Cortech Sequoia XC Adventure Touring Jacket

We tried this jacket on our Fit Check mannequins and thought they fit great. Huey is wearing a Medium and Dewey is wearing an XL (take the “View Larger Images” link above to see those pictures).

We recommend you buy the size you normally buy in men’s clothing. These jackets are also available in tall sizes. If you normally buy tall shirts (or other clothing), then these will work for you. The sleeve length and torso length of a tall is about 1 1/2” longer than the corresponding regular size.

Here is Cortech’s current size chart. Sleeve lengths listed are from the shoulder seam to the end of the arm cuff. The chest and sleeve lengths all seem “normal” to me. No “gotchas” here.

The “drop” from chest to waist on a 3/4 style jacket isn’t but a couple inches less than the chest size. The jacket has large adjustment straps around the midsection so you can tailor the fit to your belly/waist size. That means the fit is easy whether you have no belly or ample belly.

Need help measuring? Get it here.

Golly, I really am trying VERY hard to like this jacket and sing its praises, but I’m having a hard time being completely excited about the design for the masses. For a few it will be something to behold, but not so much for the rest of us.

I’ll start with the positive aspects… this is a great looking and great fitting jacket. I like the overall quality and the use of different material in the shell to give it an interesting look and visual appeal. There is a LOT of detail in the design of this jacket and so far, I haven’t uncovered even a minor defect with our samples.

Also, I really like the venting options on the jacket…it has large front and rear removable panels that should flow a very nice amount of air. Also, even though I don’t “get it”, the arms can be completely removed at the shoulders. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not an adventure rider and never will be, but in any kind of riding, isn’t the main idea of a protective riding jacket to give you protection in case of a fall? Well, without sleeves (and shoulder and elbow armor), you lose most of that abrasion and impact protection, right? But I digress… having no sleeves will make a jacket notably more comfortable on a hot day.

Also, I like the storage features… There are four dedicated pockets on the front down low… two hand warmer pockets and two more patch pockets. And then in back there is a really big fanny pack.

We might as well talk about the backpack a bit. Of course it is a nifty design which holds a water vessel which has a connecting tube so you can sip your liquid of choice as you ride along. And it does indeed offer extra storage. When you add water you add weight, so the backpack/jacket are designed to be used together. The jacket has openings up around the shoulders and down lower by your waist to fish the shoulder straps through.

You’ll really need help with getting all the fastening and such in place the first time folks, and let me tell you, by yourself it could be a bit vexing, but once you get it all fished through properly, you can put on and take off the whole unit by simultaneously exiting both the jacket sleeves and the shoulder straps of the back pack. After about three tries, I got reasonably good at this.

Why all the fuss with fishing the backpack straps through the jacket? Well, if you don’t, the jacket will pull down in back and the front of the collar will begin to strangle your neck. This has been an ongoing issue with water bladders and riding jackets for a long time. And having the straps come through definitely addresses things. Also, as a side benefit, the straps being under the jacket shell prevents you from snagging the straps on limbs, branches, etc as you run through the brush.

Now the rub… So granted, fishing the straps for the backpack through the jacket shell does alleviate the choking issue, but it does cause a couple new issues. One, the jacket becomes a bit more tricky to put on and take off (as mentioned above), but also the holes where the straps enter the jacket shell effectively make the jacket non-waterproof.

The shell of the jacket is not waterproof… maybe we could call it water resistant, but the jacket is advertised to be waterproof with the removable liner installed. But with the openings for the backpack, and the non-waterproof zipper connections in the shell AND the liner for the removable sleeves, there really isn’t any way this jacket can be waterproof. Well, shoot!

So here is my final take: If you are OK with the jacket not being waterproof and you do adventure/off road riding and the idea of onboard libation, lots of climate control options and plenty of storage has appeal for you, then I think you may well like this jacket. It is a high quality jacket and certainly gets high marks for innovation. There is really a lot to like, especially if you are into gear features for the adventure ride. For the average daily rider however, I don’t think you’ll like this jacket for all the aforementioned issues. :: Paul, 06-08-15