Triumph Barbour Jacket

After a bit of a crash a couple months back that demolished my old riding jacket, this beauty that I won in the drawing from ESR showed up, allowing me to get back on two wheels as soon as I got my cast off. Thanks ESR!

I'm really happy with the jacket in general. I really like the styling, it comes with very high-quality D30 armor in the important spots, and it's waterproof so far. It has enough pockets to store my stuff, and they're all waterproof as well. It even matches my new helmet, although that's a bit of a mixed bag.

It's obviously a 3/4-length jacket, which I find tends to work better for slimmer people (I have a bit of a gut), and sometimes doesn't work well with aggressively positioned pegs, although this jacket doesn't have nearly the tendency to bunch up or move that others I've tried have, so that's a win. There are a few zippers to adjust the hip flare that I suspect help with this.

It fits more snugly than the other adventure-centric brands I've tried on, which works out well for me. XL was definitely the right size, and it has just enough space to get a fleece underneath for warmth.

We've been having lots of intermittent rain California this winter, interspersed with cold spells where it dips down into the mid 40s. (Woe is us, I know.) I find that without any layering underneath other than a tee shirt, the jacket is good down into the mid-high 50s, and just barely into the mid 40s with a fleece layer added. The jacket itself doesn't have any removable lining or insulation, but I don't mind managing my own insulation a bit. The jacket does not breathe well (the cost of being waterproof), and I expect it will not be great in hot weather.

I do have a few nitpicks. It's completely blacked out with absolutely no reflectivity, and it makes me feel invisible at night or in rainy weather. Some may like the stealth look, but I prefer to reduce the number of cages I have to dodge. It also sports an apparently pointless belt. I'm not sure it serves any purpose other than to make the jacket take twice as long to put on and take off. The exterior of the jacket is a cotton/poly/nylon blend and isn't very thick. I wouldn't expect it to hold up very well in a slide, but as long as the armor stays in place, the joints and back should be okay.