Haglöfs Roca Jacket Tested

Haglöfs Roca Jacket - Tested

Price: £200

Weight: 400 grammes (medium)

Features: Lightweight Gore-Tex Windstopper Soft Shell jacket with external taped seam technology, minimalist pattern cut for reduced seam numbers, abrasion resistant face fabric, smooth inside flannel for added warmth, laminated, perforated shoulder panel reinforcements, single-handed adjustable and laminated collar with brushed polyester lining, full front water resistant zipper with wind flap and chin guard, two laminated torso pockets, pit-zips, articulated elbows, die-cut Velcro cuff adjustment, laminated hem. Also availalable as women's-specific Roca Q.

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What's It For?

The Roca - together with its matching trousers - is intended as lightweight, highly weather-resistant shell-layer clothing. Because Windstopper itself is effectively waterproof and in this case is externally taped along the seams, the Roca should be nigh on waterproof except in really heavy rain.

In other words, it's a fit and forget top for walking, climbing, scrambling and biking with a small dose of thermal insulation from the brushed lining.

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The Techy Bits

The Roca uses Gore's Windstopper Softshell fabric which is windproof and effectively waterproof except for the seam areas, but Haglöfs has used external taping to cover those weak points which should make the jacket close to waterproof, but still with the improved breathability of Windstopper compared to a waterproof Gore-Tex jacket.

Haglöfs has also used the minimal two-panel design they debuted on the Oz Pullover to reduce the number of seams further and has reinforced the shoulder area with laminated, perforated shoulder patches to improve durability when used with a pack.

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How It Performs

Generally we're not big fans of Windstopper in most UK conditions - it simply doesn't breathe well enough - but we've found that the most effective Windsopper garments we've tried have been thin so the membrane is close to your body and have added ventilation options to help cool sweaty brows when the going gets glowing...

Happily the Roca ticks both boxes. The fabric is nice and light giving an overall weight of just 400 grammes and not only do the pockets vent, you can also roll the sleeves up easily to expose heat-radiating forearms, and there are discreet pit-zips in the side-seams. Embarassingly we didn't even notice the side-zips - below - at first, they really are unobtrusive.

Cut is lovely, slim and neat without being tight, and with easy-to-use adjusters at hem, collar and cuffs. And of course it's all beautifully put together with the main seams neatly overtaped and the perforations in the shoulder reinforcements cut into little Haglöfs logo shapes. The bright orange zips are a matter of taste, but they grew on us and helped mark the Roca out from the all-black softshell hordes...

So does it work? Yes, we found despite out doubts about the fabric, it actually works very well. Because all the seams bar those down the insides of the sleeves and at the sides of the torso have external taping, the jacket's effectively waterproof unless it really is bucketing down so on most days you can simply fit and forget. And of course it's completely windproof.

The thinnness of the fabric does seem to help breathability and the brushed liner is thin enough that it adds more comfort than thermal efficiency. And when things do get warm, which they will if you're working hard, a combination of rolled-up sleeves and side zips plus a bit of main-zip action is usually enough to keep things bearable and cool you down.

There is a fairly big but - there's no hood, which means you'll need to resort to a hooded jacket or some sort of headgear for added protection when things get gnarly. That arguably makes the jacket best suited to fast movers.

Haglöfs say the jacket has an abrasion-resistant face, but we did manage to scuff it up a little, probably in a bike crash, but possibly on brambles, though the damage is hardly noticeable. Last and least, the zipper garages at the top of the pocket zip are a bit of a tight fit.

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Verdict

Definitely one of the best all-round Windstopper tops we've used with Haglöfs choice of fabrics and design features maximising its effectiveness. The external taping of the seams means that it's all but waterproof until things get really wet making it ideal for those changeable British hill days, while the venting options give you a thermal bail-out clause when things do start to get hot. At just 400 grammes, it's also respectably light.

At a suggested retail price of £200 though, it's a tad spendy. You can square that a little if you regard it as a very nice feeling, very nice looking soft-handled waterproof, but against that, you need to factor in the lack of hood, which does limit its versatility a little. We found it excellent as a cold and wet conditions running and biking option though with the brushed lining giving a little extra insulation for frosty starts.

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Neat design, nigh on waterproof and good venting options. No hood and you can still overwhelm the breathability when working hard.

Performance
Value

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Haglöfs web site

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