Gear Review: Columbia Millennium Blur Jacket and Pants

I am wearing the Millennium Blur Jacket Hyper Purple Size Medium and Millennium Blur Pant in White Size Medium

Mother Nature is an unpredictable force. Thank goodness we, as adventurers, can count on Columbia Sportswear Company to produce innovative, reliable gear year after year.  The Millennium Blur jacket and pants have kept me warm, dry and shielded through one of the roughest Vancouver area snow seasons in decades.

Thank you Columbia for creating the Omni-Tech waterproof outerwear system, seam-sealed, waterproof, breathable gear we can depend on in rain, wind, hail, snow and sunshine. Strange as it might sound, I would like to compare the Millennium Blur jacket and pants to a surround sound system.  It engulfs you, it awakens your senses and it allows you to embrace the experience to its full potential.  Out in nature, facing the elements, you depend 100 percent on your outerwear for ultimate protection and comfort. When your gear is doing what is was created to do, only then can you truly experience the adventure in its purest form.

Both the Millennium Blur jacket and pants are lined completely in Columbia’s patented Omni-Heat Thermal Reflective technology, a self-regulating signature feature that responds to your body’s internal temperature to create the exact amount of warmth and heat required in active life real-time.

Tiny little silver beads of amazingness keep you 20 percent warmer by reflecting back the heat you generate. Yes they look techie and cool inside your gear but they actually are there for a reason and the system works.  No matter what I faced this winter, I was always dry and always warm. Both the Millennium Blur jacket and pants do fit rather snuggly thanks to the four-way stretch.  They are both so cushy that it almost feels like you are inside a marshmallow.

If you normally like to wear your jacket a little oversized, do go a size up with this style. I wear a medium and find the cut is snugger than other jackets and pants I have tested. Initially, I thought I should have gone bigger, but now realize that wearing my true size, enables the outerwear to mold to my body and thus let the technology to do what is what created to do, keep me warm and dry.

The Helmet Compatible Hood is my favourite Millennium Blur jacket feature. No other jacket fits so well over a helmet.  How Columbia created a universal “perfect-fit” for all the different helmet styles and brands out there is beyond me, but the bottom line is… you will never have to adjust it. The hood miraculously stays in place. An adventure gal’s best friend, the hood keeps loose hair and neck line covered and protected.   When snowshoeing without a helmet, the removable and adjustable storm hood still fits like a glove.  The beauty is that no matter what sport you are taking part in, you are covered.

Both the Millennium Blur pants and jacket were designed with a venting system that allows you to let in fresh air on the fly. Whether it’s your upper or lower body that needs a breeze, handy zips make the vents easy to access while you are in mid-action.  Both the pants and jacket also have plenty of pockets  perfectly situated in all the right spots for easy access and secure storage. Yes, your stuff stays put. The jacket has an inner cuff on each sleeve which is a feature I think ladies love for both function and fashion reasons… they lock-out the cold and lock-in the look. Pure comfort.

Columbia Sportswear Company was chosen as the brand to outfit our Olympic athletes in Sochi this season for a reason. The Millennium Blur jacket and pants are not just functional, they look and feel exceptional as well. You can see in this TV segment shot for Shaw TV in Vancouver not only how unpredictable our snow season was on the West Coast of Canada, but also how well my Columbia gear held up. Since end of season sales are upon us, snatch up anything Columbia Sportswear Company while you can. I highly recommend the Millennium Blur.

To purchase Columbia Sportswear gear, click here.