KÜHL’s The One: Best Jacket for Canoeing?

Back in March, KÜHL sent over a The One jacket for me to review. Since then, it’s been the jacket that I’ve reached for more often than any other jacket. In fact as I write this, I’m actually wearing the jacket in my office because my office is chilly today. If you paddled the Upper Iowa on the Northstar Experience, you saw me wearing the jacket both days of the trip (as a side, if you got a photo of me wearing it, I’d love to put it in this post). The short of this review is this: I haven’t been in love with a jacket since I first got the discontinued Marmot Dri-Clime Windshirt, and I like this jacket better.

The gist of the KÜHL The One jacket is this: it’s one jacket to rule them all. It’s a windbreaker with a layer of light insulation on the inside. The insulation is heavy enough for the shoulder seasons or even high aerobic activities in the winter, such as XC skiing or biking, but it’s also light enough to use as a jacket to lounge around in camp with on a chilly Minnesota summer night. It’s also highly breathable, and the fabric is crazy windproof.

The gist for paddlers is that this is a great jacket for wearing under a life vest when it’s chilly out or while in camp before the day warms up or after the night cools down. I know many paddlers bring a puffy along with them even in summer to take the chill off while in camp, but this is the better option in many cases.

Key Features and Specs

While the jacket itself looks fashionable enough for around the town, it’s loaded with technical features that make it ideal for the outdoors. The shell of the jacket is made out of a fabric called Mikro Air™ Stretch. This is a lightweight, breathable and highly windproof fabric. It’s also soft and has a better feel to it than most other nylon windbreakers that I’ve tried.

The lining of the coat is made from a fabric that KÜHL calls AERO™ KNIT. It’s a warm fabric that’s almost like a mirco grid without the grid or a Polartec Alpha in 60 but with a tighter matrix to hold it together. It’s supposed to regulate your temperature and I’ve found that for the most part it does this well. I’ve worn the coat in warmer temps that I would normally wear something like this and found myself surprised when I realized that I still had the jacket on.

Other features include an articulated patterning, underarm gussets built from spandex for breathability and stretch, a bottom drawcord, handwarmer pockets, and a shoulder pocket.

They offer this piece as a Jacket, Hoody, Tapered Shirt-Jac, and a Vest. I think I’m going to pick up a vest. I will have to say that the colors are really hot right now. I got it in steel blue, but I really want it in the new grey camo.

Sizing and weight

On my scale the jacket weighs 12.3 ounces (349 grams) in size large. For sizing, I went with my normal sizing of Large and found it fits like a typical athletic fit. On KÜHL’s website, they describe the fit as “Runs Slightly Small.”

While I’m not so sure about that, I’ve had some health issue lately and haven’t been able to exercise as much as I normally do, and I’ve put on about 15 pounds and am at 200 right now. It still fits, but it’s a little more revealing than I’d like in my stomach area–but that’s probably my vanity and frustration about my health. The waist and arms are long enough for my 5’10” frame, and the shoulder fit is perfect for me. When the doctor okays me to get back in shape, and I lose a bit of this extra weight I’m carrying around, the fit will be perfect.

The key on fit is to understand that it’s an athletic cut, so if you may want to consider sizing up if you’re on the edge of your normal size. That said, I’m glad I went with my normal size.

Use Cases

Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to use it during a mild winter with little snow, while biking, and while canoeing. Plus, I wore it around town, hiking, and while doing landscape photography. It preforms well in all these cases. For me, this really could be the one jacket that I use most often.

For temperature ranges and uses, it works best during the shoulder seasons. During aerobic activities, I’ve found that it works best with temps up to 55°F (13°C), and it can be warm down below freezing with an extra mid-layer. I found that when it’s a bit warmer than 55°F (13°C) that the jacket starts to get too hot for when during highly aerobic activities. For canoeing, I’ve used it up to about 60°F (15.5°C) on an overcast day under a life vest with just a t-shirt on and have been fine. But I felt right on the edge of where it was between comfortable and too warm. When the wind was blowing, it was better at those warmer temps. During camp, it’s comfortable down to around 40°F (4.5°C) as long as I had on a mid-layer.

I don’t find a similar weight of puffy as able to be comfortable in the same temperature range, although a puffy is better when it gets colder. Considering that the majority of my paddling is in the 45°F (7°C) at night and above, KÜHL’s The One seems a better for my purposes. This is especially true on windy, warmer days while canoeing when I overheat in a puffy.

I’ve also used the jacket as a mid-layer with a rain shell over it. It also works well in this case. So, for me I can easily replace a puffy jacket on most trips. It can also work as a jacket that I can use when active and when canoeing. Plus, it’s a sharp-looking jacket for wearing around the town and when doing everyday activities.

Strengths and weaknesses

From reading above, you’ll likely be able to make out what I think its strength are. Mainly, I think it’s versatile, fashionable, comfortable, and it just works well in a wide range of scenarios.

The only weakness is that there are times when it’s windy but warm. In those cases, it doesn’t work well. I wish there was a The One Lite, which was just the outer shell but without insulation. I’d buy one in a second.

Overall, I highly recommend The One. If you’re looking for a shoulder season jacket for canoeing, this jacket should be high on your list.

Pricing and purchase details

The standard The One Jacket runs $159. That’s the one I tested. The shirt version is $149. The vest is $119, and the hoody is $179. Get it at REI or direct.