Review of the Protest Clavin 18: Low cost high quality ski jacket

Feb 20, 2019 BY Jamie Barrow

This review of the Protest Clavin 18 Jacket is by Jamie Barrow, Britain’s fastest snowboarder. He put this low cost high quality ski jacket through its paces in Chamonix.

In case you don’t know Jamie… He was a pro boardercross athlete until serious injury stopped him competing. He now does crazy speed stunts such as being towed behind a plane on a snowboard. In Jamie’s words:

I got this jacket just in time for a great trip to Chamonix, France where I tried splitboarding. It was the perfect trip to test the jacket as it was quite cold but I’d be working hard and getting hot walking uphill.

Review of the Protest Clavin 18 Low cost high quality ski jacket Photo of Jamie Barrow

I had never tried a Protest jacket before so did not know what to expect. It has good specs and a low price tag – £169 is less than half the price of similar spec jackets. So I was interested to find out if it’s the elusive low cost high quality ski jacket that everyone is looking for.

Review of the Protest Clavin 18

I have tried many jackets since I started snowboarding and the Protest Clavin 18 is by far the best jacket I have ever had. Rated at 20,000mm waterproof straight away I could tell it is amazing quality.

Comfort and fit

As my chest size is a large but my waist a medium I wasn’t sure what size to go for. In the end I decided to go for large and it fit great.

It is a slightly more slim fit cut than most jackets, however not so much so that you feel restricted or can’t fit anything underneath. It has a really nice fit and is not too bulky so is good to wear in the streets as well as on the slopes.

Review of the Protest Clavin 18 Low cost high quality ski jacket by Jamie Barrow

A problem I have with a lot of jackets is they are not quite long enough. So when you bend down to put your board on you end up flashing the person behind you. Luckily this low cost high quality ski jacket is a really nice length. But not long enough to get in the way!

Pockets, zips & features

After checking a new jacket fits next I investigate the pockets and zips, as this is where I feel some jackets let me down. Luckily this did not disappoint during my review of the Protest Clavin 18.

All the zips have a waterproof seal and the two main pockets have a nice fluffy lining. There are also two pockets on the chest which I didn’t use, but extra pockets are always handy.

There is also a lift pass pocket on the arms which is helpful. My last jacket did not have this so you end up trying to push your chest against the machine to try scan it.

Review of the Protest Clavin 18 Low cost high quality ski jacket Photo by Jamie Barrow

Another nice feature about this jacket is the air vents in the collar/neck area. These allow you to breath better when on cold days you want to zip all the way up over your chin. It also means you don’t need a mask.

Review of the Protest Clavin 18: Performance

The first couple days snowboarding were just riding on piste with a little off-piste in quite cold weather. The Protest Clavin 18 jacket performed great in the conditions and I did not get cold at all.

The air vent mask at the top of the zip came in handy as I forgot my mask the first day. I felt very comfortable in the jacket and could move without any restriction. We were filming at the time and the red colour of the jacket stands out great in videos and photos.

Once we started the splitboarding course there was a lot of hiking uphill doing intense exercise. The main issue with cold weather is you never know how many layers to wear. And if you have a jacket which doesn’t breathe very well, as you will overheat and get sweaty.

Review of the Protest Clavin 18 Low cost high quality ski jacket Photo of Jamie Barrow Splitboarding

Conversely, if you have a jacket that’s too thin you will be cold at the top and riding down. However, the Protest Clavin 18 was very good at regulating the temperature.

The pit zips were very useful on climbs and help you to cool down if needed. There was one quite warm day when I took the jacket off, but the rest of the time I was very comfortable keeping it on.

Low cost high quality ski jacket

I really did test this jacket out to the full! We went from warm sunny weather to -20°C windy conditions. All while hiking around and having to wait in the cold for the cameraman to be ready to shoot.

This jacket performed great in all conditions. I didn’t feel the need to change my layers regardless of the temperature or what we were doing. The Protest Clavin 18 will definitely be my go to jacket.

Protest Clavin 18 Low cost high quality ski jacket Photo by Jamie Barrow

I wouldn’t use on an arctic expedition as you can’t fit loads of layers under it. However, for an amazing all round jacket this is definitely the one to go for. Costing just £169 it may be the low cost high quality ski jacket you have been looking for.

Top tip: If you are someone who gets cold easily go for one size bigger to fit an extra layer beneath.

Coming in eight colours you can pick up the Protest Clavin 18 here: www.protest.eu

 
Alps, Chamonix, Europe, France, French Alps, Rhone Alpes
Skiing, Snowboarding
Affordable, Backcountry, Budget, Cheap, Jacket Coat and Anorak, Low Cost, Off Piste, Splitboard, Waterproof
Reviews
 

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