After using the Fjällräven Kaise anorak for two years, I figured it's time for a short review...
The facts from the Swedish brand's website:
And my opinion:
Since the jacket is made out of G1000, a polycotton mix, it's not waterproof but quite wind resistant. This makes it ideal in cold, dry weather. I wore it in south Norway for a week in the winter of 2010 and was very happy with it, also during intense exercise walking in deep snow or when falling into heaps of loose snow next to the roads (we made a sport out of giving each other a gentle push at unexpected moments
). The loose fit also allows to wear some warm layers underneath, ideal.
An other time at which I really like to wear the garment is when hiking in forests, summer or winter, on top of some wool clothes. Rain is often less impressive when you're walking under foliage so the jacket protects enough, any water seeping through is no problem thanks to the wool layer underneath. So for this use, the G1000 is now my preferred choice. My Goretex rain jacket stays at home, it's no way near as comfortable in this situation.
Less interesting bushcraft wise, but a nice plus when you don't like the price, is the fact that it looks good in the city as well. I actually bought it from some Brittish fashion store online, thanks to a huge discount they offered (end of fashion season I guess). So I wear it very often, which makes me feel better about having spent the cash on it...
For cycling it's not ideal. Since the jacket fits loose it catches a lot of wind and the G1000 can't cope with rain for long, especially on the inside of the elbows. Despite these drawbacks, I do wear it but an other model would certainly be more appropriate.
The hood is big and loose. It can be adjusted a bit with some elastic cord running along the brim as well as by using a velcro strip on the upper back of the head. It's way too big when cycling but I haven't found a way to adjust it to my liking, so I use it completely unadjusted, at max size. This means it effectively blocks most of my side view and catches a lot of wind but I did find it comfortable to wear when it was snowing in Norway, so it's not all bad. Still, I don't like the hood but I can't remember having a jacket ever of which I did like the hood... The inside of the hood has a row of buttons to fasten a fur, haven't installed one myself so can't comment.
The collar has a zipper in front which, when opened, uncovers a layer of G1000. This makes the collar much wider, allowing you to lower the collar, improving ventilation. This works well.
At the left side, near the left hip, the jacket has a short zipper (Salmi, like all other zippers on the smock) which makes pulling the anorak on and off much easier than without. The lower brim of the jacket has an adjustable elastic cord running through it, which I set at reasonably tight fitting too keep most wind out, so the zipper is needed in my case.
Very practical: the big kangaroo pocket. Easy to reach, also when cycling, and can hold a lot of stuff: mittens and scarf in winter, lots of apples in autumn. Inside the pocket there's also a small mesh pocket that can hold phone or keys or ...
The cuffs are adjustable by velcro straps. Works well. Nothing special about those.
The back has some ventilation opening between both shoulders, backed by meshing on the inside. I never noticed it really but my girlfriend was complaining about cold wind getting in when she wore the jacket in Norway, she was too cold and tired so might have been not entirely objective when I told her the vents are there...
After using it for 2 years in all kinds of situations the jacket still looks as good as new. So the G1000 is performing as promised and not letting me down as a hard wearing material. 2 years isn't that long though and I do have other jackets so it was certainly not used continuously.
I haven't applied any wax to the anorak so can't comment on what effect it would have.
Hope anyone got some useful information from this short review. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll happily try to answer
Cheers,
Lasse
The facts from the Swedish brand's website:
- Lining: 100% polyester
- Material: G-1000® Original : 65% polyester, 35% cotton
- Weight: 565 g in size M
- Article no: 82244
And my opinion:
Since the jacket is made out of G1000, a polycotton mix, it's not waterproof but quite wind resistant. This makes it ideal in cold, dry weather. I wore it in south Norway for a week in the winter of 2010 and was very happy with it, also during intense exercise walking in deep snow or when falling into heaps of loose snow next to the roads (we made a sport out of giving each other a gentle push at unexpected moments
). The loose fit also allows to wear some warm layers underneath, ideal.An other time at which I really like to wear the garment is when hiking in forests, summer or winter, on top of some wool clothes. Rain is often less impressive when you're walking under foliage so the jacket protects enough, any water seeping through is no problem thanks to the wool layer underneath. So for this use, the G1000 is now my preferred choice. My Goretex rain jacket stays at home, it's no way near as comfortable in this situation.
Less interesting bushcraft wise, but a nice plus when you don't like the price, is the fact that it looks good in the city as well. I actually bought it from some Brittish fashion store online, thanks to a huge discount they offered (end of fashion season I guess). So I wear it very often, which makes me feel better about having spent the cash on it...
For cycling it's not ideal. Since the jacket fits loose it catches a lot of wind and the G1000 can't cope with rain for long, especially on the inside of the elbows. Despite these drawbacks, I do wear it but an other model would certainly be more appropriate.
The hood is big and loose. It can be adjusted a bit with some elastic cord running along the brim as well as by using a velcro strip on the upper back of the head. It's way too big when cycling but I haven't found a way to adjust it to my liking, so I use it completely unadjusted, at max size. This means it effectively blocks most of my side view and catches a lot of wind but I did find it comfortable to wear when it was snowing in Norway, so it's not all bad. Still, I don't like the hood but I can't remember having a jacket ever of which I did like the hood... The inside of the hood has a row of buttons to fasten a fur, haven't installed one myself so can't comment.
The collar has a zipper in front which, when opened, uncovers a layer of G1000. This makes the collar much wider, allowing you to lower the collar, improving ventilation. This works well.
At the left side, near the left hip, the jacket has a short zipper (Salmi, like all other zippers on the smock) which makes pulling the anorak on and off much easier than without. The lower brim of the jacket has an adjustable elastic cord running through it, which I set at reasonably tight fitting too keep most wind out, so the zipper is needed in my case.
Very practical: the big kangaroo pocket. Easy to reach, also when cycling, and can hold a lot of stuff: mittens and scarf in winter, lots of apples in autumn. Inside the pocket there's also a small mesh pocket that can hold phone or keys or ...
The cuffs are adjustable by velcro straps. Works well. Nothing special about those.
The back has some ventilation opening between both shoulders, backed by meshing on the inside. I never noticed it really but my girlfriend was complaining about cold wind getting in when she wore the jacket in Norway, she was too cold and tired so might have been not entirely objective when I told her the vents are there...
After using it for 2 years in all kinds of situations the jacket still looks as good as new. So the G1000 is performing as promised and not letting me down as a hard wearing material. 2 years isn't that long though and I do have other jackets so it was certainly not used continuously.
I haven't applied any wax to the anorak so can't comment on what effect it would have.
Hope anyone got some useful information from this short review. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll happily try to answer
Cheers,
Lasse
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