About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the jacket, which I tested for 4 days in December of 2022.

My take

The Volcom Shelter 3D Stretch Jacket is a warm, functional, and stylish option designed for snowboarders and skiers of all abilities looking for a great resort jacket.

About the jacket

• Model: 2022/23 Volcom Shelter 3D Stretch Jacket
• Size: Small
• Fit: True to size

About me

• Height: 5’7”
• Weight: 135lbs
• Experience: 29 years of snowboarding/skiing

Test conditions

• When I received this jacket: December 2022
• Days tested: 4
• Where I’ve used it: January skiing resort at Keystone and Breckenridge.
• Conditions I’ve used it in: Hard-packed early-season resort skiing and a warmer, bluebird soft snow resort day.

How it performs

What I was looking for

As someone who tends to run pretty cold, I look for insulated jackets that are really warm but still have underarm vents for when I’m working hard on a bootpack or a day of aggressive skiing.

Why I chose to test this gear

Volcom gifted me the Shelter jacket in December of 2022 to test. Similar jackets that I have looked at are FlyLow’s Avery Jacket and Roxy’s Mead Jacket. Given a choice, I’d pick either the Shelter or Avery jacket again.

What I love about it

• Fit: The Shelter jacket fits great. It is true to size and has space for layers on really cold days.
• Comfort: This jacket feels good. It’s roomy but not too roomy, has a great range of motion, and is comfy enough to wear all day on the slopes, hang out outside after skiing, and warm up in the camper before settling in for the night.
• Range of Motion: I never feel like my range of motion is restricted in this jacket.
• Style: The style of this jacket is really fun. The black and muted tiger stripe combo are unique and cool, and I love the length of the jacket. The over-the-helmet hood fits perfectly, too, without looking too bulky.
• Durability: While I haven’t had the jacket long enough to push its durability limits, the material is definitely top-of-the-line. It’s also obvious that if I were to get any sort of hole in the jacket, it would be easy to fix with a gear repair patch or tape.
• Waterproofing: Fortunately, I didn’t have any particularly wet days while testing this jacket; however, I know that it has a DWR (durable water repellent) coating, so I wouldn’t be worried about using it on a wet, snowy day.
• Warmth: The Shelter is really warm thanks to its insulation. As someone who typically runs cold, I am really happy that it keeps me warm without wearing a puffy jacket underneath.
• Features: I think this jacket is most unique because it can zip to compatible Volcom snow pants. This helps keep snow out of one’s pants without having to wear bib snow pants, and the integration is pretty seamless. It takes a few tries to get used to lining up the zippers (and one has to undo them to use the restroom), but once they’re familiar, it is easy to zip and unzip. In addition, this jacket also has thumb holes/wrist gaiters, which I love, to keep snow out of my sleeves/mittens as much as possible.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Pockets: While this jacket has plenty of pockets for organizing gear and a pass pocket on the left forearm, which, in my opinion, is essential at this point, it doesn’t have hand pockets. The lower front pockets are drop-in which is great for snacks, sunscreen, etc., but it isn’t comfortable to put my hands in while walking around town after skiing.
• Breathability: This is an insulated jacket, so the material itself isn’t particularly breathable; however, it does have integrated pit zips which I took full advantage of on a really windy day at Breckenridge. I was getting hot-lapping some mogul runs and opened them on the way down. I re-zipped them when the weather got blustery on the lift ride back up. I feel like they really helped me regulate my temperature.

Favorite moment with this gear

I had an awesome, early-season powder day in this jacket. It was pretty windy, but we worked hard, skiing lap after lap in the trees and bowls. I was really happy with my temperature all day long.

Value for the money vs. other options

Volcom’s Shelter Jacket is reasonably priced for a fully functional ski/snowboard jacket. If I’d been asked to guess the price, I probably would’ve said $100 more, so I think it’s a great value. Roxy’s Mead Insulated Jacket is about the same price, while Flylow’s Avery Jacket, which is similar too, is a more expensive $400 option.

Final verdict

Volcom’s Shelter 3D Stretch Jacket is a comfortable, stylish snowboard and ski jacket that is great for anyone looking for a new insulated jacket. If one snowboards (or just ends up in the snow a lot as a skier), the ability to zip it to a pair of Volcom snow pants is a really cool feature that differentiates it from others in its class.