Where there's an uncomfortable athlete, there's room for a wild, high-tech solution. At least that seems to be Nike's strategy of late, resulting in such contrivances as robo-shoes and active-breathing jackets. The all-new Lava Loft Down Jacket is a little less animated, but it still uses a rather unconventional solution to solve a common problem, interspersing baffles of ultra-warm down with wide open vents to react to the massive weather shifts a trail runner can experience when logging miles. When it's time to remove the Lava Loft all together, the 10-oz jacket packs down to fit in your hand like an apple.
There seem to be a lot of masochists out there, and a big chunk of evidence supporting that conclusion is the existence of the ultra marathon. As if a good, old 26 miles (42 km) wasn't grueling enough, how about 50 miles (80 km)? Or 100? Or even 135 miles ... through Death Valley?! And hey, pavement is kind of smooth and straightforward, so why don't we also throw in highly variable rock and dirt trail that climbs and dives through 10s of thousands of feet worth of elevation?
Masochism.
But there are plenty of folks out there doing all that and more in the name of sport, fitness and personal growth. And, in many cases, those kinds of runs involve frosty twilight starts, sun-baked midday stretches through exposed, wide-open spaces, frigid high-alpine ridge scampers, chilly darkly shaded forest plunge, furious unexpected squalls, and maybe all of the above.
Put succinctly, trail runners need to be prepared for virtually every type of weather that Mother Nature has scribbled down in her playbook. And they certainly don't want to be weighed down carrying a wardrobe's worth of apparel options on their back.
In setting out to develop a trail running jacket meant to excel through those mercurial conditions, Nike's ACG (All Conditions Gear) design team turned to the Atlas body mapping system for insight. Located at Nike's Sport Research Lab in Beaverton, Oregon, the Atlas system delivered the cellularly precise data the team used to pinpoint exactly where trail-running athletes run hot and sweaty versus cold, giving them a blueprint for mapping out insulation and ventilation zones.
After developing a prototype based on that raw data, ACG worked with the Nike Running team to test and refine a multitude of prototype iterations, racking up hundreds of hours worth of testing and development. Ultimately, the project found the most precise placement for the jacket's blend of perforated ventilation and 700-fill ExpeDRY Gold down. A specific formulation of hydrophobic down, ExpeDRY includes non-toxic gold particles in each down cluster to electro-statically break up water molecules and keep the down dry, fluffy and warm.
As typical in a down jacket, the down is contained in horizontal baffles that run across the body and sleeves, but rather than being one baffle atop the next, Nike ACG places thin rows of perforated ventilation between baffles in critical zones. These rows can be seen around the chest, on the back, and up and down both sleeves. The perforations keep air flow moving across the hottest, sweatiest areas to wick away moisture.
To further manage internal and external moisture, the jacket relies on a combination of Nike's quick-wicking/dispersing Dri-Fit fabric, water-repellent Repel four-way-stretch fabric, and durable water repellent (DWR) baffle material.
The Lava Loft jacket travels about as lightly as possible, packing down into palmable size in its own pocket. At 10 oz (284 g) for a size medium, it's not quite the lightest down jacket available, but it's not so far off from ultralight staples like the 6.8-oz (193-g) Zpacks Down Jacket or 8-oz (227-g) Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer.
Nike unveiled the Lava Loft Down Jacket this month at the China International Import Expo. It plans to launch the new piece globally on its website and at select retailers beginning January 1, 2026. Nike did not include pricing information with the announcement, but that will be available in the coming weeks.
Source: Nike
