Member Reviews: Adidas Climaproof Gore-Tex Jacket

[mvmac]

This Adidas Climaproof jacket will be coming out this fall. This thread will serve as an ongoing mini-blog for the reviewer to post pics, share initial impressions or answer questions.

Here are some pics.

[rarebirdies]

I like the look of the new jacket - will there be rain pants to match?

[Pretzel]

First Impressions

I received the jacket today, which turned out to be perfect timing as it was raining all day and should continue through tomorrow. The first thing I thought, upon opening the package, was that the actual packaging of the jacket was far better than expected. 

It actually comes with its own little carry case. I can't speak to the usefulness of this (it encloses the jacket with four flaps - one for the top, bottom, and each side) since I plan to mostly keep the jacket on a hanger or in my golf bag's side pocket, but it's a nice extra feature that definitely spoke to the thought that Adidas appears to have put into this jacket. 

 

This is what the carry case looks like opened up and unfolded. As you can see, it's a simple mesh "bag" with four flaps that would hold the jacket inside. I personally would find it a bit of a hassle to fold up the jacket after each use to make it fit neatly inside, but to each his/her own.

The jacket itself looks the same as in the initial pictures:

Front

Back

 

The jacket itself is quite comfortable, though I would caution that the sizing is larger than I expected. I personally am right in the middle of a medium and a large for most brands sizing (but had heard that Adidas was slightly large) in shirts, so I was very pleasantly to find that this actually fit me perfectly rather than if it were a little bit snug. The jacket is actually what I would consider to be a perfect fit for me: loose enough to allow for free movement during a golf swing, but fitting to the point that it doesn't get in the way.

To give myself a reasonable baseline test for the weather conditions, I wore my old rain shirt as I biked to and from my morning classes. The rain wasn't heavy, it was best described as a drizzle, but my old rain shirt wasn't the most waterproof and I ended up noticing the shoulders soaking through where my backpack straps had been pressing. This was a common occurrence on the golf course, with my shoulders always ending up soaked nearly immediately when I hefted a damp golf bag. For reference, this is my old rain shirt:

The brand on this shirt is Weather Perfect, but I have found the truth to be far from it. Playing in the rain I usually end up with my clothing soaked through anyways, though it does do a decent job of blocking the wind and slows the absorption rate slightly. The morning was no exception to its usual performance, disappointing me again by leaving me damp after a long Friday morning of biking in the rain. 

After a quick lunch and change of clothes, I donned the Climaproof jacket and grabbed my clubs to head out to the driving range. The first course I stopped at had, unfortunately, moved to mats due to the rain that day. I was still able to hit the short game area for some practice, and found the jacket to be satisfactory. It didn't appear to restrict my range of motion, while also keeping me dry and warm. When I drove to a second course for full swings on a range with grass, the weather began to lighten up slightly with spots of sun shining through. While practicing on the range the jacket continued to keep me dry, and I was happy to find that it didn't heat up uncomfortably even when the sun decided to peek out for extended periods of time. My only gripe is that it does make a decent amount of noise during the swing, compared to the nearly silent shirt it is replacing, but that's a minor price to pay for the comfort of dry clothes.

Speaking of dry clothes, here is a picture of how my shirt looked after going to two courses, carrying my damp golf bag, and making a stop for groceries at the store before carrying them the long way back to my room in the rain (the sacrifices I make to thoroughly test...):

This is a view of the back of my shirt, the usual problem areas being the back and shoulders. The only spot with any moisture was the location in the right shoulder that appears discolored in the image, but that turned out to just be where my shoulder had bled through the shirt today (a result of a biking fall on Monday). The shirt was completely dry, a vast improvement over this morning (which I didn't think to photograph) where the shoulders and shoulder blade areas were both soaked through. So far I am quite pleased with the result of the jacket, but I am planning a round of golf at the Air Force Academy golf course on Sunday and will report back again after playing should the weather be as inclement as it is predicted to be.

 

Edited October 3, 2015 by Pretzel
Added header

[boogielicious]

Nice review @Pretzel

[Dave2512]

That looks like a pretty slick jacket. In CO where layering in the winter is a necessity due to rapid changing conditions Gore-Tex is pretty handy as a shell layer.

[Pretzel]

After playing the Air Force Academy Eisenhower Blue course yesterday, in weather that averaged around 45*, I can attest that this jacket is surprisingly warm. It's completely wind proof, which is a definite plus for staying warm, and can retain your body heat surprisingly well for the lack of insulation that appears to be present on the jacket. I only had a couple times when I felt cold, but those were when the wind really picked up (I still had a ventilated hat). The jacket was quite comfortable to wear for the entire round, including travel to and from the course, and I didn't find that it got "humid" inside like a lot of waterproof raincoats. It must have some way to ventilate other than the neck and bottom of the jacket to prevent this, while still managing to maintain decent warmth when needed.

It's still quite loud. Be careful when wearing it to not move while playing partners are swinging. Even something as small as lifting your arm to scratch your head produces a sound that is quite clearly audible, especially if you happen to have a touchy playing partner.

[Pretzel]

Wearing this jacket all winter has given me an appreciation for how windproof it is. The Colorado Springs campus of CU is built up on a bluff, and winds can gust up to about 50 mph with steady winds of nearly 25-30 mph. Because the temperature didn't seriously drop for a while I didn't want to wear a winter coat, but the wind would cut right through an ordinary sweatshirt and make me feel a bit cold. Wearing this jacket outside of a sweatshirt was the perfect compromise, since it would block the chill of the wind without feeling stifling.

It does fit rather nicely over a T-shirt and sweatshirt, and I suspect this was one of the intended uses of the jacket - to "windproof" whatever it is you're wearing without making you feel like your torso is in a sauna, as happens with other windshirts I've owned.