The first thing I noticed on this jacket was the vaguely rubbery feel of the Weathertite Extreme fabric. The material itself has a good DWR finish but the inside of the jacket feels like polyurethane, and it performs like polyurethane.
Of all the jackets tested, this one was the least breathable. Even with moderate exercise I found myself becoming damp inside, although the very large mesh pockets helped with the venting. However, when the rain is pouring down the last thing I want to do is wander along with both pockets wide open. The addition of underarm vents would have made a big difference to this jacket – but that would of course have added to the price.
Indeed, the price of this jacket is probably its best selling point. Despite the price tag indicated here I’ve seen it selling on the internet for as low as £50 and, despite the lack of breathability, you’d get a lot of jacket for 50 quid!
I like the hood on this jacket, which is easy to adjust and, if you like, you can roll it away. I like the fairly generous cut, although it is a bit on the short side, and if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a lightweight jacket for summer then you could do a lot worse than this one.
