ID eVENT Jacket Review

[fullofadventure]

Well today in the mail I got my money from the guy who bought my Arc’tryx Theta AR jacket. Well what could I buy with my new found money, hmmm I wonder. I could not hold out any longer and had to go and check out the eVENT ID jacket at Mountain Magic in Surrey. Oh by the way MM is my favorite store by far.

 

When I arrived at the store John (owner) new what I had come for. We talked a bit first about the jacket and various other things. They had various sizes and had both colors dark green and goldish yellow. I was originally going to get a yellow one but as soon as I saw the green it was settled. It looks so good and should blend in well to the environment.

 

I had brought a few pieces (MH Monkey Man Vest and Rab Photon Smock) with me to try on with the jacket for layering. I wore my Icebreaker lightweight LS shirt as a base layer. These jackets are cut in the active style so they run narrow/trim. I am 5 11 180 (need to drop 10lbs LOL) and usually wear an M but that size would not even come close to fitting me. I did not even bother to try it on. I tried a large on first, WOW this sucker is light people (9.5oz) and it feels like it will be very durable (3ply). Some jackets are light but feel like they will not last long or rip/tear easy but this one looks good for even possibly bushwhacking. The large has just enough arm length and the elastic/velcro cuffs are nice and function well. When reaching up the cuffs only pulled down just a hair. The hem length is a short harness friendly style cut. When reaching up with the hem loose it raised about 2 inches but when tight only move and slightly. The hood is definitely different than all others I have tried on and works ok even though it has no draw cords, no volume adjusters, and no rollaway tabs. It only has a simple nonadjustable, elastic hem. When used with a hat or toque the hood works very well, it is nice not having to mess around and adjust cords. The waterproof zipper worked so well, on par or even better than Arc’teryx, which says a lot. It layered perfect over the base layer and felt great. I then added underneath the MH vest and it fit perfectly allowing great mobility. This combo or a down/synthetic vest would be a great set up in cold weather hiking as it would keep your core warm but allow great freedom of movement. I then switched out the vest for my lightweight synthetic insulated smock and it was just a bit tight, but still doable with out compressing the insulation. I do not think I would ever use this combo anyways because it would be too warm but I wanted to see how it fit. For serious cold weather a high loft hooded down/synthetic jacket would layer great overtop the ID jacket when need at stops and such. I tried on the XL (10oz) to see how it fit and it did give me a better hem length and did layer better over the Rab smock but the hood had too much room and it was a bit big girth wise. I wondered around the store for a bit trying each on with a backpack and finally ended up selecting a large. John helped me out in choosing; he felt it would be better going with a large. Only time will tell if it was the right size.

 

The price was $220 Canadian plus tax. Was it too much money for a jacket you ask? I do not think so as it is replacing the $700 jacket I just sold. Will the eVENT fabric work well at venting moister or does it need pit zips, again only time will tell.

 

I wanted to give the jacket a quick test so I went jogging with it on at Campbell Valley Park today. It was 12-13C out and 90% humidity and the jacket vented very well. I jogged for 30 minutes straight on mostly flat ground (2 small hills only) and my base layer was perfectly dry and the inside of the jacket showed no signs of moister build up at all. I was absolutely amazed at how well the eVENT fabric did. More testing to come soon too to make the doubters happy.

 

I will post some pictures plus more later and keep everyone updated as to how well the jacket is working out for me.

 

http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8109

 

 

 

 

Also I just found out yesterday that the company that makes the VENT membrane BHA Technologies is owned by BHA Holdings, which was just taken over by General Electric (GE). Will this be good or bad I do not know. They say it can/will be used in military and industrial applications. I hope the military does not buy up all the fabric for use and we backpacker loose out.

 

http://www.bhatech.com

 

http://www.bha.com/home.asp

 

http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/serv/env_serv/en/index.htm

 

http://gepower.com/about/press/en/2004_press/090104.htm

 

PDF FILE http://gepower.com/about/press/en/articles/GEA13843_BHA_Acquisition.pdf

[cracked]

It has no brim. How's it gonna keep you dry in the rain/snow/wind? Are you a ID rep or something?

[fullofadventure]

Um no I am not a rep just happy about my new jacket. It works well with no brim, I was out in the crazy rain today for 1.5 hours and it worked well. If ya need a brim just wear a hat like I did in the pic. I always where a hat anyways so it did not bother me that it did not have one.

Edited October 6, 2004 by fullofadventure