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Earlier in the year I went looking for something suitable for 3 season touring for future ride plans and by chance I came across the Andes jacket from Alpinestars in my local store. Foreign brands are not common here and local jackets are too short in the arms so I decided to try this.
This is a 3 season waterproof jacket with a quilted removable winter liner and waterproofing provided by Alpinestars version of Gore-Tex built into the shell called Drystar.
Th jacket has two upper chest intake vents and one rear exhaust vent that draw in and vent out air at a much reduced volume than if there was no liner but still the affect is noticeable.
Next the main zipper external storm flap is two piece and the upper 1/2 can be clipped back to allow air to flow easier into the upper chest area with the zip lowered, which then assists the rear to vent. The collar can be clipped back also to provide air flow to your neck and the wrists are fitted with hook and look/Velcro rather than snap on clips so it is easy to control air flow up your arms when wearing the jacket over your gloves.
The jacket works well in warm to hot days if you open up the cuffs it will fill with air and be comfortable.
Now as for cold weather performance that is ok except the collar does not seal so well, some of the problem is the weak velcro on the collar wrap around portion which fails to keep in in place, the other issue is the inner flap ends below the collar flap leaving this area with a gap that air can enter. This can be fixed by using a buff/scarf to a certain degree or a neck gaiter.
The rear of the collar can be clipped down for summer of raised which stops the back of your neck from being exposed to as much sun and getting burnt (but I would still apply some sunscreen there). The collar is plush and not scratchy like some jackets.
The length is extended and you can attach to Alpinestar pants with a zipper provided to seal in the warmth. There is a quilted liner and good sized inner and external storm flaps. I was snug as a bug riding in the alps here using good base layer and I am sure with tech mid layer you could ride in very cold temperature.
Above jacket is fitted to my old drystar pants.
I normally have never worried about pockets on jackets too much but recently I started to want a better system than the usual one pocket either side layout. The Andes has two chest vertical zip pockets which for me are ideal for putting tollway tickets and a credit card in for easy gloved access at toll booths.
Then there is the two oversized lower front pockets that have storm flaps and waterproof zips. I can easy fit my not so compact Lumix LX100 camera in one of these pockets when it was much too big to fit any other jacket side pockets. (update these are 100% waterproof) You have a rear over sized pocket to hold the jacket liner if your motorbike has no storage and the usual inner phone size pockets as well. But the new front pockets are the ones I find most useful, items in there do not make the jacket tighter like they would side pockets.
The jacket works well at controlling temperature with it’s system of vents and zippers but is poor when it comes to rain.
When riding in rain it can leak just below the collar area, at the front where I have drawn the red arrow because the inner storm flap ends a little low to the collar area.
Below I am wearing the matching pants which I review elsewhere in the blog. (update now comes in better shade than this grey)
Above the offending tiny bit of velcro that struggles to hold the collar closed. The photo is deceptive and looks like the inner storm flap goes higher on the right then it really does but this actually stops below the collar. Below the inner pocket is not waterproof.
I have completed another two tours in this jacket. One in cold weather where it worked well for the change of temperatures but poorly for rain and I had to use a separate rain jacket.
I sewed a 10c bit of extra velco on to the neck strap and now this stays in place better. (yes it is same hook and loop just the photo makes it look different) I am not much at sewing but combined with the adhesive back it is staying in place so that is all that matters.
This has helped trying to get the jacket to seal snug.
Update – the waterproofing of the jacket came to an end after these first few tours/end of first ride season. I tried to restore this using things like the Nikwax treatment or other sprays but the jacket fails from then on to keep me dry.
Important update – Alpinestars Drystar seems to actually not be very effective. Tests on the Canadian Fortnine site show it fails miserably in water proof tests. Once the initial outer water resist coating wears off then the jacket has failed to keep me dry and I blamed a few things but seems the real reason is the Drystar liner is useless.
Final update, well after a few years the jacket stitching fell apart which makes me wonder how poorly made their gear has become. I would recommend not buying any Alpinestars gear.
So how are you finding it? Good that it's not black too, slightly more visible.
Cheers
Gary
I will update further in a couple of months. I actually have been unable to ride the last 3 months due to broken collar bone (not motorcycle related) But back riding again as of August.
As an additional update to the review I can say I am still using it in 2018 I have found a solution to the collar leak in persistent rain is I wear a lightweight hiking rain poncho underneath which extends with an hood so no water leaks to my chest and my head stays dry too since helmets eventually leak when riding all day in rain.
Hey Warren, I hope you’re doing well in these crazy times!
I have been in touch with you a few years ago regarding the Andes jacket and especially the water leakage issue at the neck – do you have any further update on this at all?
I have the same issue and it’s pretty annoying – as soon as it rains somewhat persistently, water creeps in, soaks the shirt, creeps further down eventually soaks even underwear and runs down from the chest to the legs…
The idea of wearing a hiking poncho is something I also tried; however, I wore it ABOVE the jacket. Since the whole idea of getting Gore-Tex clothes is not to carry around and fiddle with rain gear, this is not optimal but oh well.
Wearing the poncho UNDER the jacket is, on paper, referable because at least, it looks “better” but my question is: does this not simply make water run down the poncho into your pants??
You wold need to wear the poncho over your pants, i.e. you can’t connect pants and jacket, right?
Ugh – I really like the jacket otherwise! Would be a shame to finally have to give up on it. Any input welcome!
Cheers, mate! 🙂
Hello! yes I do have some updates.
One thing I tied is using a small clip to hold the neck closure tighter as the velcro does not hold it firm. A little help but I think the storm flap gets defeated by rain being forced in when moving.
As you say if carrying a rain top jacket then seems shame when wearing a goretex jacket but I switched to using a ultra light weight spray jacket over the top. It has a draw string hood and this has been a improvement, actually I went couple hours heavy rain no leaks but eventually it did possibly because the neck area was not high enough at front and being a non pvc jacket with no storm flap then water is always going to defeat that sort of thing which is meant for just light shower only.
I had been thinking to buy a new jacket but the nice ones are too expensive and otherwise the Andes does it all fine for me.
So my plan now is to get a better spray jacket to go over the top. Something not made in PVC and with a high neck that can be adjusted and with it’s own storm flap!
On my short list is this https://en.montbell.jp/products/goods/disp.php?product_id=1131106 or similar.
Also I am testing ‘wash in’ water repellent treatment on the Andes jacket in couple weeks and will post that soon.
I too was considering the Andes suit. But then the new Oxford jackets came out and they're even cheaper, with similar lesser known alternative waterproof membrane. The Oxford jackets are also cut large ("American cut") and so far the ones I picked up (Montreal 2.0 jacket and Ranger 2.0 pants) have been 100% waterproof under the Southeast Asian tropical rain.
The Oxford gear is not sold in Japan as far as I can tell which is a shame as they seem to be a decent range of products without the marketing hype.
I recently have seen this jacket wore by my neighbor. I asked him from where you got it? So he tell me to visit this site.I can not take proper information from him but can you home delivery of these jackets?If yes then i would like to purchase them.
If you look at places like Revzilla or Motorcyclegear.com or FC Moto then they all offer delivery as do many other shops. If I was shopping again for a jacket I would not buy this due to the collar water leak but also because the matching Alpinestars Andes pants that I got later (on back order) were terrible. So bad I have packed them away never to use again.
Just an update to this, I got the matching pants to work for me by sewing on elastic straps to the bottoms to stop them creeping up my legs, after a couple of weeks of this holding them down they altered or stretched and from then on stay down of their own accord.
Hi there! What about keeping this jacket clean? Does the light colors get dirty easily? Thank you
Hi George, I have no problems with keeping it clean, the grey does not show the dirt much and after tours I remove the liner and pack pad then put it in the washer on gentle wash mode. It says dry clean only but that's nonsense given it is a motorcycle jacket designed to be worn in rain haha.
They now sell a darker grey version of this jacket which looks much nicer.
Just got this jacket and have ordered a back pad and a front pad. But I can't seem to access the front pads to replace them with stronger padding. I'm guessing there just isn't access unless I cut and sew it after replacing it? Any help would be great thank you.
Sorry I have not looked at access to the armor.
I took a fall when I hit patch of ice in Alpinestar gear many years ago and the soft padding armor did a good job to absorb the impact but a lot depends on if you land with the armour in place and I was only riding slow as I tend to do now anyway.
With loose fitting gear like this jacket if you really want a focus on amour might be better having armor that is worn next to body rather than in the jacket?
The best gear for armor I have is my BMW summer pants and summer jacket, I'd like their touring jacket but cannot justify the price.