Rab Kinetic Jacket Review

Hard to find this jacket for sale online…..looking for a men's medium….

Thanks for the clarification on the hood Dave. I (shame on me) was going solely off the Rab descriptions.

This has quickly become my go-to shell for everything from backpacking to around town to motorcycle rides.

I take it that the jacket has no pit zippers. Do you use the pockets to aid ventilation? If so, do the pockets dip below the zipper opening enough to retain small items?

Thanks for the review.

Hi Dale,
I own a kinetic (the 2012 PS+ version reviewed here) and can answer your questions:

I take it that the jacket has no pit zippers. -> Correct, no pit zips.

Do you use the pockets to aid ventilation? -> Yes. This was part of my reasoning for going with the Kinetic over the Pulse.

If so, do the pockets dip below the zipper opening enough to retain small items? -> The pockets extend about 4.5 inches below the end of the zipper track, and you don't need to have them open all the way if your goal is to aid ventilation. As the pockets are fairly deep, I don't think you'd have much reason to worry about items falling out in most situations.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the jacket. Breathability is pretty decent and the jacket is a very functional minimalist design. Weight is a mere 231g for my unmodified men's medium. I agreed with Chris' assessment of the feel of the fabric on skin – it's pretty comfy for a WPB, not plastic-baggy at all. The hood is great.

One caveat: I find the cut in the shoulders is a little narrow compared to the shells I've tried from other manufacturers. I'd recommend interested buyers consider sizing up depending on the intended layering strategy – I have a 39" chest, broad shouldered, and layering a rab infinity down jacket underneath is a no go for me (although I do have room for a lighter weight insulated jacket such as my stoic hadron or rab xenon).

a little unclear why this was reviewed…

That's fair–I am fine with spotlight reviews (isn't that what BPL calls them?). However, Chris has had the time to test this on the trail. I know that Dave did a mini-review of the Pulse, but he hikes in different conditions than Chris, had less space to give to testing and review (as he was doing several jackets at the time), and BPL billed this as a full-fledged review. Spotlight reviews are fine and good, but this seems like a missed opportunity on a (at least potentially) popular product.

What the issue really comes down to–at least for me–is that there are three paragraphs in the review. Much of the information appears to be a repetition of Rab's own press release on the jacket.

Frankly, that is not up to BPL's editorial standards.

The waist will likely be fine. How broad are your shoulders? That's the bigger question and where the fit is the tightest.

If you order from Campsaver, their fit guarantee makes getting the right size about as easy as it possibly can be over the internet.