Reviews > Rain Gear > Jackets and Pants > Keela Rock Jacket > Curt Peterson > Long Term Report

Keela Rock Jacket SDP
- Long Term Report -
March 2006

Below you will find: 1.  Tester Background and Contact Information 2.  Keela Rock Jacket SDP Specifications 3.  Keela Rock Jacket SDP Long Term Report

1)Tester Background and Contact Information

Name: Curt Peterson
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 270 lb (122 kg)
Email address: curt<at>boopants<dot>com
Location: North Bend, Washington, USA

I live in the Cascade foothills, just 20 mi (32 km) from the Pacific Crest Trail via trails leading right from my backyard. My outdoor time in Washington is spent dayhiking, backpacking, climbing, and skiing everywhere from the Olympic coast to rainforests to Cascade volcanoes to dry steppe.  I played football in college and often evaluate products from a big guy perspective. My typical pack load ranges from 11 - 20 lbs (5 - 9 kg) and usually includes wet weather gear.
 

2) Keela Rock Jacket SDP Specifications

• Jacket Size: XXL
• Jacket Weight: 33.0 oz (935 gm)
• Jacket Color: Bluestone/Grey
• Manufacturer Website: www.keela.co.uk 
• MSRP: £120 ($208 US as of 03/06)

3) Keela Rock Jacket SDP Long Term Report
 

For an overview of the Keela Rock's technology, my waterproof/breathable jacket background experience, and field notes please see my Initial Report and Field Report.

Use

The Keela Rock jacket has seen plenty of precipitation.  At the time of my Field Report, we were just coming off of 35 consecutive days of rain.  That eventually stretched into 48 of 50 days up here in my corner of the Cascades - perfect weather for testing the Keela Rock SDP. The Rock has been wet on the many of those days, plus a couple days of snowy weather at Snoqualmie Pass.

The Keela Rock Jacket has continued to be a tough item for me to test.  It's well-made, built for the conditions I encounter 9 months of the year, and the company behind it appears to be doing solid work in developing technical products for demanding conditions.  For me, however, this particular jacket just doesn't fit well with my outdoors mindset and gear kit.  In my opinion, the Keela Rock is almost the opposite of simplicity and minimalism in outdoor gear and clothing.  Whereas I prefer items stripped down to their simplest and most basic version, the Keela Rock seemingly strives for every feature, bell, and whistle that can be added to a jacket.  To be fair, Keela has never intimated that they were going for a simple and streamlined product that fits my particular needs - I point it out only to give some context to my perception of the Keela Rock.

As far as being functional, the Keela definitely works.  It has not leaked a single drop as far as I can tell, and the clothing I wear underneath remains as dry as could be expected.  The mesh liner used in the Keela is a neat fabric.  It feels nice against the skin, and seems to wick extremely well.  Even when I intentionally overheated the jacket by zipping it up tight and running in it, I couldn't feel wetness in the mesh itself.  I thought this indicated that it not only was capable of staying very dry from outside moisture, but breathed very well also.  I found out later where all that moisture went.  A couple weeks ago I went out on the trail with 11 lbs (5 kg) of pack and jackets - six in all.  I hiked 9.5 mi (15 km) at a relatively quick pace - 17 minute miles - and changed jackets every mile.  I took notes quickly at each change, making a subjective observation about how clammy I felt, how wet the jacket was on the inside, how wet my shirt was, and how hot I was.   Temperatures were right around 40 F (4 C) the entire time with a steady drizzle.  It never poured, but every jacket had misty moisture on it when I took it off.  This was a fantastic way for me to make direct comparisons of jacket breathability - my goal for the test - and get some real world comparisons to see how they relate to manufacturer data and others' experiences.  When I got home I immediately weighed every jacket.  Most jackets had added a tenth of an ounce or so (a couple grams) of moisture EXCEPT the Keela Rock.  I had to measure it twice to make sure I was reading it right, but it gained over 1 oz (about 34 gms) - more than 10 times what the other jackets picked up.  Perhaps most amazing about this is that it was only on me for 17 minutes.  I've since duplicated this on a couple walks on our local trail, and it's the same thing every time.  I'm now pretty confident that the way the Keela keeps the wearer dry is to pull the moisture into the multiple layers of fabric.  I imagine the idea is that it then could be driven out of the various layers by body heat once conditions are drier, but so far I have not seen this result.  For me, the jacket has only dried out after being hung up to dry indoors.

Limits

Based on my experiences with the Keela Rock, I'd say it's a fine jacket for walks or dayhikes.  Its limits are reached is when it is pushed into backpacking duty.  As a backpacking jacket, I believe it is too heavy, too bulky, and holds moisture too long.  These are all aspects that are subjective, but for me and my style of backcountry travel, they hold true.

The other notable issue during testing was the main zipper.  I never did have an easier time figuring it out, and it became a huge frustration for me - even more than the weight, bulk, or moisture concerns.  Putting on the jacket was a project - sometimes taking up to a full minute or more of fiddling just to get the zipper up!  This is unacceptable in my opinion.  I have examined the Keela Rock zipper up close numerous times and can't find anything wrong with it mechanically, so it is either a design problem or I'm a complete idiot and haven't figured it out after 4 months.

Reviews > Rain Gear > Jackets and Pants > Keela Rock Jacket > Curt Peterson > Long Term Report