When you review a bit of kit, you sometimes need certain environments to be able to accurately utilise the bit of kit you’ve been sent. Maybe you need to be somewhere hot and sandy, or have a specific role or task. Or maybe you just need the weather to do what it does best, and chuck buckets and buckets of water onto you.

Thankfully, we’re not short of a few drops of moisture right now, and so the Target Dry Pioneer Jacket that popped through the post has been given an absolute thrashing, in the fullest sense of the word.
Waterproof clothing is often a bit of a Catch 22, in that it might keep the water out, but it also keeps moisture in as the clothing generally isn’t designed to be breathable or if it is, only slightly. Often the item itself is generally quite heavy and they tend to be more of a burden than a benefit.

Target Dry seem to have hit the nail on the head with the Pioneer, in that it’s relatively light and is fairly breathable as well as being windproof.

It’s a functional jacket but one that manages to carry itself quite well and looks quite smart, with two pockets either side, deep enough to take a smartphone.

The entire jacket can be pretty well locked down once it’s on thanks to a variety of elastic toggles which means you can keep the wind from sneaking up from underneath and create a snug shell around you.

If you should find yourself getting a bit hot under the collar, there are zips on the undersides of the arms which you can open to allow the heat and any moisture out, but rather disconcertingly, there’s no mesh or any barrier, so you can actually reach right inside the sleeve. I would’ve liked to have seen a simple mesh over the opening just to prevent any ingress of crap and dirt, but it’s a minor point. It’s not something I’ve often come across where there is no mesh, so perhaps it’s just more the unfamiliarity that’s made me unsure about it.

The benefit to it is that it means the air circulates freely as there isn’t anything to hinder its entry or exit, so every cloud and all that!

The inside of the jacket does have mesh however, which again helps in wicking away moisture and heat from the body, whilst the base of the jacket inside is solid fabric for extra robustness.

The hood can be rolled down and held in place with a Velcro tab, and it’s a pretty good effort as it’s not so big it obscures your vision, and not so small it doesn’t actually fit over your swad.

Once fully done up, if you’re like me and like to have your mouth covered, then you’ll find that your lips rest directly against the metal of the zip, which isn’t a huge issue, but it’s minus 2 degrees celcius, and it’s damn cold metal. A small flap that could be closed over with Velcro would again have been a nice addition, but again, not a show stopper.

The overall experience is of a light, functional jacket that will keep some heat in, but if you’re taking part in arduous activities, the underarm vents make a nice difference, and it does stop the wind as advertised, which is certainly appreciated right now!

I’ve enjoyed wearing it, it looks good and having had a look at the competitors, I think the nearest jacket to match would probably be the Berghaus Mera Peak II jacket. A similar style jacket, the features appear to be relatively similar and whilst the materials used differ, I’m happy paying £89.95 instead of £250 for the Berghaus.

A name isn’t everything!