Lole Titan Insulated Jacket Review: Thin and Good to -10C?

So here’s a well-known brand by the name of Lolë. What may not be as well known is that they are a Canadian company, and they just so happen to specialize in “technical outerwear”! In other words, clothing designed for the outdoors! What better than a Canadian company to understand our unique requirements, if not challenges, for great outdoor clothing? In this post, we’ll review the Lole Titan Insulated Jacket, which ships directly from Lole.

Discloure: Posts may contain affiliate links. Purchases made through our links result in a small commission to us at no charge to you. We only recommend products that meet our brand standards based on testing and first hand use by our authors.

Temperature Rating

The first thing to look for when considering any piece of outerwear is when and where you will wear it. The Lolë jacket has a heat level rating of 0° to -10°C, giving us a good idea of when to use the Titan jacket: spring and fall, with even a bit of an overlap into winter with some smart layering.

But things are a bit more complicated than that. Everyone “feels” temperature differently, and these ratings are generally more like guidelines. I lean on the colder side and would comfortably wear a -10° coat on a +5° day. Or perhaps even a +10 day, like today when we took these photos of the Lole Titan jacket. Just don’t make fun of the blogger doubling as a model:)

All it takes on a warmer day is a simple swap to a t-shirt versus a sweatshirt, and the jacket’s seasons are easily extendable in the other direction. What often starts as a cold morning will have you sweating by afternoon, only to be cold again by evening. The beauty of technical outwear and dressing for the outdoors is the skill and ability to know when and how to layer up or down as needed. The Lole Titan is so light, soft and non-bulky that it easily becomes an integral part of a well-layered and well-suited system for the outdoors or travel. 

Materials

Probably the second largest consideration is materials. Some people hate synthetics or vice versa when it comes to natural fabrics. Pure wool, in my opinion, is very itchy. While super warm, toss some wind into the mix, and wool will blow right through. Perhaps it’s why multiple materials or blends, so to speak, are so popular today.

Remember throughout the Lolë Titan Jacket review that we are reviewing “technical outerwear.” And while we generally like to look good, we have to tick off several boxes if we intend to use this product outdoors. Ie. In the elements, which can mean everything from sunshine to rain or snow.

Outer Shell

The Lole company advertises a wool blend shell. The Titan shell, in actuality, is 79% polyester, 11% wool and 10% acrylic. So yes, you will find some wool, and it masterfully pulls off the look and feel. These percentages also make perfect sense, which we will address right now.

Polyester may not sound luxurious or fancy, but it is found in several technical garments and for good reason. Polyester has come a long way over the years and is the type of fabric that can wick moisture away from the body and remain breathable – all while repelling water on the outside. Synthetics also dry faster, which is an absolute in an outdoor garment.

If you are old enough, you might recall the yellow ducky suits we wore back in the day (like the 80s) as the go-to raincoat. If not, you might have a good laugh from pictures of Mom and Dad in those silly things. They worked great at keeping water out. But they also kept water in! We would be soaked sooner or later, and it would be from our sweat. It boggles my mind how lucky we are today to have clothing like the Titan Jacket. Normal-looking clothing that can keep us dry on a rainy day!

Before moving on, one thing to point out is the outer shell takes an absolute beating, so it has to be durable. The jacket’s outer shell is your first line of defence from the elements. It also needs to hold up to everyday wear, like rubbing the armrests in a car to snagging everything in the bush. Durability is the hallmark of Lole products, and I keep reminding myself not to worry as I trudge through the woods in such a soft jacket.

Fill

Here’s where the Titan jacket gets interesting!

The Lole’s company website reads:

• Filled with Repreve® synthetic recycled polyester insulation
• This jacket insulation used 14 plastic bottles in its manufacturing – 14 bottles that will never see a landfill

And the Titan’s tag reads: “100% down-like polyester fiberfill”.

It is so cool to take plastic bottles and re-purpose them into the fabric, especially something soft and compressible enough to be compared to down. We will cover sustainable practices at the end of the post, but let’s focus on the fill and its actual function, which simply is there to keep you warm!

Natural Versus Synthetic

Natural down is fantastic as fill. But when the down gets wet, it loses its insulating capabilities. To complicate that, it takes FOREVER to dry in a dryer, let alone while you wear it. Over time, natural down tends to poke through the lining, which can be quite itchy. Lastly, it comes with a very steep price tag! Lole is definitely on trend here, and you’ll see synthetic fill dominate in technical products. That’s because it’s getting as good, if not better, than natural fabrics for many applications.

Case in point, a friend of mine has a property in the woods, which normally is a half-hour drive down a lonesome, narrow trail leading to a cabin nestled in 200 acres of solitude. We went in one early December day by truck, only to find at least 20 down trees that had to be moved. 3-4 hours later, SOAKING wet on a rain/snow mix day, we finally arrive soaking and cold at a cold cabin! We hung our clothes near the woodstove to dry. You don’t have that option with natural down! The outdoors can be full of unknown surprises, and the Titan jacket gives me that much more confidence out there.

Inner Lining

The Titan jacket’s inner lining is 100% nylon and quite standard. Let’s move on.

Titan Jacket Features

Windflaps

The Titan Jacket zips with YKK zippers, known internationally as the gold standard for zips. It’s not 1800, and no one has time for buttons. Zippers are faster and far more convenient.

Zipping alone will suffice on most days with this jacket. Lole has ingeniously offset the zipper on the fabric, which automatically provides an inner flap to keep the wind and rain out. As convenient as zippers are, the wind will blow right through without this cool feature.

If that isn’t enough, there’s also a second flap. This outer flap sits nice and flat and secures in place with snap buttons. I can confirm firsthand this system works, and it works very well!!! It should guarantee comfort on those super nasty days.

High Collar

Here is an underrated feature of the Lole Titan jacket. The collar sits nice and high, sealing the wind and water off your neck. If you have ever bumped a tree and had cold water or snow land on the back of your neck (and slither down your back!), you’ll know exactly what I mean. I appreciate the high collar here and find it rests squarely on the back of my neck while protecting it from the sides. It eliminates the need for a scarf, and let’s face it, who wants to wear one during this season?

Water Repellency

The Titan is advertised as water-repellent. I can confirm this, and it holds up well for quite some time. That’s not to say it won’t soak through on a torrential day, but I’m not about to test that either. Common sense dictates you’ll want dedicated, “waterproof” rain gear on those crazy days.

Do be warned that, to a degree, the fabric will always be just fabric. In other words, the Lole company did their part in the materials department, and they probably weaved things tight – leaving little gaps in the fibres of the outer shell. Water repellency ultimately comes from treating that fabric with a spray that seals out the water. Over time, the sealant wears, generally through washing. The warning here is in the form of being prepared to re-treat it at some point. There are many water-repellent sprays found in outdoor retailers that work well.

Windproof

Windproofing is the final advertised feature we really must cover. A well-made technical jacket (no matter how thin or thick) should and can be windproof, as is the case here! DO NOT settle for anything less – otherwise, you are simply buying a fashion product!

At the very start of this post, we talked about temperature ratings in consideration of the actual intended use of this jacket. That is to be comfortable outdoors for hours on end, regardless of what the weather feels like doing. It’s ironic to close the features section with windproofing because it has a direct correlation to temperature!

It does not matter what kind of fill any jacket has if the wind blows through it! The wind will make you cold, and air moving through an insulator wreaks havoc on its R-value! You’ll end up getting a double hit in the cold department.

I can confirm the wind has no effect on the Titan jacket, and it works brilliantly to no end.

Comfort, Fit and Finish

The Titan Jacket feels very thin and light for something rated to -10 degrees. That’s a good thing! It’s also nice and soft and provides ample range of motion and comfort. I’m not uncomfortable in the car or hiking the woods, and I can crouch down or bend over at will without even realizing I’m wearing a jacket. That softness means it’s also quiet, and I can sneak up on wildlife for that perfect photograph.

Fit

In terms of fit, the Lole Titan leans towards the fashion side more than a bit. It’s quite fitted, which is also a good thing! Outwear can be big and bulky, and this jacket fills a niche where you can wear it in the woods on a hike and then head right into the office and blend in. It will even look great on a night out while keeping you warm. Usually, clothing that works well outdoors never looks nowhere near as good as this jacket. But then again, that’s part of Lole’s style.

The model on Lole’s website is 6′ tall and sporting a medium. I am 6’2″ and always need a large or extra large for longer sleeves. At 185 lbs, when I order a large or XL, there’s generally enough room around the waist for two people! It’s a lifelong curse of mine that makes things look hideous. That is NOT the case with the Titan jacket – it fits great, and I could not be happier!

Lole’s sizing chart is very accurate. A link to it is available from each item page on their website.

If there is any complaint, the cuffs are a little tight, which makes taking the coat off more difficult than it should be. For someone with really big hands, it will take some getting used to. The intent is good as it’s probably done on purpose to seal out, you guessed it, wind and water! So, we’ll let this slide as a minor issue. The pockets could also be a bit bigger (technically deeper) to provide more security for the items you carry in them. I would not use the side pockets on an ATV ride for fear of losing things.

Price

Every good blogger knows to keep their posts about the reader. You are not here to learn about me – otherwise, it would be an autobiography:) So, we educate our readers based on facts and experience. Of course, we add our opinions to a degree, more so with reviews, as you are looking for a report card, so to speak, of a product. In terms of price, it’s one of those things that needs to be put in context to make sense, and that’s a bit more personal.

So what is a fair price for a jacket that keeps you warm and dry, lasts a long time and looks great? I recall years ago the odd trips to the mall and browsing for Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren shirts at $80 a pop. We are talking about Hudson Bay, not boutique and household fashion brands. We are also talking pre-pandemic, pre-shortages and pre-inflationary pricing!! So, in context, in my humble opinion, the price is incredibly fair for a functional fashion product.

The only other way to put a price in perspective is to look at what the actual market determines. And you will be very hard-pressed to find a better product from a good and trusted brand at this price. Technical outdoor clothing is generally VERY expensive. The great news today is that Lole is kind enough to give our readers even more value:

Lole and the Environment

Some people don’t care about sustainability, others are outright activists, and most people are somewhere in the middle. Now that the review itself is complete – let’s cover some of Lole’s brand philosophy on environmental impacts as it’s a hot topic these days – and because things like recycled fabrics are becoming commonplace to the point where we won’t even have a choice.

As a former Chief Operating Officer of a big corporation, I can tell you firsthand that it’s hard some days to keep the lights on. And, not just because a company is big, by no means do they deserve to be lumped into that evil corporation status. Generally put, the bigger the company, the lower the profit margin. That’s because they employ MORE people, which, in turn, means more inefficiencies. These profit margins can go as low as 3%, so think about that. Just a few bad decisions can shut a company down or it can be swallowed up by a single green initiative!

If a company can keep the lights on, still employ real people, put out a good product AND have some level of sustainable practices, they are heroes in my books! That brings us to Lole. Lole’s About Us page has quite the blurb about what they are doing towards sustainability. It covers things like making products last longer so you don’t need to consume so much and goes as far as their yellow label program, which is an initiative to get gently used clothing to those in need. So far, so good.

Why Does This Matter

Now, I bring this all up because, in many cases, one green step forward often means two very non-green steps backward. For example, our family purchased expensive outerwear from a big brand we won’t name here. Their green or “recycled” fabric fell apart mind-numbingly quickly with several holes in the garments, all in the outer shell, rendering them useless. All within months when these types of clothing should last years! The result is a quick replacement (and more consumption), which isn’t very green! This wasn’t an isolated incident, and since then, we have refused to buy that brand.

With the Titan Jacket, Lole ingeniously put the recycled stuff into the fill. Even if it becomes a problem, it won’t be a problem because of where it is. That gives me (or you) great confidence in a product that lasts and is genuinely green, or at least as green as it can be. It also means that if sustainability is important to you, you might just have a home with Lole or similar companies that are more genuine in their efforts.

The Verdict

In conclusion, the Lole Titan Insulated Jacket is a fantastic choice for those who enjoy the outdoors, no matter the weather. With its versatile temperature rating, durable outer shell, and innovative synthetic fill, this jacket will keep you warm and dry while looking ever so stylish. Plus, with its sustainable manufacturing practices, you can feel good about your purchase and its environmental impact. So whether you’re hitting the trails or running errands on a chilly day, the Lole Titan jacket is a reliable and fashionable choice for all your outdoor adventures.

Disclosure

We have been sporting Lole for many years, and Lole’s products have been remarkably durable in our house. It’s not by accident we chose Lole as an affiliate partner. Links to Lole products from our site do provide a commission to BushLife at no cost to you, and it will cost you less thanks to Lole’s generous promo code they have provided for our readers. Lole partially covered the cost of the Titan Jacket we reviewed in this post. They did not provide payment for this post nor are we sponsored by Lole, the review is based on our unbiased opinion.

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