Alpinestars Revenant Gore-Tex Pro Riding Jacket Product Review: Introduction

The Background

Now, Alpinestars has a range of jackets for touring/adventure riding. It starts with the fully vented Wake Air jacket. But, that’s more for commute/street use. When it comes to Adventure riding, things start getting interesting with the Volcano range. This too gets ventilation and smart pockets and lots of protection. 

But, it’s only when you get to the Andes and the Valparaiso range that you truly start getting into all weather, adventure riding features. So, there’s better venting along with breathable waterproof lining in the form of Drystar. There’s better protection, better flexibility, and higher abrasion resistance too.

The Jacket

But, the Revenant does better still.

It uses Gore-Tex instead of Drystar. Now, the principal behind the working of the two materials is the same. Which is, these allow sweat to pass through the membrane and evaporate, but they don’t allow bigger water droplets (rain) to seep in. But Gore-Tex, apart from being more expensive, also allows for better breathability. Aiding this further are the eight closable vents the jacket comes with. You have six upfront – chest, torso, and arms – and two exhaust vents at the back, which should make this Alpinestars jacket properly compatible for all weather scenarios. 

The Revenant offers a higher level of protection too. The jacket is CE Level 2 rated, and comes with removable protection for the shoulders and arms. And, one can also opt for Alpinestars nucleon back armour to enhance this. There’s also an in-built TPU layer around the shoulders for higher impact protection. Plus, the jacket uses armacore reinforcements around the elbow area to give higher levels of protection against abrasion, in a high-speed low side crash, for instance.

The jacket also comes with plenty of adjustability options. There are easy to adjust pull straps for the arms and waist; there are three button closures to help get a better fit around the forearm; and the Revenant also gets a smart dual closure adjustable sleeve. Then there are the pockets for added utility. The ones around the waist come with waterproof zippers. The ones’ on the chest are smaller, but easier to access, thanks to prominent tabs. And, it has a fully waterproof pocket on the inside as well. 

That’s’ not all. You also get a hydration pocket built-in with the Revenant. So, one can throw in a 2-litre water bladder, and there’s thoughtful routing and clasping options for the drinking pipe as well. But, the one that we absolutely loved was the take-away fanny pack. It acts like a typical ADV jacket back pocket when attached. But, it can also be simply unzipped off the jacket and buckled around the waist or thrown over the shoulder with all your essentials, after getting off the motorcycle and with the riding gear safely stowed away.

The Follow Up

On the face of it, the Alpinestars Revenant Gore-Tex Pro seems like a lot of jacket. Yes, it’s a lot of money too. But, if it can survive the test of time, the test of torrential Mumbai rains, and the test of everything from heat to dust to humidity to maybe even the Ladakh cold, it would be worth it all. Our plan over the following months would be to do just that; to see how usable, how comfortable, and how relevant an all-weather ADV jacket like this Alpinestars can be, in diverse Indian conditions.

Photography by Kaustubh Gandhi

Product Details

Seller: Planet DSG

Make: Alpinestars

Model: Revenant Gore-Tex Pro