We've been using this riding jacket on almost every ride since early 2000, and in that time, the jacket has performed wonderfully. It has been our primary travel companion on almost all of our rides. Only once did we leave the jacket behind, and for the entire duration of that trip, both Kris and myself, regretted that decision.

We have traveled all over the place in our First Gear Kilimanjaro Jackets with few complaints

The jacket, is a mainstay for First Gear and comes with a removable fleece liner and a pocket for a "booda" bladder, a similar system as a Camelback that fits into a pocket of the coat. The large breast pockets are filled with cool features that gaget-types like myself will really like, but the lower "hand-warmer" pockets, because of the Velcro are so hard to use and scratch your hands up everytime you use them, are pretty much useless.The jacket received a major revamp in 2003 and hopefully some of the coats shortfalls have been addressed.

We chose the jacket, featuring ballistic nylon vs. Kevlar, because, apparently ballistic nylon performs better in crashes than Kevlar. While sliding over asphalt, the nylon will stretch and spring back into place, several times during a slide, before breaking where the Kevlar will splinter and burn through much faster. The jacket has the ballistic nylon at the elbows and shoulders, while using a lighter material elsewhere to ease movement while wearing the jacket. The jacket also uses memory-foam style armor in the shoulders, elbows and along the back.

When we purchased our jackets, it was only available in all black or black and red. While, I’m not a fan of all black riding gear because of visibility, ours have faded to a salty dark grey, the jacket does feature retro-reflective material on the shoulders as well as a fold away strip along the back. I do like that the reflective strip along the back of the jacket can be hidden from the sun so that it retains its luminescence over time as, it can just be revealed during hours of darkness, rain or other forms of limited visibility.

One feature we really like is the retro-reflective strip can be folded up into the jacket to prevent it from fading. The strip is still pretty darn bright after three years of heavy use.

Venting on the jacket is great, with vents across the back, two huge pocket/chest vents across the front and two smaller arm vents. The arm vents on the ladies jacket are somewhat disappointing because they are reduced to less than three inches long, whereas the masculine version has arm vents that are more than double the size.

The jacket has established itself waterproof through many deluges. It has proven itself many times that we rarely travel with rain gear as the matching pants are not only extremely warm, but also equally resistant to water. Part of this is due to the copious amounts of Velcro that is used through the set. This is also my largest complaint with the gear.

While the Velcro does help keep water out, it can be quite frustration putting on the pants, with full-length leg zippers lined with Velcro, because the Velcro sticks to itself and tangles easily. The chest vents on the jacket, in order to maximize airflow, expose the hook end of the Velcro. The hook end of the Velcro has, over the last few years, managed to thrash one tank-bra and the nylon webbing of both our tank-bags. Because of this, I rarely have my chest vents pen on sportier motorcycles and reserve this feature for the ST1100 where I am sitting upright enough as to not encounter anything else.

The same problem exists at the neck where the Velcro closure regularly comes free and the hook side, while flapping in the breeze, will shag out the material lining the bottom of our helmets, snagging and catching and hindering head movement. This feature was so bothersome that Kris sewed on small metal eyes and hooks to attach the collar open firmly. I have seen other Kilimanjaro jackets where the neck Velcro has shredded the nylon shoulder material. I would like to see the Velcro fold over so that it does not do damage to supplementary rider equipment.

Additionally, the light inner lining (not the fleece lining) of the jacket is so thin, that it tends to get caught in the venting zippers. Adjusting airflow and comfort while riding becomes very cumbersome, difficult and creates a potential distraction for riders because zippers frequently get jammed up.

I also think the pants are too heavily insulated. When we gear up to the full suit, we feel more like we should be riding snowmobiles or heading to the moon.

The jacket has been a very solid purchase despite its $350+ price tag and its few flaws. I would still give these jackets very high marks. We both love our Kilimanjaros and would readily purchase another without much concern. The resounding quality of these jackets is great and can be proven by how well they have held up to the abuses of the last few years as I have over 50k miles worth of riding while wearing mine. Its too bad that Velcro can be so difficult to deal with despite how waterproof it makes these coats.

Despite our few complaints about the velcro on the jacket, it has remained one of our most faithful travel companions that we have always been able to count on.

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