Inferno Jacket, Badlands Bio-Thermic Apparel
As a backcountry hunter I was super stoked when I read through the features of the new Inferno Jacket by Badlands. Gander at a catalog or their Web site, and you’ll quickly see buzzwords such assuper lightweight, packable, and as much insulating technology as a jacket weighing twice as much. As someone who is ultra-concerned with weight and packability, I’m all about exploring the option of incorporating a jacket like the Inferno into my arsenal. 
It’s no secret the game of success is about advantage and disadvantage. If I can tilt the scale and put the odds in my favor by gaining heat retention and versatility while saving weight and leading to greater mobility, I’m in. It took about two seconds for me to come up with a ton of reasons and situations I need the features this jacket claims to have. Let’s take a look under the hood to see how it performs…
By the Book
The Inferno Jacket is one of four jackets in the new Badlands Bio-Thermic Apparel System line-up. It features insulation filled heat channels, Hex-Lite Fleece liner, waterproof zippers, crew neck with beard guard, glove friendly cuff design, DuPont Teflon DWR, SRS (Scent Reduction System) antimicrobial treatment, variable motion seams, urethane base tape, elastic pulls (each side), and zipper garages. The jacket has two zipper pockets on the side for hands that just like the inside of the jacket, are also lined with Hex-Lite Fleece. Sizes range from M, L, XL, XXL, and is available in Realtree AP.
Feel
Overall the jacket has a very quality feel to it. All seams are meticulously put together and a thorough investigation reveals zero stitching errors. From what I see without having the time to actually putting it to the test, I would expect the seams and fabric to perform well during extensive wear and tear.
Zippers are solid. Heavyweight, waterproof, they tuck away nicely in the zipper garages helping to support the waterproof feature of the zippers and keeping things quiet.
The outer finish of the jacket has a slick feel to it, but just as I would expect from this type of jacket. Noise from movement is very minimal and very tolerable. Another outer finish feature of the jacket is the DuPont Teflon DWR repellent coating which quickly dissipates water helping to keep you dry.
The inner finish of Hex-Lite Fleece is plush. No other way to say it. If they made a couch out of Hex-Lite Fleece, I would buy it. I’ll definitely be using the inside of this jacket for my pillow in the backcountry which will work nicely over my usual run of the mill clothing stuffed zip lock bag. The design of the Hex-Lite screams BTU retention and I’m very anxious to put this to work this fall in some cold weather.