Lightweight Jackets for Hiking

I'd go for a soft shell by a reputable manufacturer.

Layers are your friends.

Thanks for the info! I am thinking Grays as mount Evans is a bit more intermediate from what I hear. I am concerned with weight, as every little bit ads up at 14,000 ft. I have a day pack I bought on amazon which is a small military style backpack, so I was thinking of bringing that with some food and water. It has rings on it for clipping things to, which is why I was looking into jackets that come in a little bag. Name brands are great, but I am more of a budget hiker. All of the expensive brands are a bit out of my price range. Are there any lesser known recommended brands that are more affordable?

My advice: if that military-style pack is heavy, get something that's got fewer bells and whistles and is lighter. Don't clip stuff on the outside--too easy for something to go wrong and it get lost, plus things swinging and swaying are annoying as heck. You will want the jacket to be rainproof, though you'll want to be off the peak before the afternoon thundershowers begin, so you will have to largely choose between cheap, light, and effective (you know the saying: pick any two).

I'll second the point about layers. Take a light fleece or down sweater, and a rain shell to put over it. Don't forget a warm hat and gloves, even in August.

I'll echo all the advice you've already received. One specific jacket that I really like is the Arc'teryx Atom LT . . . that combined with a rain jacket would be a great combo. I like the Atom because it breathes well when exerting yourself, is synthetic so getting it wet won't compromise the insulation value as much as with down, it's lightweight, very warm, and reasonably windproof. One of my favorite jackets for dayhikes in the mountains in variable conditions.

michigander

Hi and welcome to the site.

Please consider, with each purchase of gear, the question 'will I trust this piece of gear with my life?'

Thrift stores are a great place to find gear, I found a new GPS for 8 bucks with a missing charger, the charger was 11 dollars from Amazon. Here in Boise, Idaho there is a used consignment store and a Sierra Trading Post. Also Campmor and the REI Garage are on line places to get gear. Starting on the 25th of Dec the REI Garage is going to have a 50% off sale.

Good luck.

I did several of the 14ers ~25-30 years ago.

For most of them, frankly, you won't need anything special.

Anything that can shed rain AND wind will be okay. I like rain ponchos in general, but they don't do as well in wind.

For an insulating layer, you can take any wool sweater or fleece jacket that you already have.
Wool sweaters seem to have gone out of favor among backpackers in recent years, in favor of "puffys", but in the 70's-80's, we all used wool sweaters of various types, and they worked (and still work) fine (and I still use one on my backpack trips). I understand being on a budget. 

If you use a cheap nylon parka as your outer layer, spray it over with Scotch-Gard fabric protector first, to add a DWR layer.

I second the recommendations for Campmor and REI, and agree with RebeccaD about not using a pack that you have to clip stuff on the outside.

I also suggest doing some day hikes to acclimate to the elevation before doing the 12-14000' levels.
Many good options in the Denver Mountain Parks and Lost Creek Scenic Area.

The trio of Lincoln, Democrat, and Bross are enjoyable and not far from Denver.

I also liked the Colorado Trail near Kenosha Pass (also near Denver).