I’m a fan of hard shells for every occasion: the basic multipitch jacket, that jacket you shove in the bottom of your pack for rainy occasions jacket, that jacket for snow sports. The Black Diamond Liquid Point Shell is a jacket that does a little bit of everything but excels at nothing.
Made of GORE-TEX® Paclite®, this jacket weighs 12.6 oz. It is your basic hard shell with two pit zips, two hand pockets and a helmet compatible hood. The fit is trim with a concealed hem drawcord. The jacket has a YKK® Vislon® Flat center front zipper with DWR coating.
The Black Diamond Liquid Point is your very basic hardshell with no frills, no bells, no whistles. The best use of for jacket is the bright neon, yellow-green color. It’s the reason why I wear it. As for everything else, it’s pretty average. The arms are long and wide; for people with negative ape indexes, this means you’re constantly scratching your face with Velcro.
My front zipper ended up leaking after three hours of hiking in torrential downpour in New Zealand. It doesn’t pack down supremely small to be that leave it and forget it until it rains jacket, but if you’ve got the space, it does the job. The thing that infuriates me the most about the Liquid Point is hand pocket placement. It’s so awkward. I am naturally inclined to reach for hand pockets somewhere closer to my front. With this jacket, you’re putting your hands on your hips. Let’s do the Macarena.
$250 is a lot of change to be forking over for something that performs averagely. But if you want to, buy the Black Diamond Liquid Point Shell through Black Diamond, REI, or Amazon.
This was sent to me for review.
Last updated on December 4, 2017.
