Guest Review: Cortech Sequoia XC Adventure Touring Jacket and Pants

by Andrew Bereczky

The Sequoia XC Jacket from Cortech is like having a mesh jacket, a waterproof jacket, and an insulated jacket all rolled into one. If you ride in a variety of weather conditions, this jacket delivers—especially in the area of airflow!

Fit, finish, and usability

The fit and finish of the Sequoia XC jacket is on par with what I would expect from a premium manufacturer. Seams are double stitched where appropriate. On the outside of the jacket, there are large velcro straps that provide ample room for adjustment.

I followed the size chart on motorcyclegear.com and chose to get the 2x tall version of both items. I found on the jacket that I had ample room for my torso, even with the liner installed.

If you put items in the pockets of the jacket, it’s not likely that it will be uncomfortable to carry anything as long as it fits reasonably well—the fabric doesn’t get pressed tight against your skin.

The front zipper of the jacket has a large flap with a top-to-bottom strip of velcro that holds the flap secure to the jacket. It seems like it is also lined with waterproofing membrane. I like this because it blocks wind and rain from getting into the jacket through the zipper.

There’s plenty of room in the sleeves for your guns. I mean arms. The adjuster straps on the outside of the sleeves have three different positions, and their snaps feel secure (they haven’t unsnapped accidentally for me even once). Stretch panels on the waist make for a snug fit if required, without restricting mobility.

Functionality

Everything about the jacket shows that it was designed with plenty of feedback of riders—it’s very easy to use with a gloved hand or while riding when necessary.

One feature that I really liked about the jacket was the very large pocket on the lower back (about the size of a 10” tablet—ask me how I found that out). While you can use it for whatever you want, I’m sure this was placed there so you can keep your zip out panels inside. If you’re riding with the panels out and things get too cold, you already have them right on your jacket.

The front of the jacket has two dual zipper pockets which open from the side and from the top. The inner pocket is a “hand warmer” pocket, lined with fleece and easily fitting your whole hand. The outer pocket zipping from the top, while spacious, is difficult to fit anything of size into, since the zipper does not go the full length of the pocket. It doesn’t seem waterproofed, so I wouldn’t recommend keeping anything in it that you have to keep dry.

Inside the jacket, there are three pockets: one iPhone sized pocket on your left, one that would fit an envelope on the right, and a very large zipper pocket inside. I can fit my whole hand and well past my wrist into the zippered pocket, so you have plenty of storage space there. Visibility All along the jacket on the front, the back, and the arms is a bead of reflective material that catches lights very well, adding to night visibility. The logos stitched onto the jacket are reflective. Most people that have seen me on the bike wearing the Sequoia XC gear have told me that I am very visible.

Crash protection

Often, you can only guess how well your gear will protect you in a crash. You might have CE approved armor or material that is a standard of thickness or durability, and that’s often enough to make us feel safe. The only other option would be to crash-test your gear.

Well, consider the Sequoia XC jacket crash tested! I got into my first accident ever while wearing the Sequoia gear (motorcycle or otherwise). After things calmed down, I counted my lucky stars because I was very glad to be wearing full gear.

I was wearing both the jacket and the pants when I was sideswiped by a pickup truck—as well as gloves, a helmet, and sturdy boots. It was a slow speed accident, which could certainly have been worse. I had an injury to my left shoulder. But it wasn’t serious, thanks to the armor in the jacket.

The jacket and pants performed wonderfully in this situation, and show no visible wear from the accident. The jacket features shoulder pads and elbow pads, and a large back pad—all of which are removable. Also sewn in is padding on the forearms.

One thing to note is that the shoulder pads attach with velcro to the inner liner, and just float above your shoulders. This is done so that you can remove them if you remove the arms of the jacket. I’m not a big fan of the way they are secured, since they can get twisted easily when putting the jacket on—which you’ll feel immediately. A bit of extra velcro positioned inside the arms would have gone a long way to prevent twisting. However, it’s pretty minor and is one of the few complaints I have about the jacket.

Backpack

Chances are good that the backpack isn’t the reason why you’re buying this jacket. But hold up and read this anyway.

First, I’ve got to say “Bravo!” to Cortech for including a hydration kit with this backpack, instead of selling it as “hydration ready” without the kit. That being said, if you use a full face helmet, plan on getting a 90° bite valve, as threading the tube and bending it either is painful or doesn’t provide any flow—and it’s way more trouble than its otherwise worth while riding. If you have an open face or a modular, you’ll be fine.

The backpack won’t win any awards for storage space. However, I was able to fit my 10” tablet neatly inside of the largest pocket (without the hydration bladder being full). However, the tag attached to the backpack specifically said not to put items that are not waterproof into the backpack.

It’s kind of nifty that the the straps can thread in through the jacket. The benefit is that it puts the weight directly over your back, instead of farther away as a result of wearing it over your jacket. I thought this would be a waterproofing issue, but I never had a problem with getting wet there.

As regards to its functionality, I feel as though the backpack isn’t nearly big enough to carry any weight, so what’s the big deal if it’s not directly on your back? But I digress…

Weather adaptations

The adaptations you can make to the weather on this jacket have to be my favorite thing, with one caveat.

Nearly all of the zippers, and vent flaps on the jacket have some fabric overlap to keep rain from getting into the jacket. However, I found that if you aren’t wearing the included liner in the rain, only my arms would get wet. Interesting that it was the only point that I got wet though. I would think the most obvious place where rain could get in would be where the backpack straps thread through the jacket—but I never had a problem in any of those areas.

The jacket’s insulated full sleeve liner also acts as a waterproofing membrane. During the high temperatures, I did not use the liner in the jacket.

When I did install the liner, however, it functioned very well. The temperature indicated on my bike while I rode in the rain was about 59° F (15° C), and the temperature was comfortable.

Now you might be thinking, “Why in the world would I buy a $350 jacket that ISN’T waterproof without the liner?”

Well, hold the phone—

Let’s say you’re out wearing the jacket and you see the thick rainclouds ahead signaling a downpour. You don’t have the liner in, but you have it in your saddlebags (or even the included backpack). Turning around isn’t an option for whatever reason, and you don’t have the time to spend zipping the liner into the jacket on the side of the road.

Well, all you have to do is pull over and take out the jacket’s liner and put it DIRECTLY OVER the jacket, and then zip it up with the liner’s two way zipper! Voila, rain barrier!

You don’t even need to put the panels back in the jacket. This won’t work with the Sequoia XC pants though, since you’d have to take your boots off and there’s no way to secure the waist.

The reason why the jacket was designed this way is to preserve the amount of airflow that you get with it. So, rather than making a jacket that was either rainproof or had lots of airflow, Cortech found a way to make it do both.

Airflow

The front of the jacket has two small zip panels and the rear has one large panel. They can all either be zipped down to permit air to flow through, or you can completely remove them from the jacket to fully expose the mesh and get maximum airflow.

The sleeves have zip open vents that provide additional generous airflow. Clever strips of velcro allow you to either secure the fabric overhang closed or to “lock” it open and catch the air.

The airflow is awesome. It’s one of my favorite parts of the jacket.

I was comfortable all the way up into the 90s when I was at speed, although I definitely was roasting when stopped.

Lots of people who saw me wearing both the jacket and the pants said things like, “I bet you’re hot!” I was happy to tell them know that it had excellent airflow, and was quite great!

Cold Weather

I’ve tested the Sequoia XC jacket and pants in temperatures as low as 25 degrees so far. The performance of both the jacket and pants has been nothing short of stellar for me.

I installed the insulated rain liner into the jacket, and also put the rain liner into the pants (the pants’ rain liner is not insulated). For good measure, I also added an insulated vest inside the jacket, and a base layer on my legs..

I found myself quite comfortable in the cold with this setup. It’s worth noting that I do have a windshield that goes up pretty high, and that helps to block the wind coming directly onto my body. Despite the fact that the rain liner in the pants is not insulated, my legs were not cold at all. The pants with the liner did well enough to shield me, even at 70 miles per hour. This jacket is for you if… I would recommend this jacket (and the pants together as a set) to anyone who commutes daily on a motorcycle or goes on touring trips, especially riders that ride rain or shine. The big selling point is that you’ve got nearly all the airflow you’d have in a mesh jacket, but you’ve also got a rain barrier that you can use only when you need it, as well as a liner.

I would also recommend it to riders who like to go off road on occasion. While I can’t imagine that I would ever take the sleeves off and ride on the street, I would certainly give it a go if I went off roading. And a hydration pack would be a very handy thing to have if you aren’t around civilization on an adventure.

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