The perfect, featherlight travel jacket: Patagonia Houdini review

As a professional travel writer who spends nearly half the year on the road, I’m constantly looking for the best travel gear. Bonus points abound if my latest find is also ultra light and easy to shove into a backpack pocket.

That’s why my current obsession is Patagonia’s Houdini Jacket. This packable jacket is water-resistant and perfectly named, because at its featherlight weight of 3.4 ounces, you’ll hardly feel it in your pack or purse, just like magic. Plus, this rain jacket packs down into its own zippered chest pouch and a size compact enough to place into an ordinary pants pocket.

I’ve had the Houdini for a little over a month now, and it’s proven to be an excellent travel companion on hikes in the Rocky Mountains and a two-week trip to rainy, springtime Japan to photograph the cherry blossoms. It works well as a thin, insulating layer and easily sheds mellow rainstorms. Here’s why it’s a standout.

What I liked about it

Patagonia’s Houdini Jacket is shockingly full-featured for a thin 3.4-ounce windbreaker. Here are a few things that stood out the most during our testing.

Featherlight and packable

At a “barely there,” featherlight 3.4 ounces, this is the lightest name-brand windbreaker on the market today. It’s so tiny that it’s hard to justify not bringing it with you, even on the fastest and lightest excursions. The Houdini packs down small into its zippered chest pocket, which is roughly the size of a fist when closed.

On my big trip to Japan to witness the annual cherry blossoms, it was easy to toss the Houdini into my purse or day bag for easy and stress-free city strolling. It worked well as a thin layer to warm up when I didn’t want to cram a full-sized jacket or sweater in with my things. I could even fit it into my side pants pocket (though it did create a bulge) on a quick sunset photo outing in front of a rural ryokan (traditional inn) when I didn’t want to be weighed down by my purse. The jacket proved so functional that I have half a mind to purchase a solid black one for my next trip so I can match it better to subdued evening outfits.

Surprisingly water-resistant

Before I picked up the Houdini, I had been told by my Patagonia-obsessed friends that the jacket was decent at repelling moisture for up to an hour, and after that, it would wet through. “Fair enough,” I thought to myself, not expecting to take it headfirst into a deluge.

However, on my seventh day in Japan, the heavens opened up, and I was faced with a rainy, hours-long stroll from one small village to the next along the fabled Nakasendo Trail. I had a second rain jacket with me, just in case, but I wanted to see how the Houdini would perform in extreme conditions. Amazingly, this little wonder held out against the pouring rain for a full 90 minutes before soaking through a bit at the elbow creases. Pretty impressive.

Thoughtful details

When I’m speedily traveling from place to place, it can be easy for me to sometimes overlook the tiny, thoughtful details in a piece of ultra-light apparel like the Patagonia Houdini Jacket. But the more I wore this windbreaker, the more I noticed small things that the brand chose to include while still maintaining its petite profile.

The Houdini boasts several features you’d expect to see in a heavier raincoat, like a cinchable hood, carabiner clip loop, elastic wrist cuffs (to trap heat) and a zippered chest pocket. Unfortunately, there aren’t hand pockets in this baby, likely to keep its weight and bulk down, but I found it easy enough to use the various pouches in my travel pants instead to store small items, like my wallet, lip balm and cell phone.

What I didn’t like about it

Of course, at an ultra-light 3.4 ounces, there’s no way a wind- and rain-resistant jacket will be perfect or as full-featured as its heavier competitors. Here are a few things we’d like Patagonia to improve in the Houdini’s next iteration.

Chest pocket is small

While I love that the Houdini jacket does provide wearers with a zippered security pocket, I was bummed when I realized that this pocket couldn’t fit my regular-sized iPhone in its case. Like many travelers, I’m constantly popping my phone into and out of various bags, taking photos or looking up directions to the subway. On my Japanese walking tour, I tried to stash my phone away safely for quick access throughout our rainiest day and was disappointed when it simply wouldn’t stash away into the jacket, no matter how hard I tried.

This petite chest pocket would be better served for a slim wallet and a lip balm or snack. The only plus side? Patagonia designed the Houdini to neatly fold away into the aforementioned tiny pouch, meaning that this jacket packs down ultra small.

Not fully waterproof

When I took the Houdini jacket, I knew it wouldn’t stand up to the superior weather protection of a heavier, less-packable Gore-tex shell, like my trusty Arc’teryx Beta LT. Still, it’s worth mentioning here that this little marvel is best suited for short, surprise thunderstorms and misty climates (like Seattle or Portland), not all-day downpours when hiking in the mountains. While testing it, I noticed that the jacket would soak through in about 75 to 90 minutes during heavy rains. Impressive, but not perfect.

How it compares

Bottom line

If you want a breathable, featherlight windbreaker that can easily be packed into your purse or pants pocket and that sheds light rain, look no further than Patagonia’s bestselling Houdini jacket. At a paltry 3.4 ounces, this jacket is surprisingly feature-rich, boasting elastic cuffs, a zippered pocket and cinchable hood. It’s so darn light and functional that it’s going to practically live in my bag from now on.

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