now, but I seeing that it is still giving good protection, I haven’t bothered yet.

Overall

I have been quite impressed by the jacket, but to be fair I am not an extreme outdoor guy getting way into the technical aspects of outerwear.

It has enough weather protection for me, and it is lightweight and packable enough that I can use it in quite a lot of situations.

Although this is the cheapest of the Beta models, and probably the cheapest Arc’teryx jacket overall – it is still expensive. You are definitley paying for the logo. I’d still recommend it, I do like the idea of buying one more expensive thing once, rather than a few cheaper things.

There are a few versions of the Arcteryx Beta jacket, here is a quick rough guide:

Beta	Beta SL	Beta AR
The basic, simple, cheapest one. Gore-Tex ePE.	Lighter, more packagble, can fit a helmet under the hood	AR (All Round) uses Gore-Tex Pro, more durable, chin guard in hood, slightly longer fit. Made with the stronger DWR (Durable Water Repellent) that is now being phased out.
Shop for Beta	Shop for Beta SL	Shop for Beta AR

Features of the Arcteryx Beta Jacket

Gore-TEx ePE membrane

This is the newer, more friendly version of Gore-Tex. This is the version of Gore-Tex that will be showing up more and more in most brands, and replacing

Gore-Tex C-Knit backer

Regular Fit

Somewhere in the middle, not super baggy, not fitted. It has enough room for me to add layers underneath without a problem.

Lower hem adjusters

Lets you cinch the bottom of the jacket together.

Articulated Patterning

FC0-DWR finish

A fancy name to say that the Durable Water Repellent has zero Flourocarbons.

DWR is what makes the water bead off the outside of a jacket. It is used in addition to the waterproof features of Gore-Tex.

Adjustable Hood

Easy to tighten hood if it gets very windy.

Two hand pockets

Decent sized pockets on the front of the jacket.

Internal zipper pocket

Small little zippered pocket on the inside of the jacket, I use it to hold an RFID pass.

RECCO Reflector

A reflector that helps search and rescue.

WaterTight Vision front zip