dhb Aeron Packable Jacket

After purchase (see my original comments pre-purchse down below in comments)

Great jacket, that's well thought out. Been looking for ages for a packable/nylon/ripstop type material. Always use Windstopper or non laminate softshells, but wanted something that was lighter and more breathable. Really impressed. Fit it very good. I'm 5ft 11" and 37.5" chest and 33" waist, 82Kg. Size chart suggests I could squeeze into S but M was definitely a good choice. Not tight around the chest but a bit tight around the waist. Sleeve length is long which is perfect. Love the mesh around the sides (just below the arm pits) and centre down the back. Used it for the first time at 8°C and for the first time tried the 3 layer system: light mesh SS base layer, light thermal jersey and this jacket. If I'd done this with my Gore Windstopper Oxygen Jersey or Gore Xenon AS Windstopper Jacket, I would have cooked to death. On coldest days ( -3°) I would wear a thin long sleeve base layer under a Windstopper item, but have never tried a 3 layer system as again I would cook. Really like the Vislon YKK zip: wish more jackets did this two way zip, love being able to control air around my midriff. Like the reflective elements. Collar is soft and high. Fold it up back on itself into its own sleeve and it's very small and compact. Maybe just one small improvement would be a bit of mesh on the underside of the sleeves, partially or fully up: then the sleeves could be tighter with less flapping around. Material does flap a fair bit but it's a minor compared to the postives: breathability, warmth, looks and fit.

On order now! Been looking for about 2 years for a decent windproof and this one looks like it meets the mark. It's great that it has no DWR; what's the point of the stuff, it wears off so quickly anyhow and no doubt reduces breathability a bit. It's not a 3 layer laminate, so nylon/ripstop type materials can never hold off rain for long with just DWR. It's great that it has a mesh centre back. If it had DWR around the rest of the material it would be undermined by the rain going down your back through the mesh. I would prefer airflow through the back on a windproof over water repellency. And wonderful it has mesh under the arms too. My best Gore Windstopper jerseys have mesh on them too (Oxygen L/S and S/S and Alp-X Zip off). Contradicting what I said, these do have water repellent and are obviously laminated, and when it does rain I get wet through the mesh panels, but I use these in colder temps and thus appreciate the rest of the jersey has some repellency along with the laminate to battle the rain. However,on a 'light weight, windproof' I want maximum breathability with an exhaust vent. Great for the 2 way zipper too to allow wind up the midriff and out the back. On that note my Gore-tex Oxyen 2.0 is wonderful because of the double zips going from my kidneys down- perfect exhaust when so often the jacket it overcome by perspiration. I only have one jacket that has no exhaust- Gore Xenon Windstopper AS, superseded by the Gore Oxygen WS AS Light. These were advertised to be a packable race cape/windproof with 3L laminate and repellency to make them as water repellent as some so called waterproofs, but it's a sweatbox unless using below about 6°C on windy days and even then I'm in the lightest weight mesh vest. Lastly, I saw a review on Wiggle moaning about the zips not being Castelli quality. Well Vislon (not Vision) is a YKK zip, YKK being the best zips available.

When reviewing the packability of a jacket or other garment it would be great if someone could mention this to the photographer and get a photo of the item in its packed formation!

Lord give me the confidence to go out on a ride believing it wasn't going to rain.

This isn't for the UK market clearly.