As far as I know this jacket has not been worn on TV by Ray Mears, it hasn’t saved Bear Grylls form certain death, it’s not endorsed by any celebrity or indeed issued to any specialist Regiments of the British Army……. actually, perhaps that’s a good thing!
I’ve had this in daily use for about a month and I know that the summer isn’t the ideal time to test or evaluate a shell jacket but as this current summer has been a tad wetter than most (since 1798 anyhow) the BCUK Ventile Jacket has had some truly horrible conditions to contend with.
Performance:
Just as you would expect with Ventile the performance has been superb. Those with no experience of the material will need to adjust their thinking. It’s not a waterproof per se, as Gore-Tex is. The material does get wet, slightly heavier and tends to stiffen when drying out however, this jacket, in common with many of the popular Ventile shells isn’t a complete double layer so it doesn’t suffer the ‘stiff as corrugated cardboard’ effect. (My old double layer jacket could stand up on it’s own after a day in the rain.)
In terms of breathability Ventile still has an edge over manmade materials.
I wore it as a shell over a cotton shirt (I know, not usually advised) last week on Snowdon and, after two hours climbing in mixed conditions (slight rain, mist, breeze and then bright sunshine) I was still comfortable and dry. (A man made jacket would have been a boil in the bag experience).
It has had ample opportunity to shed rain, even in usually sunny Chester.
After a couple of hours in really heavy rain on an estuary trip I was still dry and so were the contents of the pockets which proved to me the ability of the water resistant zips.
So, as far as general performance goes I have no complaints, in fact, it performs as well as my SASS Ventile.
Design & Fit:
Based on a Westwinds design it’s a single layer jacket that has a fold away hood with waterproof zips.
Two maps pockets and two side pockets only with the huge improvement of a Ventile half liner as opposed to polyester mesh.
Personally I think that it’s lack of military looks add to the usefulness of the jacket.
My wife is quite happy for me to wear this around town but draws the line at smocks and combat jackets, fair point I guess.
Suffice to say you get less odd glances, it may not be an important point but I think was worth mentioning.
I found the XL to be a good fit and I’m a fairly lar, bi, er, short for my weight.
Basically I’m 6’2 and about 17 st, usually I’ll wear a 46 – 48” and this XL fitted me although if I wanted to wear several deep winter layers underneath I’d find it a little snug. In comparison to the SASS Smock it’s a shorter cut and not as roomy but it is a good fit and also is long enough in the arm for those of us with a tendency to knuckle drag.
Overall:
The BCUK Ventile jacket does what it says on the tin.
It’s not perhaps the ‘ideal’ but then what is. If I was going to be out for a prolonged period in torrential rain or indeed if I’m in snow/ice conditions then I’ll take my Recon Jacket.
If I was faced with only choosing one in that ‘end of the world as we know it’ scenario I’d possibly take my SASS Smock but for all weather, all use, general purpose (including shopping and walking dogs and children) then I’ll take the BCUK.
After all, we are based in the UK mostly and if your practicing your bushcraft here then it’s a fairly ideal shell jacket at a very good price in comparison to some others and, at the end of the day,
‘If you have been out long enough for the rain to seep through your Ventile then you have been out too long’
A few pictures showing hood detail in comparison to the Norrona Recon.
Annie (the dismembered model wasn't looking at her best but she has been playing victim on too many Rescue Diver courses!)
Full Hood
Hood adjusted for depth of fit
Norrona Recon hood for comparison
Thanks for reading this, hope it was of some help, or at least not too boring!
Mike
