Shower's Pass: Touring Jacket reviewed

  I've finally managed to drag my girlfriend out of bed in time to get some feedback out of her about her new jacket.  This is the Shower's Pass Men's Touring Jacket in size Medium.  She decided to get the men's jacket because she if fairly tall for a women (5'11") so women's jacket's usually aren't long enough for her, especially the sleeves.



This jacket is designed to be worn over other clothing so for a Medium it's quite large all over.  But this is a good thing, remember dressing properly for the weather is all about layering.

This jacket has a lot of cool features to keep you warm, dry and safe wile riding in the inclement weather this time of year.  For starters it comes in yellow, blue, and black so the light color people and dark color people can be happy.  However it has lots of reflective piping and strips all over it so you can easily be seen no matter what color you choose.

Shower's pass uses water tight YKK zippers all over this jacket except on the pit zips, and they put silicon strips on the pull tabs to make them easier to grab with gloves on.

Instead of a water tight zipper they do a YKK double zipper on the pits so you can zip from the top or the bottom.  Who really needs water tight pits anyway, most of the time your arms are down and the arm pits are covered anyway, and when they're not you probably want the vents open and airing out your sweaty pits.

Don't forget the ever popular zippered chest audio port pocket as well.  Everyone likes having their own soundtrack.

Venting where you want it...

And neoprene gusseted cinch cuffs where you don't.  This allows the cuff to stretch when you cinch it tight around a glove, but still keeps wind and water out.

This might be my favorite feature, a removable velcro hood(sold separately).  I like this because most of the time I actually don't want a hood wile I'm riding.  They tend to not fit over or under a helmet well and they obstruct your peripheral vision.  That being said it's nice to have the option.  Carolyn's one complaint was that her hair sometimes get's stuck in the velcro.  I'm not sure how this happens because they put the soft side of the velcro on the neck, but maybe showers pass should think about using snaps instead.

The tail on this jacket is already pretty long, but they added an extra long one with elastic on the bottom that snaps up when you don't want it keeping you butt from getting soggy no matter what. This feature is particularly nice on their Portland Jacket, allowing the Portland to look like an normal jacket when your in the bar but converting to a cycling jacket when you ride home.

...And here's what it looks like in action!

I highly recommend this product.  Some slight issues with the velcro on the neck cowl where the hood attaches.  But all in all a great jacket whether your commuting to work in the rain or running the muddiest of cyclocross races you'll be dry and warm.