Mid Winter Update of Thor Phase Jacket
Most of you know that Ride2ADV is based in the northeast US, specifically New Hampshire and Vermont. So we are not well known for having great riding weather year round. As this is being written, winter has truly arrived and arrived in a big way. Up until the middle of January, we had only received about five inches of the white stuff. Now three weeks later, we’ve received about four FEET of the frozen precipitation. Snow is everywhere, filling driveways and walkways everywhere.
So what does lots and lots of snow have to do with a review of the Thor Phase Jacket? As it turns out quite a bit. With the recent big snowfalls, I’ve been doing a lot of snow removal using a snow blower. Just this weekend, I was tasked with clearing the driveway. So I donned a poly undershirt, fleece sweater and the Thor Phase jacket. In high wind, I walked behind the machine while it threw snow in every direction except the one I wanted it to go. By the time I was done with my driveway about an hour later, I was thoroughly covered in a thick layer of snow. Both the Thor Phase jacket and my jeans were so caked with snow that it took a vigorous amount of stomping and wiping to get the snow off.
When I was done removing the snow from myself it quickly dawned on me that the Thor Phase jacket had done its job well. My jeans were cold, heavy and wet, as were my legs. Just the opposite, both the Thor Phase jacket and me were dry as a bone. No moisture had leaked through even though it was driven by stong winds while inside I remained at a quite comfortable temperature.
While this is not a true comparison to riding in the rain, I think it may be indicative of the jackets capabilities. Warm and dry are great attributes for a jacket. I this example, the jacket performed admirably in single digit temperature, high wind while covered in snow. Not bad. I do note that the jacket did become stiffer as the temperature dropped making the jacket feel a bit more restrictive, but it was not troublesome.
While this is not a true test of the jacket, it may be indicative of its performance in the riding world. Stay tuned for a further update as the weather gets better.
Thanks to Motorcycle House for giving us this jacket to test.
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