ReV'it! Defender GTX jacket initial impression

[KEN PHENIX]

ReV'it! Defender GTX WebBikeWorld review









Premise: How much would you pay for a high quality, feature laden, infinitely comfortable, guaranteed not to leak for life touring jacket? I just found out. $$

Motivation: I wanted to take everything I loved about my last ReV'it! jacket to the next level. My last two jackets (one Olympia and one ReV'it!) were quality offerings, versatile and comfortable. However, while they kept me dry in most conditions, they could not handle a sustained Texas deluge. The Defender's Gore-Tex guarantee got my attention. Truth is I watched that revzilla.com video one too many times and just had to have it. So I sold off much of the gear I had amassed over the last few years and pulled the trigger.

First impression: Quality of material and workmanship is absolutely impeccable.

Fit: Try one on if possible. This is not your daddy's Cayenne Pro. I wear a 44" coat. The size XL Navigator was a perfect fit. While not enough to warrant stepping down a size, the Defender is even roomier than the Navigator and the sleeves are 2" longer. I do not have short arms - wear a 34" dress shirt and the sleeves are almost too long with liners out. Maybe it's a bit of a tradeoff to get the ingenious cuff closure which is well worth it.

Features: The long cuff zippers are outstanding - one of the features that attracted me to the Defender. In all my jackets to date the task of tucking the gauntlets inside the cuffs/rain liner was daunting and even more tedious with heated gloves. Not so with The Defender. I can just unzip the cuffs, pull the Gore-Tex liner over the gloves and zip the sleeves closed in a matter of seconds. BRAVO! The vent zippers have long corded pulls to make them easy to operate while in motion and triangular flaps on the chest openings are even easier to manage.

Construction: The new rip-stop Cordura feels lightweight with no hint of stiffness. All day comfort. The absence of stiffness is also attributable in part by not having the waterproof membrane laminated to the exterior material. The exterior, however, is coated so as not to soak up water and become heavy. The SAS-TEC shoulder and elbow armor is an improvement over the Pro Life which wasn't bad. As before, I elected to upgrade to the SAS-TEC back pad. I highly recommend this upgrade because the foam insert that comes in the jacket is useless. The bomb proof SAS-TEC material is quite malleable but designed to become rigid on impact.

I'll have more to add as my Defender GTX and I get better acquainted. Stay tuned.

[levain]

I have a fit question! A couple months ago I picked up a Defender at a ridiculously low price on ebay. So low, I won't brag Long story short, I had a XL Cayenne Pro, and the Everest I had was an XL. They both fit great. Perfect. Almost like they used my beer bellied body when designing the fit.

The XL defender on the other hand, which I REALLY wanted to make work as a summer jacket, just fit so different. Torso was fine, but arms were HUGE. I mean, with the adjusters all the way adjusted tight, I could rotate the armor all the way around. it was ridiculous. Sleeve length was a little long, but overall ok. Torso was great. Nice and snug as I like it. It was the arms themselves that were way out of proportion.

How would you compare the XL arms to a XL CP? I don't have a local Rev'it dealer. I'm afraid going to a Large would be too small in the torso.

Thoughts? I still wouldn't mind picking up one if I saw it used.

[KEN PHENIX]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

I have a fit question! A couple months ago I picked up a Defender at a ridiculously low price on ebay. So low, I won't brag Long story short, I had a XL Cayenne Pro, and the Everest I had was an XL. They both fit great. Perfect. Almost like they used my beer bellied body when designing the fit.

The XL defender on the other hand, which I REALLY wanted to make work as a summer jacket, just fit so different. Torso was fine, but arms were HUGE. I mean, with the adjusters all the way adjusted tight, I could rotate the armor all the way around. it was ridiculous. Sleeve length was a little long, but overall ok. Torso was great. Nice and snug as I like it. It was the arms themselves that were way out of proportion.

How would you compare the XL arms to a XL CP? I don't have a local Rev'it dealer. I'm afraid going to a Large would be too small in the torso.

Thoughts? I still wouldn't mind picking up one if I saw it used.

Yeah, as stated, the torso is a good fit and the arms are a bit long - just a bit. It's alright without the liners if I cinch up the cuffs and wear the gloves "gauntlets out." I don't think I'll be opening the arm vents more than half way. Those zippers are so long the sleeves seem to lose their integrity with the vents all the way open. Since you got yours used with no warranty, you might consider adding a third snap to the forearm adjusters. I did mention the sleeve proportion to ReV'it! customer service. Perhaps this can be addressed in future iterations. Ultimately though, if this is what it takes to facilitate such incredible ease of pulling the rain liner cuffs over my gauntlets, I can certainly live with it as is and I'd buy it again.

[keiji]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

The XL defender on the other hand, which I REALLY wanted to make work as a summer jacket, just fit so different. Torso was fine, but arms were HUGE. I mean, with the adjusters all the way adjusted tight, I could rotate the armor all the way around. it was ridiculous. Sleeve length was a little long, but overall ok. Torso was great. Nice and snug as I like it. It was the arms themselves that were way out of proportion.

How would you compare the XL arms to a XL CP? I don't have a local Rev'it dealer. I'm afraid going to a Large would be too small in the torso.

Thoughts? I still wouldn't mind picking up one if I saw it used.

I remember thinking the same when I switched to a Cayenne (L) to a Cayenne Pro (M). A size down and the arms were ridiculous. The argument back then was that it was necessary to be able to use strap on armor, etc as the jacket is really geared more towards the dual sport market.

[kevinj]

I tried this jacket on a couple weeks ago. Being a skinny guy (6-0, 145lbs) this jacket was not a very good fit for me. The Rev'it Sand fits much better. It's technically a lower-quality jacket, but since the armor would stay in place better, it would probably end up being safer for someone with my body type.

If the Defender fits you - looks like a great jacket!

[KEN PHENIX]

Originally Posted by kevinj

I tried this jacket on a couple weeks ago. Being a skinny guy (6-0, 145lbs) this jacket was not a very good fit for me. The Rev'it Sand fits much better. It's technically a lower-quality jacket, but since the armor would stay in place better, it would probably end up being safer for someone with my body type.

If the Defender fits you - looks like a great jacket!

Yeah, I was attracted to the Sand jacket too. It has similar venting and sleeve zips. I needed a better liner for the heavy rains down here.

So I just lived in my Defender more than 4,000 miles in 13 days in temps from the mid 30's to the mid 80's. I had to get used to how supple the material is. The comfort level is way up there. My first motivation again was to get the guaranteed waterproof Gore-Tex liner. I did not encounter what I'd call heavy rain but there's no reason to doubt the quality of the Gore-Tex. The second most important feature is the long cuff zippers. Tucking in the gauntlets in preparation for rain riding has always been a pain in the ass but these big zips make it incredibly easy to pull the rain liner over the gloves - even the second glove - and then zip the sleeve closed in one stroke. I could not be more pleased. I wanted a two liner system so I could feasibly wear the jacket in higher temps. I rode in the mid 80's comfortably enough and would have been more so if I had chosen the gray instead of solid black. The gray looked too pale in the video but now having seen it first hand, it's a very good shade of silver/gray. Pocket placement is very good - I'm not much for pockets but I actually used them conveniently on my trip. The only issue I have is the fit, which is no fault of the jacket. It's a bit roomier than my last ReV'it! jacket which was also XL. It's nothing I can't live with. I had a chance to try on a size L at Revzilla in Philly and found it to be as much too snug on me as the XL is roomy.



I'll post again after I get 'er good and wet.

[Pete O Static]

Those zippered sleeves are awesome. I have that feature on my sand. Fantastic venting, easy control and great for adjusting for different gloves. Probably the one feature I appreciate the most. Congrats on your Defender, really nice!

[travrick]

I've had my defender little less than a year and can quote your impressions.
The jacket is great, rode in 45 °C heat (south Turkey) down to - 6 °C (mountains winter time) with no trouble at all.
Excellent the venting system easy to operate even in motion, except of course for the one in the back. No problems with the rain, even hard downpour; the fact that the jacket doesn't become very heavy wen wet is a plus in riding in the rain.
The pants are equally functional. I got the grey jacket with black pants,