first gear kilimanjaro jacket review

Each workday I crawl into special gear before riding my Kawasaki Vulcan Drifter 1500 to work in Seattle. I’ve ridden nearly every day this past winter, with the exception of icy, snowy ones. After a full winter of punishment I’m ready to review the jacket I selected to endure this environment: the First Gear Kilimanjaro. Let me begin with the good news – this jacket works. Of all of the gear I purchased for commuting (jacket, over-pants, boots, etc.), the jacket was my best purchase. It has kept me dry in hurricane type conditions (70 mph winds in driving rain) and warm to nearly freezing temperatures.
There are some nitpicky items I have to share; perhaps they’ll make their way back to First Gear. I’ll begin by noting that I have only ridden without the included removable fleece once in the past six months; Seattle is chilly biking weather in the wintertime.
First, the jacket is pretty tight when worn with the included fleece and over-pants. I ride with First Gear’s HT Overpants. I’ll review those separately. When wearing the HT Overpants it is very difficult to zip the jacket; there’s just not enough girth to get around my girth and the pants. I have the belt extended as far as it will reach – still we struggle. I know I could stand to lose a bit of weight, but it seems like a “medium” jacket should allow a bit more room.
Probably as a result of the tight fit the bottom jacket snap completely failed. The backing piece came apart and is lost. While I’m irritated at the failure, it hasn’t adversely effected the jacket’s performance.
On to the collar. When the fleece is used there isn’t much play left in the collar. Making a little more room in the collar would allow the rider to more comfortably secure hook-n-loop closure. The hook-n-loop should continue closer to the ends of the collar. When I wear a neck/chin fleece the collar is difficult to close. As long as the collar is in review, the hook-n-loop on the collar catches the right shoulder material each time the jacket is hung up. This results in the material getting shredded over time. I routinely trim the “hairs” from the ripped material.
The included fleece works well. It keeps warm in cold weather and is comfortable. The attachment system for the fleece keeps it in place; it is not a challenge to secure. The only challenge is the amount of material in the sleeves. The excess material bunches up near the cuffs. The puffy sleeves makes it difficult to tuck the sleeve into my riding gloves.

How would I rate the jacket? Four out of five stars. A little more girth, some adjustments to hook-n-loop could push it to a fifth star.

Would I buy another? You bet. This jacket made riding everyday to work tolerable. I'm still going to work though!

Is it worth the extra money to get a high quality jacket? If you ride often, you’ll appreciate it.