Arc'teryx Beta AR at REI: The PFAS-Free Hardshell Benchmark Is 38% Off Right Now
REI has quietly dropped the price on the Arc'teryx Beta AR Jacket by a whopping 38 percent off MSRP on a few discontinued color options — and the timing matters. This is not a sale on last year's model. The Beta AR was updated in 2025 with a Gore-Tex Pro ePE membrane, making it fully PFAS-free for the first time in the jacket's 25-year history. For alpine hikers, backcountry skiers, or anyone who has been holding off on a flagship hardshell purchase because of the PFAS trade-off, that objection is now gone — and the current discount removes the last obvious reason to avoid making the transition.
The Beta AR has functioned as the hardshell benchmark for serious mountain use since Arc'teryx introduced it. Its reputation rests on a combination of storm-level weather resistance, a DropHood that integrates with helmets, pit zips for ventilation, and a cut that works equally well on rock and in the resort sidecountry. None of that changed in the 2025 revision. What changed was the membrane itself: Gore-Tex Pro ePE replaces the previous construction and eliminates the PFAS-based chemistry that had raised concerns among environmentally minded buyers.
Arc'teryx paired the new membrane with an FC0 DWR treatment — also PFAS-free — without meaningfully compromising the jacket's weight. The construction uses a dual-denier hybrid face fabric, 100D on the yoke and arms and 80D on the body, which Arc'teryx says balances abrasion resistance with packability. Independent testers at OutdoorGearLab and Switchback Travel have evaluated the updated model under storm and cold-weather conditions, and both found the storm protection and mobility to be consistent with the Beta AR's established reputation.
The discount is available now through REI, with the jacket listed around $399 versus a $650 MSRP, and as of publication the versatile blue color was still included in the sale across a wide range of sizes. As with most deep hardshell discounts, stock is the constraint — REI's Labor Day event runs through early September, and discontinued color options tend to disappear fastest.
Compared with waiting for Arc'teryx's own site or other retailers, REI's price is the best current route to the updated Beta AR, and the PFAS-free construction removes the environmental caveat that made many buyers hesitate on earlier generations. If you have been shopping for a do-everything hardshell, this is about as good as it gets — before the sizes run out.