Soft-shell clothing? Hard-shell clothing?

I still don't know what each one looks or feels like like. I yahooed and googled it but the pictures seems the same except they say softshell is a more comfortable and prefered clothing.
I recently knew there were products that can help restore water resistance in a jacket and I am not sure if one of my Helly Hansen Codex, which is stated to be 100% Polyester, is a soft shell or a hard shell.

I am afraid to purchase the wrong product for water resistance restoration.

AtomSphere said:

I still don't know what each one looks or feels like like.

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"Hard" shells are traditional waterproof, or highly water-repellent, windproof outer garments. Rain parkas, anoraks, etc. Shell refers to the fact that they are designed to be worn as the outermost garment. Worn over traditional "soft" insulating garments like fleece and wool sweaters, down jackets, etc.

"Soft" shells are fleece insulating jackets that supposedly do away with the need for the outer shell. They are purported to be windproof and highly water-resistant, meaning the "hard" outer shell is not necessary.

I've never owned a "soft" shell jacket, so can't vouch for how well they work. They are expensive, and I would't trust one for real protection. Probably OK for the ski slopes, but not for wilderness use.



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Well that is not a hard shell.
Technically I'm not sure I'd call it a soft shell either, as its just a fleece. It just has a smoothed out side, in this case the exterior, called bonded fleece.
They are not very water resistant to begin with so I can't give much advice on any treatment to use on it.

Most hard shell coats are nylon exterior jackets which include gore tex or a manufacturer's waterproof breathable barrier (North Face uses hy vent, Marmot uses membrain, etc)

Soft Shell Jackets are (within the past couple years) the new "in" thing as they are stretchy and wear nicer than hard shells. They are often more breathable than hard shells and offer decent water and wind blocking, though not as good as hard shells. They are commonly made of polyester though like hard shells can sometimes be made of other stuff as well.

It is common now to see hybrid jackets that are soft in the sweaty places with hard shell panels put on the shoulders and other high wear or high wet areas.

Let me know if I can help answer specific questions.

I thank the both of you in helping out
BTW. Excellent description PhantomPhoton! You should add that into wikipidea

If its true, your description of soft shells as being stetchy helps alot.

PhantomPhoton said:

Soft Shell Jackets are (within the past couple years) the new "in" thing as they are stretchy and wear nicer than hard shells. They are often more breathable than hard shells and offer decent water and wind blocking, though not as good as hard shells. They are commonly made of polyester though like hard shells can sometimes be made of other stuff as well.

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I have been less than impressed with softshells.
Most of the Softshell jackets are heavy and the material is very stiff and doesn't offer any more warmth or protection than something like the Marmot windshirt which a thin nylon outside over some wicking material. The wind shirt type jacket is much lighter, more comfortable, but maybe not as durable. Try before you buy, and never buy the hype.

Soft Shell: Windstopper, Windbloc, Schoeller, Polartech Power Shield, Wind Fleece & polartec type fabrics (Most of these are a variant of polar fleece)

Most soft shells will provide 1) Warmth 2) Wind resistance 3) Water Repellent eg a drizzle for a short period

And to confuse the situation even more there are different weights in these fabrics

Hard Shells: Gore-tex, Sympatex, Entrant, eVENT, Ultrex, Laminate, Polyurethane Coated fabrics, (Most of these are shell type garments with no liner)

Hard shells are designed for extreme weather eg storms and usually are made to go over your insulating garments.

For most people a combination of a soft and a hard shell works well, while the weather is just cold & windy you can wear a soft shell then when the wet stuff hits the dry stuff you can put on your hard shell outer garment/s.

Or if the weather is warmer but wet then you could just wear the hard shell with out the soft shell.

But for some people they like the convenience of only carrying the one jacket so they get a lined/insulated garment.

The Hard/Soft Shell distinction is mainly for the tramping/mountaineering/camping areas where you want a bit of versatility in your clothing options without having to carry a huge amount.

AtomSphere said:

I still don't know what each one looks or feels like. I yahoo'd and goggled it but the pictures seems the same except they say soft-shell is a more comfortable and preferred clothing.
I recently knew there were products that can help restore water resistance in a jacket and I am not sure if one of my Helly Hansen Codex, which is stated to be 100% Polyester, is a soft shell or a hard shell.

I am afraid to purchase the wrong product for water resistance restoration.

Click to expand...

The jacket the link points to would be a lighter weight soft shell which you would most probably use end of spring, end of summer, beginning of autumn when the temps are starting to go down in the evenings.

For most brands you should be able to find an email address for and ask them what product they recommend for cleaning then rewater proofing.

You might want to look at Nikwax which sells different wash / waterproofing solutions for most clothing.

I find that 90% of the time I use my softshell jacket while climbing. However I am never in the mountains without my hardshell just in case the weather decides to take a real bad turn. The hardest part of outdoor winter activities is finding a good layering system that will cover all of the weather situations that you are likely to encounter while keeping your pack weight as light as possible.

All it takes is trial & error as well as some cash. I wish that good quality functional climbing gear was cheaper. Oh well...