Tuesday 27 December 2016

Gear Review: Rev'It Ladies Sand Jacket & Pants

Rev'It Ladies Sand Jacket & Pants
Size: 36
My Rating: 4.5/5

WOW WOW WOW I really like this jacket a lot!
I wanted a textile fall & spring jacket to help extend my riding season and also so that I wouldn't have to throw my waterproof shell over my leathers when it was raining.
I wear this Jacket in a ton of my Motovlogs...go check me out on my YouTube Channel
I won't lie...one of the reasons I choose the Rev'it jacket is because...well...Rev'it ladies gear just looks hot! The cut and the colors always appeal to me. I actually would have preferred to have this jacket in the black color, but as I purchased this one for a smokin' hot good sale price, I sucked it up and went with it. I actually quite like it although I don't really love the lighter colors for the simple reason that it requires more cleaning (and thus work and time taken away from riding!). 

REV'IT CHALLENGES IN CANADA: It is incredibly frustrating to try to find Rev'It Gear to order oniline here in Canada. Unfortunately trying to order it from the US is next to impossible unless you can have it shipped to someone in the US who can then ship it to you to get it over the border. Most places that sell it online in Canada either are in serious need of an updated website (as they rarely list any of the gear) or they have very limited stock/are lacking in providing the full gear line-up. So it is disappointing. I have asked one of the main on-line motorcycle gear suppliers here in Canada if they plan to start carrying it and could not receive a definitive answer which is really unfortunate. Not all of us live in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, etc so getting to a local dealer is not easily done. Shame. So sadly this is one thing that will likely dissuade me from purchasing any more Rev'It Gear (I do REALLY want the Xena Jacket & Trousers tho....drool!!!!!!).

The following gear review is based on having worn this gear for approx 2000 km of in town and highway riding in a variety of riding conditions including heavy rain, temps of around 4 Celcius, humid, and relatively warm (17 Celcius).

SIZING: Spot on per the sizing chart. When I ordered this online (Huge kudos and shout out to Dual Sport Plus in Toronto for their fantastic customer service and very positive online ordering experience [I actually ordered via the phone after viewing their website]!!). The service rep warned me that Rev'it gear tends to fit on the smaller size. I found that even with following the sizing chart, the jacket fit spot on (with a bit of room to spare as well). The pants indeed did fit on the smaller side but hey, that's why I have a treadmill and stay active in the great outdoors lol. Seriously though, I would suggest you do in fact order a size up for the pants if you don't enjoy your gear fitting on the very snug side of things. 

OVERVIEW: I am really quite pleased with this gear. I would say that one of the biggest positives of this gear line up is how flexible it is for a variety of riding conditions, in part thanks to the removable liner and waterproof membrane. At full price I do think it it indeed on the more expensive side so I'm not so sure I would purchase it unless it was on sale. However, I am a gear junkie and sometimes that addiction is just too overwhelming to wait for a sale ;).  

Quality is very nice. All the seams and zippers are sturdy and have taken a good amount of abuse over this past riding season from yours truly. I spilled coffee along the front of the jacket and was able to wash it out without any trouble. 

I am not going to go into the specific details of the jacket since you can get that info from the manufacturer in a much better explanation. What I will say is that I do think the product delivers what it promises to do. Ido have a few issues with a couple minor things.

I wish the sleeves were a big longer in length but as I wear longer gauntlet gloves, it really isn't too much of an issue. The mandarin collar can feel a bit constricted when wearing my balaclava coupled with a turtleneck and my Warm and Safe Heated Jacket Liner. I actually remove the Rev'it Sand liner and use my heated plug-in liner in lieu of the stock liner for those extra cold riding days (temps around 4 -16 degrees celcius). When people say a riding jacket is 4 seasons, I do keep in mind that OUR winter season here in North Central British Columbia isn't exactly "ridable" weather with all the feet of snow, ice, and temps extending to -30 celcius :). This jacket did serve me well for late Fall and I found myself very comfortable riding in 4 degree Celcius weather at highway speeds of 110 km/hr (with the heated liner). Keep in mind I despise the cold and am quite happy to wear a full set of non-perforated leeather in temps well above 20 degrees celcius, so I think this speaks volumes ;). 

I remained dry under the outer shell of the jacket and pants in pretty extreme rain. The shell of the jacket itself gets super saturated as it is not a gortex shell but rather the waterproof membrane lies right under the out shell. So keeping that in mind, the jacket definitely needs some dry-time after it has gotten soaked. Sometime that might be a bit of a downer for me if I was using this as a road trip jacket rather than just a commuting one. I mean, for the most part, it's pretty tough to beat a true gortex impregnated outer shell but you are going to pay a hefty price for that so it's a toss up for sure.

When (and if) the weather warms up, the inner liner can be removed from both the pants and the jacket very easily. When the liners are in place, they stay in place well even when putting the jacket on and taking it off, so this is always a bonus. Keep in mind you will need a place to stash the liners as they obviously won't fit in any of the pockets of the jacket or pants. I throw mine in my Kriega US-20 tailback (which I LOVE). 

Speaking of pockets, the jacket has a generous amount of pockets. The one that runs along the back puffs out a bit more than I would like, which takes away from the "shape-forming" that I love so much about Rev'it. It has a super great amount of room in it however to store things like a small wallet, mobile phone, etc. The smaller side pockets are also roomy enough in comparison to what I am used to with my leathers. Those of you who have worn other textile adventure gear may find the side pockets on this to be a bit small but then again, you may be perfectly content with them depending on how many things you like your pockets for. I tend to use my tailbag more so it's a non-issue for me. 

All the zips stay zipped; the snaps stay snapped! 

As for the pants fit, I find Rev'it fits me pretty well, although I would say it fits more like the Dainese-type fit (better for those who have less hips/booty). All in all, out of Rev'it, Dainese, and Alpinestars, I find that the A* pants actually fit my body type the best (small waist, more "generous" booty lol). This is not to say the fit is poor - the pants actually do fit nice enough walking around and/or in the riding position with and without the connector zip. If you are smaller waisted with a hip to waist ratio that is not spot on, order the large size as you can use the side cinches to get the waist tucked in a bit more.  
 
Let me know if you have any questions on this jacket and I will be happy to answer them!  

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