A riders ADV Layering system is as personal as a fingerprint. Everyone has their own preferences of protection vs weight vs freedom of movements vs temperature control…the list goes on.
Currently the most popular systems are based around a single shell garment that provides abrasion resistance, impact protection and weatherproofing in a single item. Whilst this is a wonderfully simple solution and perfect for the majority of riders on the majority of trips it is not the most suitable for more extreme temperature ranges or the most protective when the range of riding conditions and and surfaces varies a lot.
In Argentina we knew we would be faced with temperature ranges from +40 to -5, and we suspected that we would encounter a wide range of riding conditions from sand dunes to rocky river beds to long loose climbs.
To live and ride in these conditions day after day in a such a wide range of temperatures (plus extreme altitude) we knew we would need something more flexible than the standard layering systems available on the market today and as we couldn’t find exactly what we wanted for sale anywhere else, we made our own.
The shell jacket that I wore on the trip was a prototype designed for use in an extreme ADV Layering system. Its job was three fold:
1: To be super light, breathable and pack down very small
2: To keep me dry in extreme wet weather conditions and to allow air to flow over my cooling base layer in temperatures up to 30 degrees.
3: To provide enough abrasion protection in the event of a crash (on or off-road) to ensure that I would remain safe
As an extra bonus it had a packaway hood so that when we were huddled at night trying to keep warm after a long days ride I could pull a hat on, pull my hood up and conserve much needed heat away from the biting wind and rain.
I had no armour in the jacket as the impact protection was taken care of by my armoured base layer, which was used to reduce movement of the armour in the event of a crash compared to looser fitting armour in a shell jacket and allow more flexibility of clothing choice in super hot weather without compromising protection.
THE SINGLETRACK JACKET
The Singletrack Jacket is a waterproof over jacket that features Kevlar reinforced panels in key abrasion areas. It is designed for lightweight adventure, trail and dual sport riding in cool to moderately warm climates where there is a higher chance of poor weather.
