Dec 29

Dec 29 Arc'teryx Alpha SV (2020)

Alex Rakestraw

Review, Shell, Active, GORE-TEX

Arc’teryx Alpha SV

There’s no kill like overkill.

Review: Arc’teryx Alpha SV (2020)

Type: Shell / Use: Active / Face: Nylon / Insulation: n/a

Technologies: 3L GORE-TEX Pro 2.0 “Most Rugged”

Price: $799.00

The Arc’teryx Alpha SV is overkill. Delicious, delirious overkill.

If you’ve come here for an opinion on this jacket, it’s not because you’re its design target. Not that you’re not its marketing fit - dear reader, you are. You’re just probably not here to go ice climbing. And that’s what the Alpha SV is for.

The Alpha SV is Arc’teryx’s flagship shell. The OG SV debuted in 1998, the very first apparel item from a brand then known for harnesses and backpacks. It was – and is – made for ice climbing. The kind of bonkers, hey-that-looks-like-the-Modern-Warfare 2-intro outdoors activity seen on breakroom posters and bedroom walls alike. Rugged, flexible, and built to endure, Arc’s first jacket set the standard for holy-shit GORE shells.

It was the Alpha. In more ways than one.

Over two decades later, the Alpha SV continues to push the envelope. The 2020 version shown here is the first Arc’teryx apparel item to feature GORE-TEX’s new “GORE Pro 2.0” membrane. GORE Pro 1.0 was the most hardcore GORE membrane offered, co-developed with Arc for an earlier Alpha SV; now, generations have turned, and 2.0 (in a special formulation named “Most Rugged”) is back in reprise.

So what does that all mean?

Well, it means a shell made for climbing up ice is really fucking resilient.

For one, there’s the face fabric. The new Alpha SV features a 100 denier nylon engineered around durability at weight. It shrugs off branches and ice fall. It’ll certainly hold up to crowded subways.

For two, there’s the weatherproofing. Like its forefathers, the 2020 Alpha SV is a storm shelter without the tent flap. O.G. GORE-TEX Pro 3L clocked in around 30,000mm/day of waterproofing. While neither Arc nor GORE have published the 2020 Alpha’s specs, considering the ePTFE membrane hasn’t changed much between 1.0 and 2.0, one can expect similarly high performance.

Finally, there’s the construction. The Alpha SV is made by hand in Arc’teryx’s Canadian factory. Each jacket reportedly takes over 5 hours to build – and in quality alone, it shows. Every moving part just works. Zippers zip. Cinches cinch. 3D patterning means a 510g shell is supple, not sapping. Even the seam tape looks artful.

For an extreme conditions hardshell, the Alpha SV is a really nice thing.

This is a subtler point. There’s no fancy numbers or Branded Proper Nouns to bolster what’s really just an opinion on the Internet. But in so many ways, it’s the crux of the SV. Besides being the most expensive hardshell from one of the most premium outdoors brands, there’s no reason for the average indoor cat to buy the Alpha SV unless they believe in the magic.

This is ludicrous, lubricious overkill.

An Alpha AR packs a GORE Pro membrane into a lighter, more agile package… that costs $200 less.

A Beta SL is so Arc-building levels of waterproof without the capital-P Pro tag… and it’s only (!) $399.

Even the most cigar-chomping of weekend warriors will not push the Alpha SV anywhere near its ceiling. In fact, compared to its little brothers – especially the ultralight and still GORE Pro Alpha FL – the SV’s fortress feature set may feel more nuisance than novelty in day-to-day wear.

Breathability was a major concern. While GORE Pro 2.0 is breathable for a bombproof membrane… it’s still a bombproof membrane. Worn fully-zipped, it gets Hurt Locker sweaty, and fast. Pit zips help. But those are band-aids, especially with insulation. On long hikes, I wear it unzipped unless its actively raining. In the city, I wear it without insulation layers unless its below freezing out.

I also wish the jacket were more user-friendly. The lack of a double zipper is frustrating, and a daily reminder that the SV was built around edge cases. Slash pockets? Sure. That’d be nice. It’s logical that they’re not there, but again, it’s an $800 shell that most wearers will never push to its limits. Those iPhone rib pokes get old fast.

And yet, it’s the one Arc’teryx jacket you really, truly want.

Big, crinkly, bicep pocket and all – a cross between a Real McCoy’s bomber jacket and a spacesuit – the Alpha SV is a muscular statement piece with surprising versatility. Sleek exterior paneling hides potency in plain sight. An extended hip-length cut eases it into most wardrobes. I wear mine with black cargos, white socks, and slip-on sneakers for a #techwear city fit. I also wear it unzipped over black chinos, a Mission Workshop hoodie, and HOKA’s for casual daily wear.

Obviously your choice of color affects versatility, but I’d steer away from 24K Black and towards a highlighter hit. Black jackets are a dime a dozen. If you’re dropping eight bills on battle armor, show off a little. They didn’t choose overkill. You did. Embrace it.

All in all, the Alpha SV is Jason Bourne in jacket form: a hardcore operator that looks damn good, but unlike its suave cross-Pond cousins, just has some trouble adjusting to the niceties.

If that excites you and you’ve got the bills to drop, get one. There’s no kill like overkill. The SV is proof.