Women's Outdoor Jackets

A jacket built for women, not adapted from a men's design, makes a genuine difference on the trail. Women's-specific outdoor jackets are cut through the shoulders, chest, and waist to provide real freedom of movement and effective insulation without excess bulk — and when you're a full day into a demanding tramp in unpredictable New Zealand weather, that fit matters. Backwoods stocks women's outdoor jackets across three core types: GORE-TEX hardshells, insulated jackets, and softshell jackets. Use the filters to find your style, or read on to find the right jacket for your conditions.

GORE-TEX Hardshell Jackets

A GORE-TEX hardshell is the most critical piece of weather protection in any serious outdoor wardrobe. The GORE-TEX membrane's microscopic pore structure blocks liquid water while allowing water vapour — sweat — to escape, delivering genuine waterproof performance without turning your jacket into a steam room during hard efforts on the hill. For New Zealand's mountain environments, where sustained rain, strong wind, and rapid weather changes are the norm rather than the exception, a quality hardshell is not an upgrade — it's baseline safety equipment.

Three-layer GORE-TEX construction bonds the membrane between a tough face fabric and a soft interior lining for maximum durability and breathability — the choice for regular alpine tramping and serious backcountry use. GORE-TEX PACLITE creates a packable, lightweight hardshell that folds into its own pocket, ideal for day hikes and fast-packing where every gram counts. GORE-TEX PRO uses the most abrasion-resistant face fabrics for technical alpine climbing and year-round high-output mountain use.

Women's-specific features to look for: a shorter body length that sits neatly at the hip, a hood shaped for a smaller head circumference that still adjusts to fit over a helmet, narrower shoulders that don't restrict arm swing, and a waist cut that keeps the jacket from riding up under a hip belt.

Insulated Jackets

An insulated jacket is your warmth layer — the piece that keeps heat in when output drops and cold closes in. Summit breaks, hut evenings, cold camp mornings, and descents into shaded valleys are all situations where a well-chosen insulated jacket is the difference between comfort and misery. The best women's insulated jackets deliver serious warmth for very little weight and pack down small enough to carry on every trip, summer or winter.

Down insulation offers the best warmth-to-weight ratio available. Premium fill power down (600FP and above) compresses to almost nothing in a stuff sack, making a down jacket the lightest and most packable serious warmth layer available. Hydrophobic down treatments — DWR-coated individual down fibres — significantly reduce the traditional vulnerability of down to damp conditions, making treated down practical in NZ's frequently wet mountain environment. Synthetic insulation is heavier and less compressible, but retains insulating performance even when fully saturated — an important advantage for Fiordland, the West Coast, and any multi-day trip where sustained moisture is expected.

Women's insulated jackets are cut with a tapered waist, narrower shoulders, and a longer back hem that provides coverage under a pack without bunching at the front. These details matter most when you're wearing the jacket for hours at a time in the field.

Softshell Jackets

A softshell sits in the sweet spot between a breathable fleece mid-layer and a fully waterproof hardshell — and for much of New Zealand's everyday mountain conditions, it ends up being the jacket that stays on your back the longest. Softshells use stretch-woven fabrics — typically nylon or polyester with elastane — to deliver wind resistance, light rain resistance, and four-way stretch in a single highly breathable garment.

A softshell won't keep you dry in a sustained downpour, but it handles drizzle, light rain, and wind confidently while breathing far better than any membrane jacket during hard climbs and sustained aerobic effort. A DWR coating causes moisture to bead and roll off in light showers. For active hiking in changeable but not relentlessly wet conditions — the typical NZ autumn day, alpine summer afternoon, or spring shoulder season — a softshell is often the more comfortable outer layer than a hardshell you're constantly venting. In heavier weather, it steps back to become a mid-layer under the hardshell, adding wind-blocking warmth between base and shell.

Which Women's Jacket Do You Need?

Most experienced NZ trampers end up owning all three, as each fills a role the others can't. Starting from scratch: begin with a quality hardshell — it's the layer that keeps you safe when conditions turn serious. Add an insulated jacket for warmth at stops and in cold weather. Add a softshell when you want a highly breathable active layer for the majority of conditions that aren't persistently wet. All three together give you a complete weather system for any New Zealand adventure, from summer day hikes to multi-day winter alpine routes.

Pair with women's base layers and tops to complete your layering system, or browse the full women's outdoor clothing range.

Free shipping on orders over $100 throughout New Zealand.