The jacket called LITE publishes the lowest waterproof figure of the four Skyline series jackets: 17,540 mm against 21,260 on CORE, 24,030 on NOVA and 34,570 on PRO. Its breathability figure sits 200 g/m²·24h below CORE's, or 1.8 percent, which is not a difference anyone can feel.
That 200 is where most explanations of these four stop. They are published across three standards, so two of the rows you would read straight across cannot be compared, and one model prints its figures with no standard beside them.
What follows reads the table rather than the names. By the end you should be able to cross one of them off, and know which cell did it.
Three rulers, and two rows you cannot read across
A family measured three ways. CORE and LITE print GB/T 4744-2013 for waterproofing and GB/T 12704.2-2009 for breathability; PRO prints JIS L 1092:2009 and JIS L 1099:2021; NOVA prints the figures and no standard at all. A different standard asks the fabric to do a different thing, so two figures measured to two standards are not a subtraction. how those ratings are actually measured is where that is set out. Read a row across only when the standard beside the figure is the same in every cell.
Two blocks. The upper block states the same thing about all four in the same way. The lower block does not, and the reason sits in the right-hand cells.
| Spec | CORE | LITE | NOVA | PRO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read straight across | ||||
| Fill | Full-body synthetic fiberfill | None | Silk-like polyester wadding | None |
| Cut | Loose | Regular | Loose | Slim |
| Abrasion | 300,000+ cycles | 300,000+ cycles | 300,000 cycles | 300,000+ cycles |
| Water repellency | Grade 5 | Grade 5 | Grade 5 | Grade 4-5 |
| Wind resistance | ≤1 mm/s | 1-10 mm/s | 1 mm/s | ≤1 mm/s |
| Fabric | NAN SKIN™ 3L, 100% polyamide | NAN SKIN™ 3L, 88% polyamide, 12% polyurethane | NAN SKIN™ 3L, high-density water-repellent | Dermizax® 3L, 86% nylon, 14% elastane |
| RECCO | Hood brim | Hood brim | Rear of hood | Hood brim |
| Read the standard before you compare | ||||
| Waterproofing | 21,260 mm H₂O, GB/T 4744-2013 | 17,540 mm H₂O, GB/T 4744-2013 | 24,030 mm H₂O | 34,570 mm H₂O, JIS L 1092:2009 |
| Breathability | 11,400 g/m²·24h, GB/T 12704.2-2009 | 11,200 g/m²·24h, GB/T 12704.2-2009 | 7,430 g/m²·24h | 21,350 g/m²·24h, JIS L 1099:2021 |
The columns run in the order the models joined the range, not the order of their figures: NOVA's 24,030 sits to the right of LITE's 17,540, and nothing in the lower block is sorted. A cell with a number and no standard is unverified until you find one.
The rows above the divider mostly repeat themselves. Abrasion reads 300,000 cycles or better on all four; the plus sign on three of them is a rounding convention, not a ranking. RECCO sits on three hood brims and the rear of NOVA's, which is a difference in placement and nothing else. A half step inside one grade is not a difference; a step between grades is.
The separation happens in two rows, and they point opposite ways. Water repellency puts three at Grade 5 and PRO at Grade 4-5, and PRO carries the largest waterproof figure in the table at 34,570 mm: the model that holds the most water pressure is the one that sheds surface water least readily. Wind resistance separates one the other way, and LITE is the model it separates.
The name that points the wrong way
Two jackets, one standard. CORE publishes 11,400 g/m²·24h and LITE 11,200, both under GB/T 12704.2-2009. The gap is 200, or 1.8 percent, and it is not a difference you can feel. Across the same pair, waterproofing runs from 21,260 mm to 17,540 mm, a gap of 3,720 mm and 17.5 percent, and that one matters on a wet day.
So the model whose name points at moisture movement differs from CORE by 1.8 percent on that figure and 17.5 percent on the figure the name never mentions.
What LITE does own is the wind row. It is the only one of the four whose fabric allows measurable air movement: 1-10 mm/s, against ≤1 mm/s on CORE and PRO and a flat 1 mm/s on NOVA. That is the same property read from the other side: a fabric that passes a measurable volume of air moves moisture out faster and lets wind in sooner, both through the same opening.
The sentence to keep is narrow: among the three measured to the same standard, LITE sits 200 below CORE. The figure that separates it from the other three is not a breathability figure at all. LITE vents, and it is the first to feel windy. You notice that on a lift in a crosswind inside a minute; you would not notice 200 g/m²·24h across a season.
Product copy on this site calls LITE the moisture-moving option, and outside reviews repeat it. The figures that would support that sit 1.8 percent apart; the row that supports a different claim is the one nobody quotes.
Does a jacket with no fill keep you warm?
Yes if you put something under it, no if you do not. A jacket with no fill keeps you dry and blocks wind; warmth has to come from a layer you own. Two of the four build warmth in and two do not, and that split decides more than any figure here.
The fill row has three states in it, not two. CORE carries full-body synthetic fiberfill, so its warmth is part of the garment and cannot be taken out on a mild day. NOVA carries a thin silk-like polyester wadding, which is warmth too, in a smaller amount and a different material. LITE and PRO carry none; LITE's only padded element is a PrimaLoft-lined chest pocket, a pocket lining rather than fill.
For LITE and PRO the mid layer stops being optional, not because a shell is cold but because nothing in the garment holds heat. The question of what goes under a shell moves from the morning of the trip to the day you choose the Skyline jacket.
PRO is where this gets misread most often. It is not a warmer CORE: it carries the largest waterproof figure in the table and no fill at all.
NOVA is the warm route that asks nothing of you: the warmth is built in like CORE's, in a thinner wadding, and it prints 24,030 mm waterproofing, more than CORE and LITE publish. It pays for that in the breathability row, where 7,430 g/m²·24h is the only figure of the four below 10,000, 35 percent under CORE's 11,400. The wadding holds heat; the number that would carry sweat away is the one it gives up.
The cut is the one thing you cannot undo
Line the fill row up against the cut row and only three of the six possible combinations occur: filled with loose, unfilled with regular, unfilled with slim. Loose holds CORE and NOVA, the two with fill. Regular holds LITE and Slim holds PRO, the two without it. The empty cells are the argument: there is no filled jacket in a regular or slim cut, and no unfilled jacket in a loose one.
That is one decision written down twice. Warmth is either built into the garment, so the cut has to leave room for it, or built into what you wear underneath, so the cut can sit close.
Which collapses four options into one question. Is the warmth in the jacket, or on you?
It also settles the one thing you cannot undo later. A close-cut unfilled shell is not rescued by a thicker mid layer, because the cut sets the ceiling before the fabric does. A loose filled jacket is not cooled down either, because the fill does not come out. Everything else here can be worked around later. The cut cannot.
The question of how much room a mid layer actually needs is a measuring problem handled elsewhere. What the table settles is the order of the two questions: cut first, layer second.
Where each one is the wrong choice
Every jacket named below is sold on this site, which is why the section exists. A comparison written by the seller earns its place only if it can name the case against its own products; every line here traces to a cell in the table.
CORE is the wrong jacket if you run hot. Full-body fill behind ≤1 mm/s wind resistance is warmth you cannot take out, and 11,400 g/m²·24h will not clear it fast enough on a mild day.
LITE is the wrong jacket if your last shell felt drafty on the lift. 1-10 mm/s is the only figure of the four that permits measurable air movement, and 17,540 mm is the lowest waterproof figure here, so weather reaches you sooner in this one.
NOVA is the wrong jacket if you sweat hard. 7,430 g/m²·24h is the only breathability figure of the four below 10,000 and 35 percent below CORE's, and its warmth comes from wadding rather than from moving moisture out.
PRO is the wrong jacket if the mid layer you already own is a thick one. No fill plus the only slim cut means the ceiling is set by the jacket: a layer that does not fit compresses what you added instead of raising it.
Three answers: comparability, mid layers, the lowest figure
Are the waterproof numbers on these four comparable?
Only inside a standard. CORE and LITE print GB/T 4744-2013, PRO prints JIS L 1092:2009, and NOVA prints the figure with no standard beside it, so CORE and LITE are the only two that can be read against each other directly.
Do I need a mid layer under the two jackets with no fill?
You need one, and the two do not accept the same thickness. LITE is a regular cut and takes ordinary bulk. PRO is the only slim cut in the range, and a thick middle layer under it compresses the insulation you added.
Is the jacket with the lowest waterproof figure the one to avoid?
It is the one with the narrowest weather window. 17,540 mm is a real reduction against CORE's 21,260, and 1-10 mm/s means wind reaches you earlier. On a dry, mild, high-output day that is what you want; on a cold, windy one it is not.
Everything above reduces to an order of three questions: which cut you can layer under, whether the warmth is in the garment or on you, and whether the two figures you are comparing were measured the same way. Answer them in that order and the four stop competing.
