Polyamide Windbreaker Field Jacket

Blocks the wind. Sheds a shower. Not a rain shell.

Wind is the thing that gets you. You can be out in a jumper at ten degrees and be perfectly comfortable right up until the southerly comes across the paddock, and then you are cold in about ninety seconds — because a knitted jumper is basically a sieve. Cold makes you clumsy, clumsy makes you rush, and rushing is where people put a spanner through a knuckle.

This is a light polyamide shell that goes over whatever you are already wearing. The woven face stops the wind dead, the finish beads a shower off it instead of letting it soak straight in, and the open mesh lining means you are not sitting in your own sweat the moment you start doing something.

It is a windbreaker, not a wet-weather shell, and the limits are written out below rather than buried. Sizes run M to 5XL and the supplier publishes a real measurement chart in centimetres — worth using, because these are cut to Asian sizing and they run small against Australian labelling.

What It Does

• Camp in a southerly: the wind stops at the shell instead of going straight through your jumper, so you can get the pegs in without losing the feeling in your hands.
• Standing about on site: light enough to leave on all day, and it goes over a jumper or a hi-vis without binding across the shoulders.
• Boat and jetty work: spray and a passing shower bead up on the face fabric. Shake it off and keep working.
• Early starts and long drives: the hood comes off completely, so the collar sits flat against a seat back instead of bunching up behind your neck.
• Shoulder-season walking: the mesh lining gives warm air somewhere to go on the climb, so you are not soaked from the inside by the time you reach the top.

Key Features

• Polyamide shell: the supplier's own fabric panel names the face fabric as polyamide. No blend percentage, fabric weight or denier is published, so none is quoted here.
• Detachable hood: the hood comes away from the collar, so you can run it as a plain collared jacket when the weather turns.
• Drawcord hood: toggles at each side pull the hood in around your face so it stays put in a crosswind rather than filling like a sail.
• Four pockets: two zipped hand pockets, one zipped chest pocket that swallows a phone, and an open pocket inside the jacket.
• Adjustable cuffs: hook-and-loop tabs at each wrist pull the sleeve in, so wind and water do not run up your forearm when you reach overhead.
• Open mesh lining: mesh through the body and the hood rather than a solid lining, so trapped heat has a way out.
• Water-beading finish: light rain sits on the surface and rolls off. This is a surface finish, not a rated membrane — see the limits below.
• Five colourways: black, blue, grey, khaki and army green. The colour picker on this page spells grey the American way; it is the same jacket.
• Sizes M to 5XL: with the supplier's garment measurements in centimetres in the Specs tab.
• Small chest logo: an embroidered mountain motif on the left chest. No large branding anywhere on it.

Limits

• Not waterproof, and no rating: the supplier publishes no hydrostatic head figure, no membrane specification and no IP figure. One of the supplier photographs in the gallery does print the word waterproof across it. We are not repeating that claim, because there is no number standing behind it. It will shrug off a shower. It will not keep you dry in sustained heavy rain.
• Seams are not sealed: nothing in the supplier images shows taped or welded seams, so in real weather water finds the stitching before it finds the fabric.
• No insulation: this is a shell with a mesh lining, not a warm jacket. In genuine cold it only holds in the warmth your layers are already making.
• Sizing runs small: cut to Asian sizing. Go by the chest and length figures in the chart, not by the letter on the tag.
• No hem drawcord: the hem is plain in every supplier image, so there is nothing to cinch down at the waist if it is blowing hard.
• Not rated protective gear: no certificate of any kind was sighted for this jacket, and it carries no flame, cut, chemical or high-visibility rating. It is a wind shell.

Q & A

Will it keep me dry in proper rain?

No. It sheds drizzle and a passing shower, and it will get you across a car park in the wet. In sustained rain it will wet through, and the seams are not sealed. If you are out in weather for a full day, wear a rated rain jacket over the top of it.

Does the hood really come off?

Yes. The supplier calls it a detachable hood and shows it off the collar in the detail photographs. There are drawcord toggles either side to pull it in around your face while it is on.

What size should I order?

Use the measurement chart in the Specs tab, which is in centimetres. The most reliable method is to measure a jacket you already own and wear over a jumper, then match its chest and length figures against the chart. The supplier also lists a recommended wearer height and weight for each size. The letter on the tag is the least reliable thing on the chart, because these are cut to Asian sizing.

How many pockets, and will a phone fit?

Four. Two zipped hand pockets, one zipped chest pocket and an open pocket inside. The supplier detail photograph shows a full-size phone going into the chest pocket with room to spare.

Is it warm on its own?

No. It is a wind shell with an open mesh lining, so there is nothing in it to keep you warm by itself. What it does is stop the wind stripping the heat off the layers underneath, which on a cold windy day is most of the battle.

What is the fabric, exactly?

The supplier's fabric panel states polyamide — that is nylon — for the outer face, and shows an open mesh for the lining. No blend percentage, fabric weight, denier or care instruction is published anywhere in the supplier material, so none is listed here. The care label is in the photographs but it is not legible at the resolution supplied.

Specs

Size Chart — Supplier Measurements

The supplier's own chart, in centimetres. The store lists the two middle sizes as XXL and XXXL; the chart calls them 2XL and 3XL. Height and weight are the supplier's recommendation for the wearer, not a measurement of the garment.

Free delivery to Australia and New Zealand. Allow 10–14 days from the day you place the order, and up to three weeks into regional and remote areas.