I also am very pleased with my Darien AD1 pants, but have been considering an alternative to my Tourmaster Transition 2 jacket. I had been looking at the Darien Light jacket and also wondered about the Olympia AST. What do you think of the AST jacket? Is it vented well or is it too warm for summer wear?
Overall, I like the Transition 2, but it can get a bit warm in summer, in spite of some creative venting. I can travel with it and know that I will stay dry in rain by closing those vents, but if it gets over 90 degrees, it can get warm. Unlike the Darien jacket, the waterproof layer is sewn under the outer layer, so the outer layer will get wet and heavy in rain, even though I will be dry. However, I wish the Darien jacket had a mesh under layer in it for comfort. On the regular Dariens I had in the past, I used to wear a long sleeve tee because the lack of an interior mesh lining made it a bit uncomfortable against bare skin. I have a mesh 3/4 length jacket that I like for warm weather, but if I am travelling I would have to also pack a rain jacket to wear over it.
My idea of the perfect all weather travelling jacket would be a Darien Light with a sewn in light weight mesh lining. In cooler weather I would pack my Tourmaster Synergy long sleeve heated jacket liner.
