Here at Active Traveller, we're big fans of Craghoppers' excellent NosiLife range of clothing. The range tends to combine comfort and technical features, as well as a no-nonsense look. And after testing out their new NosiLife Pro Active Trousers earlier in the season and loving them, we were excited to see if the Adventure jacket could impress just as much.
First of all, the NosiLife Adventure Pro jacket is a bit of kit tailored specifically for warm weather adventures. While it doesn't offer much in terms of waterproof or windproof features, the lightweight material offers an extremely useful barrier between you and the sun's harmful UV rays with Craghoppers' SolarShield technology offering UPF 40+ protection, as well as featuring their NosiLife anti-insect treatment to keep biting insects at bay.
The jacket is fairly fitted, sitting close to the body, but the stretch fabric provides great freedom of movement, making it comfortable to wear whether you're walking a path or forging your own trail. The Adventure Pro also offers 'Moisture Control' and 'Odour Control' to help wick sweat away from the skin and keep you fresh. A feature appreciated by us and our fellow hikers!
Pockets-wise, Craghoppers has taken an essentials only approach. There are two outside zipped pockets, one containing a Velcro RFID pocket about the right size for a passport, and the other containing an elasticated mesh pocket intended to hold a mobile phone safe inside the pocket. No internal pockets, but with such a lightweight and minimalist construction, you can't expect pockets popping up everywhere.
The right-hand zip pocket, helpfully labelled 'STOW POCKET' also acts as a stuff sack to make packing easier. The inner mobile phone pocket also ends up on the outside of the stowed jacket when packed down to offer an extra feature. We're not quite sure what we'd keep in it when the jacket is in this form, but it's big enough to fit a pair of headphones, folded documents or a small first-aid kit if you're so inclined.
The hood is fixed but fits fairly well to the head and offers much appreciated extra protection from the sun and biting insects to the face and neck. Small adjustments can also be made with adjusters at the front to help with the fit.
As far as looks go, the NosiLife Adventure Pro jacket has an understated and classic look to it. It's a little underwhelming, but does have some fun features, such as the navy blue version sporting red accents (like the zip and hood adjusters), plus you can buy the jacket in an attractive 'potent plum' purple colour for something a bit different.
Overall, the Craghoppers NosiLife Adventure Pro jacket is a good choice of lightweight summer hiking jacket which won't let you down if you need protection form the sun and biting insects, while staying comfortable to wear in high temperatures.
